I truly wanted to like this book and there are some fundamentally good elements to the storytelling and to the character development. There are also a number of issues that somewhat compromise the enjoyment of this story, Sadly, quite a few of these are down to choices made by the narrator and the production team on the audio book, Firstly, Iris, the owner of the titular house turns 70 in the pages of the book but throughout she is portrayed as a a wobbly voiced and decrepit wreck. I imagine that Ellery Kane must be quite young to regard 70 as ancient in 2022, Although I can see plot arguments for this choice, it becomes grating after a while and I can imagine the sprightly septuagenarians of the Bay Area and beyond being annoyed by this as I'm nowhere near that and I was! The reader also makes a few blinding errors of pronunciation that the production team should have picked up, I know that reading audio books is arduous but it is the producer's job to pick up when a performer mistakes the word emphatic for the word empathetic! It rather changed the whole meaning of that particular paragraph!
The much vaunted twist also isn't perhaps as twisty as the publicity would have you believe, I had worked it out well before the end,
Having said that, the way that Lydia comes across is interesting and I would like to see more of Maureen Shaw who is to my mind the most engaging character in the narrative, Perhaps Kane will pick up her adventures in a later book, The writing is sharp and well paced and I can see Ellery Kane continuing to write gripping and immersive thrillers,

I really enjoyed this one! I listened to the audio version and the felt like that bumped a good book up to a great one. Highly recommend!

The House Sitter was a fun read. The cast of characters were all more than they should have been. And then proven to not be. Iris was more forgetful and trusting than she should have been. Who invites a waitress they met once into their house? Seth was more charming than he should have been. Who treats people the way he treated Lydia? Lydia is more naive than she should have been? Who is raised by a conman and remains so naive? Of course everyone here is unreliable. Maureen is really the only reliable character for most of the book, and I found her and most of the cops to be really annoying. I guess being at a mass shooting would make you a little nuts, though. I recently read that more than half of us have been directly connected to a mass shooting. Then I realized that I actually knew two different people killed in two distinct mass shootings. Crazy. I shouldn’t be a cop and neither should Maureen. One of my biggest complaints is the title. There is no house sitter in the entire book. Maybe it should be called The Caretakers. Maybe there is a good reason it wasn’t. Waste away a summer day with this one.

Oooh this was a good one.
So many little plot twists, you really have to pay attention.
I couldn'tstop listening to this audiobook i beeded to know how all the pieces fell together.
This author is new to me, but i will certainly be looking out for future works.
This audiobook was an easy listen, the naration was well done and a pleasure to listen to.
I highly recommend this audiobook.

I voluntarily listened to this audiobook all thoughts and opinions are my own.

This was a fun and fast past little thriller from Ellery Kane.

Iris is a 70 year old widow who meets Lydia in a diner, and ends up inviting her and her partner, Seth to come take care of her and her house in a very nice neighborhood. Quickly we see that everyone is hiding something, as Iris goes missing after a frantic call to 911 and Lydia and Seth become prime suspects. Enter rookie dectective Maureen to get the bottom of the case.

I really enjoy stories where things are not what they seem and that is the case here. Even Iris has a few tricks up her sleeve. Now, I am not usually the one who sees all the twists coming and has the ending figured out by chapter two. I generally just read and enjoy the ride. But this book even had me figuring out the end way before we got there.

Still the fast pace kept me listening every chance I got and I enjoyed my time with this book

One thing that nags, though. The title is "The House Sitter", but at no point is anyone a house sitter, and if you count what Lydia and Seth are doing for Iris house sitting, it is both of them, so ir should be "The House Sitters".

<b>The House Sitter</b> is the story about 70 year old Iris, who after losing her husband and breaking her arm is unable to take care of her house. She meets a young waitress named Lydia and offers her and her husband, Seth, jobs helping her tend to her house which is just too big for her to manage all by herself. She even offers for them to live with her.

Iris has intermittent confusion and isn't always reliable, and she is convinced that someone has been breaking into her house. One night, she calls 911 reporting an intruder in her house, there is a gun shot and when the police arrive, Iris is nowhere to be found.

What I enjoyed the most were the parts of the book which involved Maureen, a former pianist turned police officer after experiencing the tragic loss of her parents. She was clever and I really liked her determination to find out what happened to Iris.

The pacing and book length were good, and the author made it easy to question the intentions of the house sitters. Now for my issues, parts were unbelievable, the dialogue unconvincing, and there were a few plot holes and unanswered questions, but my biggest issue was the narration, especially the male voices. I can't help but wonder if I would have enjoyed this book more if I had read it rather than listening to the audiobook. 3 stars.

I finished this book in 1 and a half day and this is what I think..

The narration was good at the beginning, I was really enjoying it. But somewhere from the middle I noticed the narrative of 2 or more characters in a conversation sounded too similar, i had to go back a couple of times to be sure who was talking.

The character "Maureen Shaw" was a total disaster in my opinion. I mean when you are in law enforcement , last thing you should do is let your emotion guide you, and the worse way to investigate a crime is targeted investigation where you just decide "HE IS THE CRIMINAL!" and have a tunnel vision all through the investigation and miss all the other signs. I literally cringed when she walked in the crime scene without the forensics permission, and her other questionable methods to obtain information. Is she aware even if she found conclusive clues, the way she obtained them made the information invalid in the eye of a judge and they will not the accepted as a key evidence? I do agree with the other officers, she is unfit to be in law enforcement, PI suites her better.

I totally hated the "SETH" character and I am really glad he got what he deserved. And my oh my! Though I guessed the twist a couple of chapters before it actually came in light, I loved it! And IRIS was a true gem! Love her to the core.

So all the credits goes to IRIS that this book got a 3.5 stars, where "Maureen Shaw" made the book loose 1.5 stars, just saying :/

Thank you netgalley for the review copy.

I listened to the audiobook version of this book.

I enjoyed it but it was in no way a thrilling and unputdownable listen! Maybe the book version works better!

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for letting me review this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

Wow, this was a really good psychological thriller. I will say that the ending twist I did see coming about halfway through, although I couldn't figure out exactly why it was happening until it was finally revealed. As the book was coming to a close I kept thinking are they really going to leave this loose end and then the final explanation came and tied that up. Although this one wasn't shocking, I still found it very enjoyable and entertaining. I really like the narrator for this as well. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this fast paced story! My one issues - I don't think there is a house sitter in this book LOL. Caretakers. Companions. But not a house sitter. That aside, I liked the book and it captured my attention.

Iris Duncan is nearing 70. She's having a hard time caring for her large home along, and she's also having memory issues lately.

At a local cafe, Iris is waited on by Lydia. They strike up a conversation and when Iris witnesses Lydia being trated unkindly, she comes up with a brillant idea. Iris offers Lydia a job assisting her with things that overwhelm her at home. A few days later, Lydia accepts with the stipulation that Seth be a part of the deal.

Iris - I adored her. She has spunk despite her issues and I love as the layers peel back and we learn about her life, her jobs, her loves. Lydia and Seth seem to be a couple, but are things always what they seem? I also liked Maureen, the rookie cop, and her determination despite the more senior officers discounting what she says.

This book was intense with lots of twists and turns that left me guessing as to what would happen next. The ending was the wowza I was hpoing for but overall it was still enjoyable!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture Audio for my advance audio copy in exchange for an honest review.

Oh my goodness this was wonderful!! I loved the ending so much and the twist through the whole story!!! I will 100% read this Author again.

Unfortunately, I did not find this story particularly thrilling or having any psychological twist as promised.

It was decent enough that I finished it and there was one good twist at end. But I wish the epilouge had been about what truly happened to Iris or her friend Dorcy as it is just alluded to and never confirmed.

Many of the characters were unlikable and unreliable which can be good for this type of story. But when you don't care for any of them then there are no real stakes to keep you interested in what happened or is happening to them.

Also I do not quite understand why they decided to tittle the story "The House Sitter". They were not house sitters at all by care takers for Iris and her house. My understanding of a house sitter is watching a house while the owners are away which was not the case here.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bootouture for an advanced audiobook for review.

This book had lots of layers that kept me on the edge of the seat waiting to see what would happen next. The character development and the unfolding of the story was great! There were a couple twists and turns that I did not see coming. I’m not sure that I loved the ending but overall, I would recommend this book!

Listened to the audiobook.
I received a free Advanced Reading Copy via NetGalley in exchange for a complete and honest review.
This book was fun! But that's all it was, it wasn't anything new or what I haven't seen before. It's something I've read 100 times.

Enjoyment: 3.5
Total rating: 3.71

The House Sitter is a compelling psychological thriller that keeps its fast pace throughout. Even though I didn't enjoy the story as much as I wanted, I appreciated how Kane kept the reader invested, throwing a sucker punch at the end of each chapter.

I highly recommend the audiobook; Kristin James' narration is well-paced and easy to follow.

Disclaimer: In exchange for an honest review, I am thankful to the publishers and NetGalley for providing a copy of The House Sitter.

Thank you to the publishers, author and NetGalley for the free copy of this audio book.

This was a quick, easy read with some decent twists! I wasn't completely in love with the main characters, but overall they were enjoyable. The narrator was pretty good.

The House Sitter tells the story of twenty something Lydia, who is a pregnant and unhappy waitress, and the elderly Iris, lonely following the death of her husband. The two strike up an unusual friendship and soon Lydia and her partner, Seth, are moving in to help with the upkeep of the house as well as caring for Iris. Iris treats them like family, but everything is not as it seems and one day, Iris disappears. The book gradually reveals who Lydia and Seth really are and we discover whether Iris is really as innocent as she seems.

The story is told from two timelines - before and after Iris' disappearance, which makes it easy to follow. We are drip fed useful pieces of information in order to piece the clues together and work out what is really going on.

I wasn't a huge fan of any of the main characters, but really liked rookie cop, Maureen Shaw, for her perseverance and tenacity.

The ending was pretty underwhelming and I'm sorry to say that this book just didn't grip me as I'd hoped that it would.

My thanks to NetGalley and the Publishers for sending me an ARC in return for an honest review.

3/5 stars.

Thank you Bookouture Audio for the advanced listening copy!

When down-on-her luck waitress Lydia meets Iris, and elderly widow with whom she instantly connects, it seems like fate is finally on her side. They strike up an agreement for Lydia and her husband, Seth, to move in with Iris and take care of her and her home. Things seem to go south, however, when Iris seems to call 911 from inside the house, and the dispatcher hears gunshots. Told in "before" and "after" timelines, we're taken through the search for Iris and the uncovering of each character's secrets.

I always really enjoy a book with multiple timelines and multiple perspectives. This one seemed a bit predictable to me-- I predicted a few of the main twists/surprises-- however there were still moments of the journey that caught me by surprise. Lydia was a great, sympathetic character that, as the reader, I rooted for. I found the narrator to be slightly annoying when playing Iris-- the "older woman" voice was not my favorite. Overall, this was a twisty con story with great potential and I'm definitely interested to see what Ellery Kane writes next.

Rating: 3

I listened to the audiobook version of this one. The narration was all over the place. Some parts were so good it gave me chills and others were so goofy it made me laugh when it wasn’t supposed to. I appreciate the narrator trying to give each character their own voice but unfortunately the voices were too jarring. Sadly, due to the narration I had to DNF about halfway through. I am still interested in the story, so I will check out the physical version when it releases.

Thank you so much Bookouture Audio for the advanced copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Ellery Kane got me back into reading earlier this year with her detective series, so I was thrilled to see a new story from her, and even more thrilled when I was approved for the advanced copy of the audio version!
Iris is a wealthy old widow who finds she needs help taking care of herself and her large home. When she meets Seth & Lydia, she hires them to work for her. When Iris goes missing, an investigation to her whereabouts is launched. What happened to Iris? Officer Shaw is determined to find out, no matter what it takes, what rules she might bend or break.

This is an intriguing story with quite a few twists and turns and was truly unputdownable!

Thanks #Netgalley and #bookoutureaudio for the advanced audio copy!