The Concierge by Miranda Rijks
Genre: Psychological thriller, Domestic thriller, Suspense
Read: 15th December 2022
Published: 13th December 2022
★★★★ 4.5 stars
DESCRIPTION:
They hired an assistant to help them. But she has other plans.
High-flying duo Goldie and Braun Delucci run a major film production company. But recently their gilded lives were touched by tragedy when one of their leading actors, Ally, died in a car crash.
What the Deluccis don’t realise is that their newly hired private assistant is actually Ally’s sister. Simone is convinced Ally’s death was suspicious and she is determined to find out what happened on that terrible night.
Simone’s new job puts her at the heart of a rich, dysfunctional family. As she digs for the truth about Ally’s death, she realises someone is watching her. And they want her gone.
That just makes Simone more determined to discover whatever terrible secret the Deluccis are hiding. But she doesn’t understand she is about to uncover something so dark, so shocking that her own life may never be the same again.
MY THOUGHTS:
I always enjoy a thriller by Miranda Rijks, even when they aren't as good as some of her others I still enjoy them and the ride she takes you on. Following on from her previous "Forget Me Not", "The Insomniac" and my own personal favourites "The New Neighbour" and "The Arrangement", Miranda returns with the riveting and wholly absorbing THE CONCIERGE.
Now for me, I thought a concierge was someone who does all the customer services relations stuff in a hotel but when I googled it, the term actually means "a person or service that provides assistance with personal business such as travel arrangements, scheduling appointments or running errands. OK, so that is pretty much what takes place here..and, of course, more.
We meet Simone at the beginning of the story, looking forward to what used to be a regular get-together of dinner and a catch up with her younger sister Ally. But since getting the lead on an upcoming film "The Insomniac" (clever coincidence in a nod to one of Miranda's previous titles), she has rarely seen Ally at all, putting it down to the long hours on the set. And now this latest dinner is cancelled at the last minute by Ally when she has to work into the night.
Then she's awakened in the middle of the night to a ringing phone. Who is calling her at 3am? It can't be good news given the hours. It's Ally's husband, Rob, with the worst news possible. Ally was dead. It seems she was driving her boss' car and crashed into a tree...but nothing about the accident makes any sense. The car belonged to the Deluccis, the owners of the production company Ally worked for and what's more...there were drugs in her system. But Simone refuses to believe what the police has written off as accidental. Nothing about this is Ally at all, and it makes no sense whatsoever. But no one will listen to Simone believing her to be just the grieving sister.
If only she could get close to the Deluccis and investigate the matter for herself. And then the perfect opportunity arises when a concierge position for the Deluccis becomes available and Simone sees her way in. She makes herself invaluable and indispensable to the family as she blends seamlessly into their world and find that she doesn't mind the job, despite its demands, and quite likes Goldie, the wife and brains behind Delucci Productions. But Simone believes that there is more to her sister's death and that one or both of the Deluccis are hiding something.
But what she discovers will endanger more lives than just her own...Will she get to the truth before it's too late?
What an addictive thrill ride THE CONCIERGE turned out to be! And I didn't know what to expect. The characters are flawed yet well developed and most are unlikeable, with the exception of Simone and Goldie really...oh, and Florian. What kind of name is Florian? No wonder the kid was bullied with a name like that. But then Braun wasn't much of a name either. At least Goldie was an abbreviated form of her full name Marigold. But the crown for the least likeable character has to go Rose and Braun alike. Even Tony. They all deserved it. They were all horrible people that I hated at first glance. As soon as Tony entered the picture, I didn't trust him at all and at 17 Rose really should have been a little wiser than to fall for his crap. But she was too busy being up her own butt trying to get one over on her parents or Simone. And Braun? Well, he didn't feature very much but I didn't trust him from the off. There was just something about him I didn't trust. I didn't think much of Goldie's parenting style. I can understand her wanting to give her kids the best so they didn't miss out but then she was never there for them anyway. Instead she got Simone to take care of things...like that is even in Simone's remit. She is not their mother and Rose is hardly going to listen to some stranger bawl her out and try curbing her activities just because her mum gave her instructions to do so. I was left shaking my head and thought you can't be both career woman and mother.
THE CONCIERGE is a fast paced thriller that I read pretty much in one sitting, turning the pages at the speed of light. I did think the ending was tied up a little too neatly with all the kiss and make up and forgive and forget between them all. Given all that happened I don't think things will have smoothed out quite so quickly.
I love the three perspectives we hear from throughout the story - Simone, Goldie and Rose. Introducing Rose's narrative added an interesting aspect to the family dynamics, as much as I couldn't stand her. And the skillful way in which Miranda weaves all three narratives together into one big picture is seamlessly clever.
I thoroughly enjoyed THE CONCIERGE and look forward to reading more by Miranda. In fact, I have a blacklog of her previous releases from prior to "The New Neighbour" to get to at some point...one day.
Perfect combination of psychological and domestic suspense make this an easily entertaining and enjoyable thriller. Highly recommend.
I would like to thank #MirandaRijks, #Netgalley, #InkubatorBooks and #ZoolooTours for an ARC of #TheConcierge in exchange for an honest review.
MEET THE AUTHOR:
After a degree in Law, Miranda worked in marketing in London and Eastern Europe before setting up businesses in the horticultural, leisure and retail sectors. Along the way, she got a masters in writing and wrote the self-help book, ‘How Compatible Are You?’ and biography, ‘The Eccentric Entrepreneur’. In 2018, Miranda wrote ‘Don’t Call Me Brave’, a novel very loosely drawing upon her experiences of having a rare bone cancer.
She feels extremely lucky to be living the dream, writing psychological thrillers full time!
Miranda loves connecting with her readers, so feel free to drop her a line.
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