The Homemaker by Miranda Rijks
Genre: Psychological thriller, Domestic thriller
Read: 28th October 2023
Published: 22nd October 2023
★★★★ 4.5 stars
DESCRIPTION:
Maria always wanted a family. Now she’s found one.
Imogen has never been so busy – she’s juggling two jobs, has a young family and now she’s pregnant again.
Enter Maria, the perfect housekeeper. Hard working and capable, she seems like the ideal solution to Imogen's chaotic life. But Maria isn’t at all what she seems – she has a sinister agenda of her own.
Little by little, she installs herself at the heart of Imogen’s family – doing the school run, cooking meals, caring for Imogen’s little girl.
But once she has won the family’s trust, Maria starts to do some digging. And discovers that Imogen has been keeping a terrible secret, a secret which Maria threatens to reveal unless Imogen starts to run this home the way Maria sees fit.
Caught between a rock and a hard place, Imogen has no choice but to comply.
A terrible mistake. Because as the full scale of Maria’s horrifying plan becomes apparent, Imogen realises that everything she holds dear – her marriage, her family, her friends – all may fall victim to The Homemaker.
The Homemaker – the chilling psychological thriller from the best-selling author of The Visitors and What She Knew.
MY THOUGHTS:
Maria always wanted a family...and now she's found one...!
What a deliciously disturbing domestic suspense thriller Miranda Rijks has cooked up for us. This time we meet a lonely middle-aged woman who is desperately searching to belong. Only problem is, does she belong to THIS family?
Imogen has a perfect life with her dentist husband Josh and their 5 year old daughter Ava. She wants for nothing and the beautiful house in which they live was clearly too big for them with seven bedrooms but the moment they saw the 18th century property, they fell in love with it. As an aside, Imogen rents out two of the ensuite bedrooms, which are accessed separately, operating as a thriving Bed and Breakfast whilst providing a consultancy business for hotels. It's not that she needs the money - she just loves doing what she does.
But then Imogen discovers she is pregnant. And the news is not at all welcome, given the devastating revelation her mother made just days before her death three months before. Now Imogen has no way of knowing how she can come back from this. And how can she bring another child into this world knowing what she knows?
Hubby Josh is oblivious to Imogen's silent heartache but he has noticed her looking tired and pale of late and suggests a visit to the doctor. Imogen then reveals her pregnancy to which Josh is ecstatic and announcing it to anyone and everyone. Imogen is not so sure. But one thing she is sure of and that is she is going to need the extra help especially now with a baby on the way. And that's when she hires Maria.
Maria enters Fairvew House with her own agenda. Sure, she's there to help Imogen, providing a cleaning service and whatever else she may require but Maria has a hidden agenda. She plans to inveigle her way into every aspect of Imogen's life so that she can no longer be without her...and then she will reveal the truth to her. However, it's not long before Maria uncovers Imogen's own hidden secrets and only then does she have the power of the upper hand. And Imogen doesn't know what's hit her.
OK, so Maria is not who she appears to be. That much is obvious from the start but then we wouldn't have a story then, wouldn't we? But just how much is Maria keeping from Imogen and just how much power does she yield? One thing is for sure, Maria has plenty of secrets of her own.
Once again, Miranda Rijks has pulled me in from the very first page and kept me engaged throughout. Her thrillers are addictie, compelling and definite page-turners, and this one is no different. Of course I wanted to slap Imogen for trusting Maria and punch Maria in the face. I could have gladly given Kyle a swift kick up the gluteus maximus also for his bad attitude. And Josh? So quick to believe the worst of his wife without even sitting down and talking with her. Only Ava seemed to make any sense and she's a five year old! But then again, who is sane in this psycho-domestic thriller?
With its snappy chapters a perfect length, the pace moved steadily through to the nail-biting end. Another great read from one of my favouritie authors.
I would like to thank #MirandaRijks, #Netgalley, #InkubatorBooks and #ZoolooTours for an ARC of #TheHomemaker in exchange for an honest review.
MEET THE AUTHOR:
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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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Epic review - thank you so much for supporting the tour x
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