Angie and Dan hire, Martha, a house sitter, to take care of their pets and home while they vacation in Scotland. When the couple returns home from their vacation early, the entire house is in disarray, forcing them to fire Martha on the spot. The couple thinks that they are done with Martha after this - but Martha has other plans in mind.

This was a super quick and easy read. Overall, very average for me due to its being very predictable. This is a very familiar trope (benign-seeming woman becoming obsessive) and unfortunately the plot did not do anything to take it out of the cliches and familiarity. I think.a lot more could have been done to give this a fresh take on a classic trope, but it ended up falling flat. It was still an okay read, but for an avid thriller reader like myself, it missed the mark.

Thank you Inkubator Books and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

An excellent cast of characters in this one. The relatable you'll be cheering for and the ones you'll love to hate. Raw, dark revenge. An intense read with chaos you won't see coming.

This was such a good thriller. I really appreciated the character development, the pacing and the storyline of this book. This is my first book by this author, so I’ll definitely be checking out more of their work.

While I thoroughly enjoyed Fool Me Once, I am not sure how to feel about this one.... I didn't quite like it. I was expecting it to go a certain direction (it didn't at all!), and the way the story actually went felt like it was all fluff with little to no resolution in sight. Many thanks to the author and Netgalley for a copy for an honest review. It won't stop me from reading more of Mark's work - this one just didn't hit the mark for me. My next read by him will be The Lost Girl

OMG! What have I just read! This book is amazing!!! I loved the storyline, I loved the characters, the good ones & the bad ones. There's so many twists and turns, this book will have you staying up reading well into the night. I read this in one sitting. Definitely 5 stars from me ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

So so good a page tuner griped me in from the very first page I loved it and will recommend this read as a top 10

Angie and Dan are thrilled when they hire Martha to care for their pets and their home while they have a much needed break in the Scottish highlands.

They decide to go home early and this is where their nightmare begins..

No spoilers frome me but this a terrific read.

It has everything a reader needs in this genre and at times it is dark and quite creepy. Marthas wants, no needs, revenge and it all turns explosive... but who wins?

While You Were Gone by Mark Gillespie is a gripping psychological thriller that keeps readers on edge from start to finish.
Absolutely loved this book, the way the story unfolded was amazing, the characters were so relatable and you really felt you were along with them.
If you like psychological thrillers this book will have you on your toes. So many twist and turns you can not predict what happens next.

While You Were Gone by Mark Gillespie was a great quick and easy read that just flowed perfectly. I ended up reading this book in one sitting which was great, especially as it was the first book I have read by from this author.
It was full of great twists and turns throughout that will have you. hooked and turning the pages over quickly especially as I wanted to find out more about Martha and who was she? She was hiding something but what?

Angie and Dan were on their way to the Scottish Highlands and this was a last minute getaway for both of them. They have a problem! they need someone to care for their beloved pets and their beautiful home while they are gone.
Then, Martha Hunt steps in to help, and she seems to be just perfect for the job. They had to say Yes to her!

When, Angie and Dan returns home early from their dream holiday everything turns into a chilling nightmare.
They find their beautiful home is in chaos and they have no choice to fire Martha on the spot.

This should be the end of everything. . . . But it is just the beginning!

Because lovely Martha who appeared to be perfect, hasn't finished with them yet! She has more up her sleeve!
But, Why them. . . . . What have they ever done to her?
All Martha wants is far worse than Revenge!

WoW. . . . I highly recommend this book.

Big Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and Inkubator books for my ARC

WHILE YOU WERE GONE BY MARK GILLESPIE.
4 ✨ ✨ ✨ ✨s.
This was a quick and easy read for me.
I enjoyed the flow of it and I was very Intrigued.
I thought the ending on this book was great aswel.
Really really looking forward to picking up another Mark Gillespie book

I was torn between giving 2 or 3 stars on this one, but ultimately there was too much wrong with the plot and characters to go with a 3.

Dan and Angie hire an oddball house sitter Martha. Upon their early return they find their home in disarray and fire her. Things turn malicious and ugly from that point on.

Angie was hard to like. She is overwhelmed each year on Nov 15 and the days surrounding it; over 30 years ago she witnessed something that causes her to barely function on the anniversary of this traumatic event. Okkkkk so somehow this translates to her making continuous terrible decisions and not telling her partner what’s actually going on.

Martha’s motivations are somewhat explained, but sooo ridiculous. I’m supposed to believe she has the time and energy to stalk and harass strangers and still pay the bills?

I’m sorry, but both these female characters are poorly written and are not believable. Hopefully the author consults more women on how we would think/react/etc in tense situations when writing his next story.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and Inkubator books for a copy.

When Angie and Dan book a last minute trip to the Scottish Highlands, they are excited to just pack up and go. The one thing they need though is someone to take care of their pets and watch over the house while they are gone. When they meet Martha Hunt, she seems to be the perfect candidate for the job. But when Angie and Dan are forced to abandon their trip early due to illness, what they find waiting at home is nothing short of a nightmare. The house is absolutely trashed, Martha is passed out naked on the couch, and their pets are missing. With no choice but to report Martha to her job and fire her, Angie and Dan try to pick up the pieces. But they have no clue just how unhinged Martha really is and she wants something worse than revenge.

Remind me never to hire someone to take care of my house or my pets without running a full background check on them! With a relentless pace and building tension, this was a great domestic thriller! A highlight of the story is that it doesn't rely only on jaw dropping twists but rather that creeping dread feeling you get from trying to figure out the motivations of the characters. I do feel like you should suspend your disbelief a little bit but other than that I definitely would recommend this for fans of Theo Baxter, Daniel Hurst, and Shari Lapena!

Thank you to NetGalley, Mark Gillespie, and Inkubator Books for this ARC! Publication date is June 15th 2025.

Excellent book. I really enjoyed the characters and the crazy pace. I will be recommending this to all of my fellow readers.

Thank you to NetGalley and Inkubator Books for this ARC.

Dan and Angie are a middle-aged couple living in Glasgow who met in a bereavement group. His sister committed suicide and so did her mother - 32 years ago. While Dan seemed to have recovered using therapy, Angie still goes loopy every year around 15 November, so this year Dan takes them to Glencoe for a holiday with friends. The pets, a cat and a dog, are left with a hastily arranged house-sitter and all is fine, until they return early due to Dan falling ill. They discover their house in disarray and the sitter, lovely seeming elderly Martha, sprawled naked on the couch. They dismiss her straightaway, but Martha takes rejection badly, and strange things start happening to Angie.

I was drawn to the cover and I really tried to like this but Martha was so unhinged without any background as to what made her so, plus Angie's yearly grief felt excessive. I don't like it when women are portrayed as mentally unstable bunny boilers (even the big burly biker ex was apparently afraid of Martha) without any justification for it, and several events in the book were just over the top. The women have emotional problems but the men are calm and rational. I don't have to check the author's name to know a man wrote this.

Plus the pets had never been in any danger, and part II made absolutely no sense. The author tried to keep up the suspense (The house is creaking! There is a light on in the empty cottage!) but it just didn't work for me. Yes, it's Martha. Yes, she's probably come to kill you, with absolutely no motive. The ending was abrupt, and the final "sighting" was just laughable. By then I had long since given up caring about our protagonists and their implausible story.

Holy moly, fellow book lovers! I just finished Mark Gillespie's "While You Were Gone" and let me tell you – I'm now side-eyeing every delivery person who comes to my door. This psychological thriller has officially made me paranoid about letting strangers into my personal space, and honestly? I'm kind of here for it.

The premise is deliciously simple yet terrifying: Angie and Dan hire what seems like the perfect house-sitter, Martha Hunt, to watch their home and pets while they vacation in the Scottish Highlands. Martha's got stellar reviews, sounds absolutely lovely, and seems like a dream come true. But when the couple returns early due to Dan's illness, they walk into their worst nightmare – house trashed, Martha sprawled naked on their couch, and their beloved pets missing.

Can we talk about how this hits different when you have friends turning their homes into Airbnbs? I literally texted my bestie after reading this because she's doing exactly that, and now I'm low-key worried some psycho is going to trash her place. Thanks for the new anxiety, Mark Gillespie!

What starts as a simple firing-and-moving-on situation quickly spirals when Martha decides Angie is her new obsession. And boy oh boy, does this woman know how to hold a grudge! As Angie digs deeper into Martha's past, she uncovers a trail of destruction that would make your true crime podcast hosts weep with joy.

Here's what really got under my skin though – and I've noticed this pattern in SO many thrillers lately – poor Angie becomes the "hysterical woman" nobody believes while her husband Dan gets to play the reasonable, level-headed one. It's giving major "gaslight, gatekeep, girlboss" energy, except the girlboss is actually the villain, and our heroine Angie is fighting for her sanity while everyone treats her like she's overreacting. Sound familiar, ladies?

Mark Gillespie does a fantastic job building tension that had me physically checking my door locks multiple times. The pacing is relentless, and just when you think you've got Martha figured out, another twisted layer gets peeled back. The climax involving flames and... well, let's just say someone doesn't make it out alive... is absolutely bonkers in the best way possible.

Fair warning: this book will make you extremely suspicious of house-sitters, dog-walkers, and basically anyone you've ever given keys to. I'm genuinely considering getting one of those fancy doorbell cameras now, which my husband finds hilarious.

"While You Were Gone" is a solid thriller that'll keep you glued to the pages while simultaneously making you want to install seventeen new security systems. Perfect for anyone who enjoys their psychological suspense with a side of "never trusting strangers again."

Now excuse me while I go change all my locks...

This was such a well written, exciting and well planned book! Kept my interest from page 1 right to the end! The characters were all believable and Martha give me the chills, lol. Thoroughly enjoyed this read and will look out for more from this author
Many thanx to the author, NetGalley and the publishers for allowing me to read and review this book.

Loved the thrill of this book. The main character made some decisions I probably wouldn't have and that makes it frustrating but seriously keeps you hooked the entire time trying to figure out what will happen next!

What a read. As someone who has a velcro Covid cat I have to vet any sitters super carefully so I felt the panic and the relief and man what a wild ride it was after that. Definitely some mental health at play in this book as well. The ending, while not super strong, was perfect for this book.

I just finished Mark Gillespie's While You Were Gone, and it's a fantastic psychological thriller that truly delivers on its promise of domestic dread. From the moment Angie and Dan's perfect house-sitter, Martha Hunt, turns their dream vacation into a nightmare, I was completely hooked. It's filled with twists that kept me guessing, and the unsettling feeling that Martha wants something far more sinister than revenge made for a genuinely gripping read—fans of Frieda McFadden and Shari Lapena will absolutely devour this one!

Mark Gillespie delivers a chilling and unforgettable tale in While You Were Gone, a suspenseful story that taps into the everyday fear of leaving your home—and your pets—in someone else’s care. What starts as a seemingly ordinary arrangement quickly spirals into a sinister descent, anchored by a deeply unsettling antagonist who will linger in readers’ minds long after the final page.

Gillespie expertly builds tension, weaving psychological unease into every chapter. The pacing is sharp, the atmosphere claustrophobic, and the emotional stakes high—particularly for anyone who’s ever trusted a stranger with something precious. The narrative doesn’t rely on gore or shock for impact; instead, it’s the creeping dread and subtle unraveling of reality that make this story so effective.

At the heart of it is a disturbingly memorable character whose actions are as unpredictable as they are horrifying. Gillespie’s ability to draw such a vivid portrait of madness and obsession is a testament to his skill as a thriller writer.

While You Were Gone is a perfectly crafted psychological thriller that preys on real-world anxieties and turns them into a nightmare. It’s a powerful reminder that sometimes the most terrifying monsters are the ones we willingly let through the front door.