Mini Reviews: Backlist Award-Winning Thrillers

Whenever I go on vacation to the beach, I always bring a backlist paperback with me that I can get wet (because my kids constantly splash!) and not feel badly about. I like a paperback that can easily slide into my beach bag and you can quickly grab it if heading to the pool. These two award winning novels are perfect if you want some quick, thrilling reads for your beach bag.

The Housemaid by Freida McFadden

Pages: 336

Genre: Adult Ficiton

Pub. Date: August 23, 2022

Publisher: Grand Central

Source: Personal Copy

My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Goodreads says, "Welcome to the family,” Nina Winchester says as I shake her elegant, manicured hand. I smile politely, gazing around the marble hallway. Working here is my last chance to start fresh. I can pretend to be whoever I like. But I’ll soon learn that the Winchesters’ secrets are far more dangerous than my own…

Every day I clean the Winchesters’ beautiful house top to bottom. I collect their daughter from school. And I cook a delicious meal for the whole family before heading up to eat alone in my tiny room on the top floor.

I try to ignore how Nina makes a mess just to watch me clean it up. How she tells strange lies about her own daughter. And how her husband Andrew seems more broken every day. But as I look into Andrew’s handsome brown eyes, so full of pain, it’s hard not to imagine what it would be like to live Nina’s life. The walk-in closet, the fancy car, the perfect husband.

I only try on one of Nina’s pristine white dresses once. Just to see what it’s like. But she soon finds out… and by the time I realize my attic bedroom door only locks from the outside, it’s far too late.

But I reassure myself: the Winchesters don’t know who I really am.

They don’t know what I’m capable of…"

Millie, an ex-convict, is just getting out of jail and desperately needs a job. She is struggling to find one  that won't necessarily check her background, that is until she finds a live-in housekeeper job at the Winchesters. Nina, Andrew, and her daughter, Cecelia, live in a beautiful home, but Nina needs help with cooking, cleaning, and taking care of Cecelia. This seems like the perfect job for Millie, especially after she and Nina hit it off. Much to her surprise, she gets the job and quickly moves into the attic room. It's not a great space, but it's better than living in her car. That's when things start to get weird though. Enzo, the gardener, warns Millie that this house is dangerous. Dealing with Nina has been difficult as she seems erratic and Cecelia dislikes her immediately. The only one who seems somewhat agreeable is Andrew, who instantly grabs her attention. Things go from awkwardly bad to much, much worse in The Housemaid by Freida McFadden. It's a fast-paced thriller that will keep you flipping the  pages as it's in the same vein as Gone Girl and The Wife Between Us.

I brought The Housemaid along on vacation because I felt like I was the last person to have read it and it was a bestseller for so many weeks, I thought I ought to see what the buzz is all about. The Housemaid was definitely deserving of the buzz. While I thought the writing wasn't that great, it didn't deter me from enjoying the book. It's the perfect fast-paced thriller to bring along on vacation as it will keep you engaged and the twists will keep you coming back for more.

The Mother-in-Law by Sally Hepworth

Pages: 368

Genre: Adult Fiction

Pub. Date: March 10, 2020

Publisher: St. Martin's

Source: Personal Copy

Other Books By Author: The Good Sister,

and The Younger Wife

My Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

 

Goodreads says, "A twisty, compelling novel about one woman's complicated relationship with her mother-in-law that ends in murder...

From the moment Lucy met her husband's mother, Diana, she was kept at arm's length. Diana was exquisitely polite, and properly friendly, but Lucy knew that she was not what Diana envisioned. But who could fault Diana? She was a pillar of the community, an advocate for social justice who helped female refugees assimilate to their new country. Diana was happily married to Tom, and lived in wedded bliss for decades. Lucy wanted so much to please her new mother-in-law.

That was five years ago.

Now, Diana has been found dead, a suicide note near her body. Diana claims that she no longer wanted to live because of a battle with cancer.

But the autopsy finds no cancer.
The autopsy does find traces of poison and suffocation.
Who could possibly want Diana dead?
Why was her will changed at the eleventh hour to disinherit both of her adult children and their spouses? With Lucy's secrets getting deeper and her relationship with her mother-in-law growing more complex as the pages turn, this new novel from Sally Hepworth is sure to add to her growing legion of fans."

Lucy always wanted a good relationship with her mother-in-law, but Diana, her mother-in-law, is not the warm and fuzzy type; plus, Lucy is not the type of woman that Diana hoped her son, Ollie, would end up with. On paper, Diana is pretty much perfect. Ollie's family is extremely wealthy and Diana spends most of her time doing volunteer work for refugees. She helps them find jobs, helps them with childbirth, and even supports some of them financially. This last part is especially a blow to her children as Diana hasn't offered to help them at all when they need it. In fact, she encourages them to pick  themselves up by the bootstraps and has always been very cold. The children would always go to Tom, their father, but he has recently died, and then not much later Diana did, too. Except Diana's death is under questionable circumstances. She leaves a suicide note that claims she had cancer, but the autopsy finds no cancer. Now everyone is questioning who would want Diana dead. The children for her estate? Sally Hepworth always writes twisty and juicy thrillers and this one is no exception.  The Mother-in-Law is part thriller, part family drama that kept me guessing.

I love a good family drama/thriller and sometimes you need a break from  the overly saccharine beach reads. The Mother-in-Law fits this bill as it's twisty and dramatic, and there's a murder mystery to boot. It's told through flashbacks, and multiple points of view, so readers will slowly piece the story together, especially when they learn more about Diana's past. Uncovering her past really helps explain her motives and her complex relationship with her family. If you enjoy family dramas with dark secrets, look no further!

Are you a fan of Freida McFadden and/or Sally Hepworth? Have you read either of these novels? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.