Domestic dramas/suspense always hit the spot for me and this one was no exception. I loved the format of this book, starting off with the morning of finding a neighbor dead in her house and then going back the month before to the events that lead to it. We get the POVs of three women: Ciara, Lauren and Mishti, all three mothers with their own unique struggles to get through with their children, significant others and the little neighborhood they all share. I enjoyed each woman’s POV, but Ciara’s was the most entertaining. She was absolutely HORRIBLE (she’s supposed to be) and I found her completely fascinating. I liked the flashbacks into each woman’s past as we got closer to the morning of the murder. That really added more suspense to each character. My only complaint was the ending. It wasn’t a bad one, but I had my hopes set on a certain outcome for the two women who didn’t get murdered and I was a little disappointed that it didn’t play out that way. But overall, a really interesting domestic suspense full of cliques and mommy drama and martial issues!
TW: infidelity, miscarriage, suicide

Thank you NetGalley and Ballantine for an advanced digital reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review

So many unlikeable characters but I love that in a domestic thriller! Talk about dirty laundry, the three main couples had plenty! Very entertaining!
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

3.5 neighborhood stars

The people in this neighborhood are interesting but unlikeable! Throw in a murder early in the book and I couldn’t help but be intrigued!

The first couple up is Ciara and Gerry, she shows everyone her perfect life through a social media filter. Her kids are adorable, her house is gorgeous, and she’s got a great marriage. If you dig a little deeper, there’s trouble in paradise though.

Then we have Lauren and Sean, raising their three kids in the neighborhood Lauren has known her whole life. She’s always felt like an outsider and now Ciara has all the other moms on her side. I did like that Lauren was not afraid to stand up to Ciara’s bullying.

Mishti and Parth are the other couple, an arranged Indian marriage, they are in Ireland now and raising their daughter. This is not an arranged marriage that has led to romance and deep love. Mishti is best friends with Ciara and Mishti can’t help but yearn for a life more like Ciara’s.

As the dirty laundry starts to come out on all of these neighbors, I wondered who would be left standing at the end and who was a murderer. This one made for an entertaining read, and I am really glad I don’t live in this neighborhood!

I appreciated this book for the attention to pacing and the writer's ability to tell a good story. The writing style often felt a bit clunky to me but all in all, it was an entertaining read.

Unfortunately this wasn’t for me. Nothing exciting really happened until towards the end. Part two of the book was at 84% in? I was really bored reading and it felt like a task to finish it. The characters were so bland and shallow. The plot was not thrilling at all in my opinion. I’m sorry.

Dirty Laundry held my interest throughout most of the book but fell flat for me in the end. I was waiting for SOMETHING to happen but it never really did? I love a neighborhood, unlikable mean girl drama and this book gave me that.

Thank you to NetGalley for a copy of the e-ARC I’m exchange for my honest review.

What I loved about this book:

1. I loved this debut book by Disha Bose - I can't wait to see what she does next!
2. Easy to read neighborhood drama,
3. Loved the ending with a twist!!

What I wished were different:
1. Not much - the book was exactly as advertised.
The influencer part of the book was frustrating but seems real to life.
I disliked the characters but that made the book realistic!

Publish date is April 4, 2023
Thank you Ballantine Books and Netgalley for this early read.

What a delectable domestic suspense this was, and even though there is a body at the bottom of the stairs we do not know how or why. I felt this was more character driven than plot...And what a cast of characters they are. It's no wonder Ciara is found the way she is. (Not a spoiler as it is in the blurb and the first pages of the book.) Ciara is a character you love to hate and boy did I loathe her. Then we have hippy dippy Lauren and the Calcutta, India transplant, Mishti. All three of them have husbands and personalities that I found lacking.

I liked that the book is told from all the women's points of view and that there are then and now sections of the book. I found the story engaging and it held my interest throughout. I don't usually enjoy books where there is no one to root for but I liked this one. The ending was surprising if a little sad and I love books that can make me feel something. 3.5 stars rounded up.

This was an intense thriller that was all over the place. Lots of pettiness and jealousy but made the story entertaining. Loved it.

I think if The Real Housewives and Desperate Housewives had a baby this would be it. It shows that you never know what’s really going on behind closed doors.
Three couples living in the same small Irish village but living very different lives. Ciara and Gerry live the wealthy and extravagant lifestyle, while Lauren and Sean are more crunchy granola, free spirit parents who don’t feel like they fit in with the other neighbors despite the fact that Lauren has lived in the village her whole life. Then there’s Mishti and Parth, who are in an arranged marriage and it is not going well.
As each relationship has its own struggles, the women find themselves in their own struggles as their friend group, which includes the other “yummy mummies “ from the village try and keep up with each other.
When one of them is found dead and so many of them have a motive, who did it?
The story is told in a linear fashion with flashbacks from each character as to how they got to the point they are now.
The ending got ramped up my adrenaline kicked up a notch. This is how a domestic thriller is supposed to be done!! Can’t wait to see what the author writes next!
Thanks to Ballantine Books and NetGalley for this eArc in exchange for my review.

Unpredictable and unlikeable. I won't judge a book based on an unlikeable character, but let's face it, there's nothing to like about an influencer swathed in entitlement. The book, however, held my attention and kept me guessing to the end. There were a few surprises that had me saying, "What?!" I enjoyed the read, and will look for Disha Bose's next novel.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House/Ballantine Books for the ARC.

3.5 stars rounded up!

“BEHIND THE FILTERS, REALITY IS LESS POLISHED”

Three neighbors, all with imperfect lives…

Ciara Dunphy presents a picture perfect life on Instagram. Her brand began with skin care, but she has become the Queen Bee of the neighborhood, and her circle of friends now seek out mothering advice from the mother of two little ones. Only her husband knows how badly she is really coping behind closed doors-but she won’t allow him to help.

Fortunately, for Mishti Guha, the demure wife of an Immigrant from Calcutta, Ciara welcomed her into her clique.
She has been perpetually COLD since moving to Ireland, and persistently lonely, since her husband, chosen for her by her well meaning parents, offers her no warmth or companionship. At least she has her daughter, Maya.

Mishti may be from a different continent now, but she immediately recognizes that the “rules of engagement” between women are the same in Ireland as they were back home. It doesn’t take her long to realize that her other neighbor, Lauren, is the outcast in their community. She knows who she should align herself with.

Dressing in long floating skirts, paired with brightly patterned blouses, Lauren doesn’t dress like the others, and her three small children happily running half naked in her yard make her the butt of cruel jokes. But, she speaks her mind, and holds her ground. She isn’t afraid of Ciara.

Now, one of them is dead, and anyone could be to blame.

Although we don’t know who is responsible until the last 20% or so, this ISN’T really much of a murder mystery.

It IS an entertaining novel of domestic suspense, about three women, trying to hide their dirty laundry”. 🧺

SOAPY and SUDSY, what makes this one a bit UNIQUE is that Mishti is in an arranged marriage which isn’t like the arranged marriages of friends and family back home, but also isn’t like the marriages of her new contemporaries either. The contrasts are interesting.

3.5 stars rounded up for bringing something new to the “neighborhood genre”!

This is a debut from author Disha Bose, who was born in India but now resides in Ireland, lending authenticity to the story.

I WILL be watching for her next novel!

A buddy read with DeAnn. Check out her review to see if she enjoyed it too!

Expected Publication date: April 4, 2023.

Thank You to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for the invitation to read this! It was my pleasure to offer a candid review!

I found this to be an interesting read for the most part. I had some struggles with some of the characters but that's probably expected. Ciara seems to have the perfect life & family according to her Instagram posts & followers. Of course, based on the title, you can figure out that life behind closed doors can be very different. Ciara is very self-centered (not surprising as she is an influencer & mean girl at heart) & very hard to like. Her "friends" give bad vibes all around. It's hard to read adult women behaving like teenagers but unfortunately I think that aspect is spot on. Women can be very unkind to each other. As the synopsis states, Ciara is found dead. This happens in the beginning of the book. Then we go back to the beginning of the month it happens & retrace everyone's story & why they might have the motive to kill her. I liked the style this book was written in by using this method. Overall this is a good book.

Thanks to the publisher & NetGalley for advanced copy in exchange for my honest review

Dirty Laundry is a debut mystery thriller from Disha Bose. I love checking out new and new to me authors to find those hidden gems.

With the synopsis, I was definitely interested in what this domestic suspense was going to bring. What I got were a bunch of unlikable characters that really had no respect for one another or their marriages. I have a love/hate relationship with unlikable characters. Sometimes they can really pull me in and make the story and other times they leave me feeling meh. Unfortunately, this book was the latter for me. Luckily, this story read quickly so I still kept chugging along, even though the characters weren't for me.

With a story that gives you the outcome early on and then you go back in time and work your way up to the present, we got to see how everything fell into place for Ciara. She was the woman that apparently had it all, but she was probably the character I despised the most. Along with the men and her "friends", I just was grasping at straws hoping for more.
The story itself was ok, it was just the characters and their execution that left me unsatisfied and skimming rather than being fully immersed.
I would still check out what else Ms Bose offers in the future as I liked the setting and by the premise, it had potential.
While the book wasn't for me, it may work for others if they like unlikable characters and seeing how each marriage in the story affected each individual.

If the synopsis of a book has anything to do with an influencer falling from grace..I’m in. This book did not disappoint.

I often get annoyed with thrillers because of the predictable plot lines and one dimensional characters. Dirty Laundry was definitely anything but flat with it’s cast of unlikeable characters. If you’re going to have highly unlikeable characters..at least make them interesting. And Disha Bose did just that.

I don’t want to give too much away, but I will say this: this is not your typical domestic thriller. I highly recommend picking this one up when it hits shelves on April 4, 2023.

This one was a SLOW BURN for me. Though the characters seemed well thought out and dimensional most of the book happened before I felt like anything like a big twist was revealed.

Not a terrible book just a little slow for my liking.

I was looking for a quick, scandalous reas, and this didn’t disappointed.

Ciara is a popular mommy influencer living in a small Irish village. Her frazzled neighbor, Lauren, has been at odds with her for years. Their other neighbor, the quiet and agreeable Mishti, is caught in the middle. Tragedy strikes, but everyone has a motive, and no one is left unscathed.

First off, pretty much every character other than Mishti is unlikeable. Even Mishti isn’t especially sympathetic. This is a book about people not knowing what they want and destroying lives in the process of figuring it out. Everyone makes bad decisions, everyone gets in their own way. No one is particularly innocent, although there is arguably one true villain, and you’ll find yourself not being sorry about what happens to that person.

Secondly, I found (as always) the non-linear timeline to be a bit distracting. Pay close attention to the dates of each chapter; otherwise, you’ll find yourself asking when something happened and questioning the order of events.

The pace is quick, but the writing isn’t anything special. It makes for a compelling beach read, and I truly wasn’t sure who the “bad guy” was until the very end, which is always exciting. The end felt a bit suddenly, and there were a few threads I wish had been further fleshed out, especially Parth, Lauren’s final movements, and Gerry, but they are generally unimportant.

Lastly, I wish the author had done a bit more with Mishti. She’s the only especially dynamic and interesting character, but her inclusion seemed a bit token as the focus was fundamentally on the feud between Lauren and Ciara. I felt it was a missed opportunity to do more with a deeply complicated woman.

I’d recommend Dirty Laundry, but manage your expectations!

Enjoyable read. Full of drama, twists and turns. Who do you trust? Who’s using who? How much can you take before you break? Well written characters and plot with great antagonism between them building tensions.

OOOOO what a fabulous soapy (pun intended) novel!!! Of COURSE we all hate the dearly departed. She royally sucked. There was no redeemable quality about this puddle of miserable entitlement. I wanted to throttle her myself. I liked Lauren but loved Mishti and was heartbroken over her marriage and her jerkhole husband. I pretty much hated Sean - he was a total dirtbag and Lauren may need some serious therapy for issues from her childhood. Okay - the entire cast of characters is pretty much nuts - except Gerry and I really enjoyed the last few pages starring him ;) I loved this book!! It truly was a "stay up half the night to finish" book and while I was sad to finish it - I'm excited to find a new author to look for!! This honest review was offered in exchange for a digital copy from Netgalley.

Loved this domestic thriller about a group of women who all have their own secrets. The characters are all self absorbed and unlikeable, but have reasons for their behavior. The story centers around three couples who are all harboring their own secrets while trying to look as though their lives are perfect. When one of the women is murdered, all the neighbors are suspected because she wasn’t especially nice to anyone. Fast paced and well written this book was impossible to put down. I will definitely be watching for more books from this author.