This was such a delight! Oceans 8 meets Downton Abbey. It‘s a mystery, a heist, and an examination of London society- both upstairs and downstairs. Clever and biting, it was a little slow at the start but picked up nicely. Just released July 4th, this debut is one to try!

A fun little caper — think Ocean’s 8, but with a Bridgerton or Downton Abbey setting! Some great “wronged women take revenge” vibes, and an entertaining premise.

It did feel a bit slow to start, and could be a little disjointed at times. If you’ve seen the Ocean’s movies, you’ll know that you just kind of get brief glimpses at the plans and motivations for the heist throughout the majority of the story, with the full scope revealed at the end. There was a similar setup here, but I think that particular tactic was a little bit less effective in writing than it is visually on screen. I ended up feeling like I only got about half of the plot.

In the end, it didn’t necessarily stand out to me — but it was a quick and light read with a unique combination of plot and setting!

Thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for my advance digital copy. The Housekeepers is available as of this week!

"The night of London's grandest ball, a bold group of women downstairs launch a daring revenge heist against Mayfair society in this dazzling historical novel about power, gender, and class

Mrs. King is no ordinary housekeeper. Born into a world of con artists and thieves, she's made herself respectable, running the grandest home in Mayfair. The place is packed with treasures, a glittering symbol of wealth and power, but dark secrets lurk in the shadows.

When Mrs. King is suddenly dismissed from her position, she recruits an eclectic group of women to join her in revenge: A black market queen out to settle her scores. An actress desperate for a magnificent part. A seamstress dreaming of a better life. And Mrs. King's predecessor, with her own desire for vengeance.

Their plan? On the night of the house's highly anticipated costume ball - set to be the most illustrious of the year - they will rob it of its every possession, right under the noses of the distinguished guests and their elusive heiress host. But there's one thing Mrs. King wants even more than money: the truth. And she'll run any risk to get it...

After all, one should never underestimate the women downstairs."

Downton Abbey meets Ocean's Eight!

DNF 27% - I wanted to like this so much! A group of women pulling off a huge heist on people who look down on them? Amazing! I love heists! And strong female characters! Unfortunately, there is just nothing pulling me back to the book. Nothing has hooked me. I don’t know enough about the characters to care about them. I don’t know enough about the heist to care about that. Nothing is driving the beginning of this book. So as it stands, I’ve got a list of like 10 other ARCs to catch up on so I’ve got to put this one down.

Note: I received a digital ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I saw a lot about this book before I began reading it myself. I wondered if it could possibly live up to the hype-the good news is that it does. This title will be enjoyed by readers who like a somewhat quirky premise, interesting characters, a well-portrayed time and place, and, of course, a good (if outrageous) plot.

I don’t want to give much away but will say that the housekeepers have quite a scheme in mind. Readers will long remember them; they include Mrs. King who was dismissed from her job and Mrs. Bone who runs some dodgy enterprises. Rounding out the group are Jane and Jane (really), Hephzibah and Alice. Each of these woman has a backstory and a needed skill set; these may well intrigue the reader.

In addition to the housekeepers, there is the owner of an ostentatious home and his daughter. Wilhelm recently died and his daughter is not really mourning. Who was he? What does she want? Readers will discover some surprising connections.

There are many twists and turns in this story and suspension of disbelief is called for. What will happen on the night of a very big ball in Edwardian England? Who are the guests and how will they be affected? Will the housekeepers get their revenge? Read this one to find out!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for this title. All opinions are my own.

Mrs. King has been sacked, unceremoniously removed from her position as housekeeper to the nouveau riche de Vries family, caught leaving the gentlemen’s quarters. This behavior is simply unbecoming and yet entirely planned. As glamorous as the de Vries house seems, dark secrets hide just out of sight and Mrs. King is determined to seek revenge and bring her former employer to her knees. Con artist Mrs. King plans a daring heist on the night of Miss de Vries costumed ball, yet removing every worldly possession from a mansion requires a bit of help. With the assistance of six unique women, Mrs. King will expose the secrets of the manor and the corrupt people who own it, if she doesn’t get caught in the process.

This heist novel is perfect for fans of Ocean Eight and features a large cast of strong female characters. With so many motives behind the robbery, it was delightful piecing together how everyone fit in the story. I wish Miss de Vries would have been a little more despicable, but that is a small complaint in an otherwise great novel.

Thank you to Graydon House and Netgalley for providing this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

I love a heist and Mrs. King is organizing one. She has her team Mrs. Bone, the Janes, the actress the seamstress and they have a plan to pick a house clean. This was interesting with so much going on but it was fun to see where the pieces went and where it could all fall to pieces. I love a heist this was a kind of historical Oceans 8 with a similar all female cast and similar heist theme.

Disclaimer: I can not visualize things in my mind. I have had issues with liking very visual books before and I think this is one that I would have loved if I could have actually imagined what was happening.

The Housekeepers is about Mrs. King and a group of women that she recruits to pull off an incredible heist - stealing absolutely everything from the house where she was recently dismissed - during a spectacular ball. There are several secrets packed into the house, which help to give the women something more to fight.

I really, really wanted to love this book. The story is fantastic and the extra added secrets that come out about the house just make it more intriguing. Unfortunately for me, there was a lot of visualization being described in the book and I simply can not do that so it brought down the pace for me a lot. I feel this is an important distinction to make because there have been a lot of popular books (ex: Where the Crawdads Sing) that I didn't like for the same reason. I think I would absolutely love this story if it were a movie or show. If you can visualize, I would expect you would enjoy it more than me.

Thanks to NetGalley, Alex Hay, and Headline Publishing for giving me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Oh my goodness this book was nothing short of purely magical. It hooked me in from the first chapter and kept me hooked!

Thank you to Harlequin Trade Publishing, Graydon House, and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book.

I really wanted to like this book, but it fell flat for me. The book starts mid-story, and initially, I was intrigued with a couple of the primary characters and their burgeoning plan to exact revenge on their former employer/acquaintance. However, as more players got involved (each with their own motivations) and additional plotlines emerged, my progress through the book became slower and slower because it began to feel like work to keep everything organized in my head.

It was a promising premise, but I don't feel like it was edited or tailored sufficiently.

This book is kind of a Downton Abbey meets Oceans Eleven. A former housekeeper from an estate gathers a team to pull off a major heist during a high-profile party. The story kept me entertained, but the main conflict (the dark truth about the estate and its inhabitants) seemed a bit forced and unnecessary.

Said to be a blend of Downton Abbey and Ocean's 11, The Housekeepers had a great concept that centred around a housekeeper who is out for revenge after she is fired after decades of service. She brings together a ragtag group of people and plans a heist to get back at her rich former employer by emptying their entire house during a ball.

Set in 1905 (but often with a more Victorian era vibe), from the blurb I expected a story about a good 'ol heist with a nod to Upstairs Downstairs. But the execution of the story, with its myriad of characters and subplots fell far short of my expectations.

My issues were many. From the slow pacing and loooong set up, to the very large cast and their convoluted motivations, to extraneous subplots and the actual heist. The heist for which the whole story is centred around, doesn't happen until almost 60% into the story and requires readers to suspend disbelief that a group of people can clear out an entire grand home under the watchful eyes of the homeowner and her large group of guests who are attending a grand ball on the main floor. The 'take it all' mentality of the thieves made me immediately think of The Grinch and how he steals every morsel from Whoville. The next time I move, I'll be hiring Mrs. King and her cronies to pack up my whole house with nary a sound in 8 hours flat.

This book didn't live up to its hype for me and wasn't a story I was eager to pick up. I wanted an exciting caper with a ragtag group of interesting characters and a big heist! Instead, I got a story with too many moving parts, unnecessary subplots, a mess of characters that blended together and a feeling that too much was going on and also not enough was happening.

Disclaimer: My sincere thanks to Graydon House Publishing for my complimentary advanced copy which was provided in exchange for my honest review.

The Housekeepers by Alex Hay is a very intriguing book. A historical fiction that is told in multiple point of views to keep you guessing. It is a well written story with complex characters. A story of revenge, class and gender that will keep you on the edge of your seat. There are many secrets….very dark secrets, intrigue, suspense, action and a heist like you never seen before. It is filled with surprises and shocking twist and turns. It is extremely hard to put this one down until you get to a very exhilarating ending!!! This is a very good book if you like historical fiction with some mystery!!

Thank you NetGalley, Graydon House, Harlequin Trade Publishing and Alex Hay for this mysterious book to read and review. The opinions expressed are strictly my own.
#netgalley. #graydonhouse. #arc #alexhay
#harlequintradepublishing. #harlequintradeinfluencer. #historicalfiction

Oh. My. Gosh. The Housekeepers is Alex Hay's brilliant debut novel.
Say the word 'heist' and I'll watch it, or in this case, read it. (Plus that cover caught my eye.)

Hay's heist takes place in 1905 London England. Hay does a wonderful job of bringing the time and place to life. Society and mores of the time play a large part in this tale. There's the rich, who want for nothing. And then there are the staff, those who cater to every whim and want of the upper-class. And then there's those outside the manor who do what they need to survive - the con men, thieves and more.

Hay has created some truly memorable characters, each with their own reasons to undertake the heist of all heists. Mrs. King is the driving force behind the group of six women, all looking for retribution. There are tangled threads of connections amongst them that I didn't see coming.

Their plan is audacious and bold and the reader can't help but behind them. The details of the 'how' are wonderfully imagined.

From the author's notes - "And the thrill and joy of writing this novel was to imagine what might have happened if some of the women working below stairs had decided to claim some of that privilege for themselves."

What a inventive, ingenious, captivating read The Housekeepers was! Definitely in my top five for the year.

1905

The House of de Vries is a huge 7-floor home sumptuously decorated and filled with expensive treasures. The master of the house has recently died leaving just his daughter to inherit everything. Miss de Vries has decided to hold a ball and there is a lot of planning going on for that.

Mrs. King has been the housekeeper at the mansion for some years now but has just been fired after being caught in the gentlemen’s quarters. Ah, but she is not going to let that go easily. So, she is meeting with some of her cohorts to take revenge on this family.

We have Mrs. Bone who has her fingers in lots of pies. Winnie Smith was the housekeeper at the mansion before Mrs. King. Hepzibah used to work in the kitchen. Alice is a good seamstress and has a job at the mansion as a sewing maid working on Miss de Vries's ball gown. All of these women and more plan to pull off a huge heist the night of the ball stealing every valuable in the house. Can they do it?

For me, this book was all over the place. It took awhile to try and figure out why these women were wanting to do this. The events at the ball were just crazy. So, if you like a book with lots of over-the-top things going on, this one is for you.

Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for providing an unbiased review.

3.25

As an avid reader of British historical fiction, I am invested in the plight of the downstairs staff. It sickens me when I read about housemaids being raped, knocked up, and inevitably kicked out without a reference by the master of the house or 12-year-olds starting their life-long careers in service (or servitude rather).

It was the sticking-it-to-the-man (or ma’am), that drew me to this book. Just like with any of their servants, the smallest of miss steps could get you kicked to the curb. I like that goal of the story was to really make a statement. That said, it was quite a bit over the top and highly unbelievable.

Because it was so preposterous, I should have known that my nerves wouldn’t be able to take it. I spent the entire book cringing and waiting for the other shoe to drop, and for the servants to be locked up with no consequences for the Gentry. Speaking of locked up, reading that the servants were locked in their rooms each night just because one was found in the hallway in the male servant's quarters was despicable. From my limited knowledge, I believe even slaves in the south were able to cohabitate.

Mrs. King is the housekeeper found the out of bounds and immediately sacked. Even from the beginning, her indifference towards that outcome makes you think it was done completely on purpose. Immediately, as if she had been planning it for a very long time, she approaches a female mob-boss-type character to partner with, and essentially underwrite the theft of every single valuable item in the house. This is where things take an unbelievable turn. Stealing a number of large, valuable pieces, could have made a major statement and kept the storyline somewhat believable.

Semi spoilers ahead…

As things, progress, Mrs. King seems to be the one part of the plan who is least necessary. It is quickly apparent that any success is completely down to the army of actors and hired masses, and they aren’t even being paid yet or, as far as we know anything beyond a standard wage. If it wasn’t under believable enough, each of the seven “masterminds“get sidetracked with their own agendas and throw off the tightly scheduled and choreographed haste. In the end, was any of it even worth it?

There are a number of endearing characters and moments, however. I really liked the Jane’s and they were the most committed in the end. The spectacle in the backyard was kind of fun to read about, and, unfortunately in many cases, not too far off from the way Victorians treated the rare curiosities (animals, people, plants, etc.) of the colonized world.

Had I not committed to reading and reviewing this book, I’m not sure my heart would have let me continue through to the end, though I rarely abandon what I start reading. Take my comments with a grain of salt and don’t read it unless you can abandon any need for the sensible and believable.

Oceans 11 meets Downtown Abbey in this upstairs/downstairs heist of the century.

I was really excited by the premise of The Housekeepers and was expecting it to be my book of the year from the blurb alone, which is high expectations going in! The main characters are mainly female-led which is great and I really enjoyed the plot being presented – ransacking an entire household of possessions during the party of the year undetected.

Unfortunately, some aspects of this book fell short. Firstly, I didn’t feel like I got to know the characters as well as I could have – there are quite a few of them and they all have their own secrets which aren’t revealed until later in the book. This means that it feels like you are held at arms-length with some of them. There were also quite a lot of strands to the story – the part about young girls in the household didn’t really make sense to me and I was unsure why it was included. Lots of people seemed to be related to other characters as well which was difficult to keep track of in my mind.

The pace is quite slow which was a surprise – I was expecting myself to be racing through it. I also felt that the conclusion of the heist itself wasn’t as satisfying as I had hoped. Don’t get me wrong, it is a fun, light read but expectations were high, and it didn’t quite deliver!

Overall, The Housekeepers is a brilliant premise but was let down on the execution which was a shame, with a pace that dragged and too many characters and sub-plots which muddied the plot. Thank you to NetGalley & Harlequin, Graydon House & Headline - Review for the chance to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I had a lot of fun in reading this story of revenge, solidarity amongst women who are considered as expendable by those who are upstairs. A group of woman who join forces to rob the former employee of Mrs King of all her riches.
I loved Mrs King since the first pages as she’s a clever and ruthless woman and it will be hard to stop her to reach her goal. She and her companions are interesting and clever women, women who suffered but also know secrets of what happens behind the shining façade.
A fast-paced story featuring a cast of well-developed characters, a different look to the world of upstairs and downstairs. The historical background is vivid and detailed.
I loved these women and loved this story.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

The Housekeepers is the debut novel by Alex Hay. This is a historical fiction about a heist organized and carried out by the "downstairs" help.

Set at the turn of the 20th century, this novel is full of deception, intrigue, and suspense.

An interesting take on a historical fiction novel.

I tried to get into this one but ultimately it just wasn't for me. I will try the author again though!