I'm torn on how to rate this book. Dirty Laundry was interesting ~ in the way that a bad reality show is interesting. Think Desperate Housewives or something like 90 Day Fiancee or similar. None of the characters seem to know their spouses in the way you'd think they would after being together or married for years. lIn the case of Mishti, who is an arranged marriage, that makes more sense, but not in the case of the other two relationships.

There wasn't one character that I liked. Not one. Even Mishti, while garnering sympathy from me, didn't rise to the levelof likeable. She was a doormat and just accepted whatever decree her husband handed down. Yes, she was raised in a different culture, but she just never even started thinking for herself. She was the closest there was to someone who wasn't a horrible person.

As for being a mystery or thriller, I wouldn't classify it that way. Maybe domestic fiction? Not really sure. The story moved rather slowly during the first 70 - 80% of the book, but then everything was wrapped up rather quickly, but without a satisfying ending, in my opinion.

I will say that I enjoyed the scenes of Mishti growing up in India and of her first boyfriend, Neel. This wasn't a terrible book. Please don't think I'm saying that. It just seemed confused to me and as if there was too much froth and not enough "meat", if you know what I mean.

Not every book is for every reader and evidently this wasn't really the book for me. Do not let that stop you reading. There is some good stuff here and I'm looking forward to seeing how this author gets on with her second book.

Thank you to the author, Netgalley, and the publishers for an ARC at my request. All thoughts are my own.

Dirty Laundry is a contemporary fiction story following three very different households in an Irish village. Ciara Dunphy displays the highlights of her domestic life on social media, with her two children and husband Gerry for her legions of followers, Mishti Guha, her Indian immigrant neighbor and best friend leads a much different life with her daughter and psychologist husband from her arranged marriage, Parth. Lauren Doyle lives in the house her grandmother left to her in this neighborhood with her long time boyfriend Sean, and their three wild, carefree children. Dirty laundry is about the mess that each relationship has going on, even when on the outside it may appear picture perfect. I really enjoyed this book because it had a great mix of mystery, deception, and portrays many different ways a family can be living completely different lives, just a few doors apart. If you are looking for an escape with just the right amount of suspense, gossip, and a reminder that things aren't always how we portray them, this may be just the book for you. Thank you to Net Galley and Random House books for an advanced copy of this book, all opinions are my own.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House Ballantine Books for gifting me a digital ARC of the debut novel by Disha Bose - 4 stars!

Three couples in the neighborhood - Ciara and Gerry are successful, and Ciara is the queen bee of the social set as well as an instagram influencer. Lauren and Sean just don't quite fit in, and Lauren can't help voicing her opinions.
Mishti and Parth, together thanks to an arranged marriage, have little in common except their daughter. When Ciara is murdered in her own home, all the secrets come out and it seems everyone has a motive.

While there are few likable characters here, this was still an entertaining story. Why does it seem that women can be their own worst enemies and we judge others on their choices? This book is sort of like watching Desperate Housewives (which I loved!) - everyone has secrets and is actively trying to hide them from everyone else, especially social media. Loved the title - there's a lot of dirty laundry airing here. Looking forward to more from this author.

Dirty Laundry is billed as being a domestic thriller. I would classify it as a murder/mystery. You know that one of the characters is murdered. This is given in the description for the book and happens early in the book. Then the book backtracks to tell the story of what led up to the murder. This book was a disappointment for me. Rather than being a thriller, it reminded me more of a story about a bunch of junior high or high school girls. There is a leader in the group, Ciara, and she causes problems for everyone else. This just wasn't the book for me. When I started reading, my kindle told me it would take me 4 1/2 hours to read. It ended up taking me a week!! I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.

I really liked this domestic thriller story! It’s about three sets of couples who are all neighbors, some friendly, some frenemies. It takes place in Ireland which I loved everything about! There are tons of suspenseful twists and turns in the story and without giving anything away, did NOT end the way I thought it would! If you’re into this type of book, definitely give this one a read!

When Ciara and her husband Gerry moved into the Irish village, they didn’t know how much of a splash they would create. Ciara is an Instagram star, an influencer who has an inbox filled with requests for brand collaborations and thousands of followers. She posts photos of her two adorable kids and the healthy meals she makes them, curating a perfect family life. But reality isn’t always how it appears on social media.

Neighbor Lauren and her partner Sean live simply with their three kids in the cottage that had belonged to Lauren’s gran. She had spent a lot of her childhood at her grandmother’s place, and she had inherited the cottage. Neither Lauren nor Sean work, so they are getting by on Lauren’s savings as they raise their kids. It was challenging for Lauren to move back to the small village where she grew up. Despite all the years that passed since she was in school. the town’s mean girls went right back to treating her badly, with their new leader Ciara stirring them up even more.

Mishti and her husband Parth have one daughter and a quiet life together. Parth had been working in Ireland already when he chose Mishti for his wife. Although she was reluctant to agree with the arranged marriage, she didn’t want to let her parents down, so she went along. Parth was successful and comfortably well-off, but Mishti has trouble fitting in with the village. Things get a little easier when she locates the Asian market and finds food that is she is familiar with. But still she feels cold a lot, it took her two years to learn to drive, and her husband treats her like a servant instead of a partner.

But when Ciara decides to make Mishti her friend, Mishti is thrilled and drinks up the attention. Lauren tries to befriend Mishti also, but at first Mishti is cautious. Lauren has made some comments on Ciara’s social media posts that Ciara has complained about. Mishti doesn’t want to get in the middle of that. But the more time she spends with Ciara, she wonders if Lauren isn’t right about some things.

And then one of these women ends up dead.

As the secrets are revealed about the marriages, motives become clear. There are a lot of people who could have wanted this woman dead. But what really happened to end her life?

Author Disha Bose has written a mischievous novel of domesticity as her debut thriller Dirty Laundry. The women’s relationships are the star of this book, and it’s their shenanigans that give this story it’s spine. It bounces back and forth in time a little, so it hooks you in early and then goes back and unfolds slowly, giving each woman a full backstory.

Dirty Laundry has a lot of unlikable characters, but it still has an intriguing story. There is a lot of drama, several secrets, some interesting twists, dirty dishes, charming kids, and of course, all kinds of dirty laundry. It’s a fun read, especially for fans of stories about a Queen Bee and her followers. I enjoyed this one. I did struggle some with one character’s hypocrisy, and that slowed down my reading, but overall I’m glad I read this one. I especially loved the international settings, both in Ireland and India, and I look forward to seeing where Bose takes me next.

Egalleys for Dirty Laundry were provided by Ballentine Books through NetGalley, with many thanks.

Three couples live with their children in a close-knit neighborhood in rural Ireland but their relationships are more complicated than close. Ciara is the fashionable popular wife and mother who maintains a blog about her perfect life and is the envy of almost every other woman in the village and the object of desire for all the men. Lauren is an outcast because of her parenting style and the way she dresses but mostly because Ciara has targeted her. Mishti is new to the village and to Ireland and is in an arranged marriage and struggles with fitting in. Almost everyone who knows Ciara has a motive to kill her but things are way more complicated than on the surface.
I feel like this book is well written for a debut. I found none of the characters likable at all but think that the author set them up this way so any one of them could be capable of murder. Their unlikable personalities and behaviors were pretty over the top. The twists were good - not too much and just the right amount of surprise. My criticism other than over the top characters is that I felt like there were some minor details that needed more explanation - I can’t give examples without spoilers and I don’t mind open endings but I just felt like some details were overlooked. In spite of this, I will look forward to future books from this author.
Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishers - Ballantine for the Advanced Reader Copy.

This was such an enjoyable first novel! I loved the multiple timelines and some of the characters I loved to hate! I would absolutely read another Disha Bose novel, and I hope I get the chance to!

Dirty Laundry by Disha Bose is a fantastic domestic suspense debut! A huge thank you to Penguin Random House, the author and NetGalley for the advanced digital copy of the book.

The storyline focuses on the inner circle of a group of women - Ciara, Mishti, and Lauren living with their husbands and children in a small Irish village. Ciara is the fomenter of the village. Her life looks perfect. She has a very loving husband, well behaved children and success as an influencer, but all is not as shiny and bright as she would have people believe.

Mishiti Guha is stuck in an unsatisfying marriage arranged by her parents in India. She is miserable living so far away from her home country and family. All she really wants is the perfect life she thinks her best friend Ciara has — being able to navigate the world freely with confidence and ease.

And then there is Lauren the bohemian outcast who doesn’t quite fit in with the rest of the village community. She is the aim of all the jokes, the laughingstock. But when she finds an improbable collaborator in Mishiti. She makes up her mind that she won’t be the neighborhood misfit anymore.

When Ciara is found dead inside her home it quickly reveals that her perfect life was actually all a sham. But who in the group had a motive and something to gain from her death?

Dirty Laundry is a dark, propulsive, twisty, highly entertaining page-turner filled with secrets, lies and betrayal! This is a book you definitely don’t want to miss, perfect vacation read.

I had hope for this book but I DNF it at 20%. Not only did all the characters sound exactly the same but it read as unhappy wives complaining about their lives, husbands, and each other. I had zero sympathy for any of them.

I loved this book! I enjoyed reading from all the characters POV instead of a single person. Reading ad if I was each character (Ciara, Lauren and Mishiti) really made the story more intriguing. I was hooked from the beginning and loved how everything came together in the end!

Thank you NetGalley , the publisher and author for my ARC!

I couldn't get into this one. I've read a lot of domestic thrillers and this one didn't stand out and felt a bit generic.

Ciara seems to have it all but she is not a nice person and to me is false. She is what I would call a mean girl but she is a wife, mother and friend sometimes.
Mishti Guha is her so called best friend.
Lauren Doyle is the mother next door and the brunt of most jokes.
Then Ciara is found murdered in her home.
We go back and forth to present and past and what leads up to the murder. The more I read, the more I disliked Ciara. Lots of secrets come out as well with all of them and their spouses.
I found it was an ok book. I didn't love it or dislike it. I really didn't care for any of the characters.
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the book to review,

I enjoyed this thriller a great deal! I loved the storyline of all the neighbors and how we got to hear about their lives in the past and future. There were a few surprises throughout the book and I was always trying to figure out the ending. It was a bit predictable at times, but overall it keep me on my toes. Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! I was captured by the very first page and you will be too! I loved the interesting, complex and quirky characters and the story was heart wrenching! I could not put this book down! Lots of twists and turns and an ending I did not see coming! I don't want to give anything about the story away and spoil it for others. I am hoping the author will wirte a part 2! Looking forward to reading more by this author!

Dirty Laundry shows what happens to those seventh grade mean girls: they grow up to be the even more calculating and bullying wives and mothers in the play group. Disha Bose's novel is set in a small Ireland village where three young mums often go together with their children to the playground. Ciara is a social media influencer; Mishti is from Calcutta and moved to the area after her parents arranged her marriage to a psychology professor; Lauren is living with her husband in a house she inherited. Amid all their responsibilities, Ciara still finds the energy to flirt with others women's husbands and create on so subtle tension among the group. Dirty Laundry is for readers who like juicy mean girl reads. Recommended as a beach read, but there is a warning: the energy these women put into their worries can be exhausting.

I really enjoyed this twisty neighborhood drama. In this book, we met three women — a social media influencer, a social outcast, and an immigrant from India to Ireland. We find out early on in the book that one of them turns up dead and from there, the book jumps back a month to tell the story of how we got there.

I think this book is marketed as a thriller but it’s more of a drama telling the story of these three women’s lives and relationships with each other and their families, with a slight mystery element (though the mystery really wasn’t central to the story).

Though I only found one of the characters to be likable, I thought the character development was strong enough that I could really understand them, even if I didn’t like them.

This book was compelling, thoughtful and entertaining. I highly recommend to fans of Sally Hepworth and Liane Moriarty.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for a free digital copy of Dirty Laundry by Disha Bose for an honest review. I was really looking forward to this one, but sadly could never really get into it. I just didn't care for any of the characters and found myself really not caring in the end. It felt like a lot of the drama was rehashed over and over and it got tiring and boring. I'd be interested in giving the next book by Bose a try. I think she definitely has writing talent!

In this crazy wild debut domestic suspense, DIRTY LAUNDRY —Disha Bose revolutionizes age-old ideas of love and deceit. Ciara Dunphy was the perfect wife with the ideal life. You would KILL to have it …

The novel is a dangerously accurate portrayal of new motherhood, secrets, and desires. A fitting title, as the characters' DIRTY LAUNDRY, is EXPOSED. Can they wash it away?

When complex female friendships are dysfunctional —they appear to look perfect on the outside, mainly—on social media.

We meet three different women in the same small Irish village (Dublin, Ireland) in this drama-filled soap opera that turns deadly.

An Irish woman and social media influencer with a perfect life (on the outside), and two other mothers in her town: Mishti Guha, an Indian woman trapped in an arranged marriage, and Lauren Doyle, made fun of for her hippie lifestyle.

CIARA: Influencer Ciara appears to have it all — immaculate home, handsome and wealthy husband, well-behaved (in public) children — but below the surface, she's struggling to maintain the facade. A year ago, she video-blogged about her six-step skin-care regimen, not expecting much, and it had gone viral. Ciara turned into an overnight sensation. Now she had everything a woman could desire—children and skin-care expertise. She needed to show she was in control even though she wasn't.

MISHTI: Mishti, Ciara's best friend (only friend)— moved to Ireland from Calcutta after an arranged marriage. She has a daughter, Maya. She is afraid to rock the boat and risk losing her new place in the inner circle. She feels so isolated, even in her home, that she repeatedly washed dishes to find a sense of purpose and somewhere to stand.

LAUREN: Lauren is the outsider who has yet to fit in, even though she grew up in the area. She looks at the other side, where the grass is greener. Their perfect life, and she catches herself staring through the window in the middle of the night.

Now the friendship between Ciara and Mishti was near collapse because of Lauren. Both women think they know Ciara's secrets. There is always an outsider with three.

Then Ciara is found DEAD.

The author digs deep into the darker nature of the character's relationships with friends, lovers, spouses, children, and family in this whydunit domestic suspense. The author uses a lot of social media, especially Instagram and WhatsApp groups.

Told from different women's POVs (then and now).

We find out early in the book the murder, and the remainder is more focused on the women. The plot examines her relationships with various people, some of whom did not have her best interests at heart.

It appears everyone has something to gain from Ciara's murder. Friends turn to foes and air each other's dirty laundry to avoid blame.

Nothing is ever as it seems.

My favorite part of the book was the character, Mishti, an immigrant, and how she experienced life as a parent, wife, and friend —in a different country.

GMA co-host Eva Pilgrim announced the selection of Bose's novel on the morning show, calling it "a dazzling debut that's like Big Little Lies meets Desperate Housewives."

Thank you to #RandomHouse via #NetGalley for a special invitation to read an ARC for review.

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Pub Date: April 4, 2023
My Rating: 3.5 Stars
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My oh my. I need to start off by saying that I could not stand Ciara this entire book and I am proud to admit it ( as I am sure many other are). I could not help but wonder when someone was going to just punch her in the face (preferably Lauren) and shut her ass up. But I guess they don't get down like that in Ireland. I feel like in this new era we are in where social media rules all that we all know a 'Ciara' type person, either personally, or in passing. Think Mean Girls, but with stays t home moms and play dates lol. Comparing Ciara to Regina George would be an insult to Regina, so that says a lot. I really enjoyed the characters, especially Mishti. All I wanted to do was hug her throughout and just tell her how worthy she is. I am not mad at the ending at all, I just wish there was more elaboration on Mishti, as I would have looooved to read what she had to say to her man afterwards. All in all 4 stars :)