4.5⭐

Make Me Clean is my first introduction to author Tina Baker and what a wonderful introduction it is.

As it's such a twisty, dark, thrilling, fun story.

That features Maria a full-time cleaner. Who has a real ability to remove all types of stains, particularly blood, brain matter and other bodily fluids. Oh, and the occasional body part too.

Which definitely comes in handy!

And in addition to being a very skillful cleaner, Maria looks after a lovely old lady named Elsie. Who has dementia and because of this Maria ends up burying Elsie's dead husband, Nick, in the back garden. For reasons that become apparent, as the story progresses.

So it's fair to say Maria isn't your average cleaner or carer and it soon becomes clear that she's fleeing from someone or something bad in her past and this is what drives her to act as she does.

And I found Maria to be a very intriguing and genuinely likable, flawed character. Who though extremely loyal to her customers and friends does have a tendency to kill people along the way. And with such hard to forget characters and storyline, Make Me Clean was a captivating read. That I found extremely hard to put down and I would definitely recommend it to others

Tina's writing just gets better and better.
Maria is a cleaner. She is also a special cleaner.
She has a few regulars, and one of them is Elsie. The relationship between these two is lovely. Unfortunately, Elsie has the onset of dementia and her nephew wants her in a care home so he can sell the house. Maria does all she can to keep Elsie at home.
Maria also cleans for Balogan. After a while, he is offering her another type of cleaning job.
Maria has quite a back story, and during the book, we find out about her past life and why she is the way she is.
Thanks to Netgalley and Serpents tail/Viper for the ARC in return for an honest review.

I loved Tina Baker’s previous book, Nasty Little Cuts and I’m very pleased that Make Me Clean has the same sharp prose, brilliantly drawn characters and acute observations.

This is Maria’s story and we move back and forth in time and as we learn more about her life, why she chooses to wear a buzz cut and how she came to be a domestic cleaner.

Maria’s life has been turbulent, to say the least. She’s lived in caravans, even for a while in the Basque country, and now she spends her nights in a small bedsit, or overnight caring for Elsie, an elderly woman with dementia for whom she also cleans.

Maria is both an exceptionally diligent cleaner and a caring person. Her clients like her because she gets on with the job and also offers a non-judgmental listening ear when they need to spill their woes. She gets on well with her clients because she isn’t obtrusive but at the same time she is there is they need to vent.

Maria really Likes Elsie, a wicked, funny old lady who might be suffering from memory issues, but who is still and excellent judge of character with a delightfully sarcastic turn of phrase. Sometimes she’s like a naughty child. At others she can be frightened and bewildered, but Maria loves Elsie and her cats. Maria and Elsie share a secret; but Maria wonders how long it will be before Elsie blurts it out.

I think what attracts me to Tina Baker’s writing is that she tells it like it is. She is not one for sugar coating and in this novel she deals with some dark themes including control, toxic masculinity and domestic violence. But into this dark and often menacing mix, she adds tenderness, caring and a lot of laughter.

Make Me Clean is a delicious concoction of marigolds and murder. Maria is a three dimensional character with warmth, She has been through a lot for one so young and she may now be poor and alone, but she is no-one’s pushover. If anything, her empathy for her clients gets her in more of the hot water that she’s so used to.

Verdict: Dark, sometimes brutal, honest and yet full of wit and warmth, Make Me Clean is another gripping read from Tina Baker.

Make Me Clean by Tina Baker started out strong but I felt that the storyline didn’t make much sense especially in the present time frame. It was chopping- not sure if it was an editing issue or not (as there were a few errors such as a section that was skipped).

However I like Maria as the cleaner and I loved her friendship with Elise and Brian- two of her clients. There were a few scenes in the book that had me laughing.

I think also I was expecting a dark gritty thriller book which this definitely wasn’t it. It was more based around Maria and her cleaning habits on how to eliminate bad people.

Thank you Netgalley, Serpents Tail/Viper/Profile Books for the digital copy of Make Me Clean for reviewing purposes.

A delightful trifle of a story with so many layers to dig into!

Maria is a cleaner. She has several regular customers; Elsie with dementia who she cares about deeply, Brian who is like a brother to her but has an ongoing hard time from his boss, and now a mysterious stranger whom she feels slightly attracted to and scared of at the same time.

All of her clients are hiding secrets, but what about Maria?

Loved this story from start to end, a great book to get stuck into.

✨Make me Clean by Tina Baker✨
Rating: 3.5⭐️

I struggled initially on how I felt about this book. I will say I did enjoy it, found it a bit slow towards the end. However, it picked up after the first few chapters It was fast-paced, an easy read and the chapters were short ( we all know I like short chapters 😂)

Maria is a cleaner, who uses her cleaning skills to commit murder and bury the evidence. The storyline was good, found myself thinking it had equaliser vibes (which I LOVE😍).

I loved the flashbacks to Maria as a young girl cut to the struggling women she was today trying to make ends meet. I will say I much preferred reading about Maria as a young girl as I didn’t really gel with her as a women.

However, loved how much of a survivor/ warrior, passionate and caring women she was. Her love for Elsie 👵was so heartwarming to read. Elsie was just amazing and funny, I mean you couldn’t not love her!

Thank you to NetGalley and vipper.books for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review. OUT ON 16th February 2023!

Maria is a cleaner in London. She spends every day cleaning peoples houses as she needs the money which is all cash in hand. Told from Maria’s POV with flashbacks that explain how she comes to be in this situation. Written in an easy read casual style this was an enjoyable caper with heart and dead bodies!

Briefly, one of Maria’s clients is Elsie, an elderly lady living on her own who is living with early signs of dementia. She is Maria’s favourite clean and they have formed a close bond. Maria also cleans for businessman Mr Balagan who has terrible neighbours and Brian who is unmercifully bullied by his boss. Maria isn’t your normal run of the mill cleaver. Maria is also a killer. We meet her first as she is burying Elsie’s husband in the garden under the rose bushes. She has killed before!

An engaging and extremely good read with quite a few shocks along the way with some proper gory bits! Wonderfully dark humour and an addictive story made this a very entertaining read. I really enjoyed it

Make Me Clean by Tina Baker is a strange story of Maria, the woman who cleans and sometimes does the odd murder or two, or three.
She will leave your home sparkling clean. Elsie is the old woman who has lost her memory and now her husband is dead and buried when Maria found her attacking Maria. Then there was Nick whom she cleaned for, who was frightened of his boss, until Maria removed him as well. Then of course there was her husband who she left in Spain, buried without his head but he was trying to kill her.
Then there is the mysterious Mr Balogan, who has the smart flat, who wants Maria to also do some special cleaning for him.
An interesting and entertaining story, sometimes very moving and quirky.
Highly recommended

This was a fun read with dark humor, Maria is a cleaner but not just ay cleaner, she cleans up bad people. Maria is a likeable character, she didnt set out to be a killer, she just cant stand horrible people. This was a quick read for me and I enjoyed it.

There aren't many books that I can say that had me completely bowled over but Make Me Clean is definitely one of them.
Maria is a domestic cleaner and works for several clients but her favourite is a lady called Elsie who suffers from dementia. Elsie lives at home with her four cats and a husband who shall we say isn't a very pleasant man.
Brian who is a shy man that is absolutely terrified and intimidated by his boss.
Then there is Balogan who completely unnerves her and is definitely hiding something.
Of course going into people's homes week in and week out Elsie uncovers all sorts of secrets but what is Elsie herself hiding from?
A deliciously delightful novel that really hits home.

Fan-bloody(quite literally)-tastic!

Where do I start with telling you how awesome this book is? This is exactly the kind of book that I love to read, one that will hold my attention from start to finish and have me on the edge of my seat throughout! The only problem now is that I have a massive book hangover!

Maria is a cleaner, she’ll leave your sideboards sparkling, your floors spotless and she’ll dispose of anything you need her to, including things like evil husbands! Maria may sound like a bad person, but she really isn’t. Everything bad she does is with good reason and you can’t help but love her! She’s up there with my favourite book characters of all time and I know I’ll really miss reading about her.

I love following the author Tina on social media, her posts always make me laugh and her humour really shines through in this book. The funny bits are balanced out well with the darker bits of the story. It is extremely well written and highly original, I’ve not read a book like this before, which is very refreshing.

The characters in this book were all very unique, their personalities emanated from the pages enabling me to imagine them all perfectly in my head. I’d love to see this book on screen!

Not many books have me rooting for the killer! Move over Joe Goldberg 😂 This is the first book I’ve read by Tina Baker and I’m extremely excited to go back and read her previous two books now!

A pulse-pounding, page-turning, makes me want to clean type read! Loved it!!!

Thank you to Tina Baker, Viper Books & NetGalley for my copy of this fabulous book!

I loved the clever premise of a cleaner who cleans up bad people too.

This was punchy and fun and Maria was very well written.

Who better as a killer than a cleaner!

Maria has been through a lot in her life and her temper can get the better of her. Maria cleans and often stays overnight with Elsie as she’s losing her memory. She loves Elsie as though she is family and will do anything for her.

She also cleans for Brian, who is picked on terribly by his boss. Can Maria help Brian so his life is made easier?

And then there is the elusive Mr Balogan. Maria cleans his house in the early hours of the morning whilst he is working. What exactly is his job?

I loved most of the characters in this story. Elsie’s nephew, Del was the exception, I couldn’t take to him at all.

Maria doesn’t set out to kill anyone, she’s got a heart of gold but can’t stand bullies.

This is a dark but often funny story that has been well written.

My thanks to Serpents Tail and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review.

Maria is a very good cleaner, she has had to be to clean up deaths that she had a hand in, but she is not a bad person, she has had a hard life. She also helps look after Elsie, an old lady with dementia.

We get to learn about the people Maria cleans for, how she gets to where she is now by way of flashbacks, which I am not usually a fan of but it works for this book.

Even though Maria is a killer you can’t help but like her and be on her side.

Think this is my favourite by this author.

I was initially feeling a little underwhelmed when I started this book, I didn’t get where it was going and felt it was lacking a bit of storyline but suddenly it picked up and I ended up whizzing through it. I loved her back story which added a new dimension to the book as it was such an interesting aspect to her life. I really felt for the main character and grew to really like her and her compassion, even though she may not be completely stable in her actions!

AD/PR PRODUCT 📚 BOOK REVIEW

When Maria was a little girl she did not expect to end up as a cleaner. However she always manages to make the best of a bad situation and she has had her share of those over her lifetime. She is a great cleaner who can clean up any kind of mess but burying the body of a client's husband is above and beyond her job description.

I think you need to go into this book with the right expectations. From the title and cover I was expecting a veritable bloodbath, however what actually unfolds is a character dissection. Maria is a woman of circumstance and there is no malice there, but in the heat of the moment a flash of something dark appears. We get to know our protagonist better through flashbacks and for me young Maria held my interest more. I did not find Maria's current day to day particularly thrilling whereas her past had me hooked. This is the first book I have read by Tina Baker but it has definitely makes me want to read more.

Thank you @viper.books and @tinabakerbooks for this early proof in exchange for a honest review. Make me Clean is published on 16th February.

#bookreview #bookrecommendation #makemeclean #tinabaker #viperbooks #murder #morebookslessalgorithm #bookproof #bookreviewer #bookstagram #readerofinstagram #bookstagrammer #uptoolatereadingWhen Maria was a little girl she did not expect to end up as a cleaner. However she always manages to make the best of a bad situation and she has had her share of those over her lifetime. She is a great cleaner who can clean up any kind of mess but burying the body of a client's husband is above and beyond her job description.

I think you need to go into this book with the right expectations. From the title and cover I was expecting a veritable bloodbath, however what actually unfolds is a character dissection. Maria is a woman of circumstance and there is no malice there, but in the heat of the moment a flash of something dark appears. We get to know our protagonist better through flashbacks and for me young Maria held my interest more. I did not find Maria's current day to day particularly thrilling whereas her past had me hooked. This is the first book I have read by Tina Baker but it has definitely makes me want to read more.

This is a tale about Maria; who not only cleans your home, but, who can rid you of people in your life if they are causing you pain. Unfortunately, I struggled to get into it and found it a tad repetitive towards the end.
Overall, an OK read for me, but, an easy read and I may be in the minority in not engaging with it.

Thanks to NetGalley and Serpents tail/Viper/Profile books for the opportunity to preview.

4⭐️

Maria is a cleaner, she’s dedicated and very efficient at her work, we meet her quirky clients. Maria is also a killer, she’s not apologetic about it. We discover her life story which helps explain the choices she makes.

Told from Maria’s pov It’s got a lighthearted nonchalant chatty writing style, making it easy to be ushered into it, get cosy, put your feet up, get ready for the ride is the vibe it gives.

I immediately liked Maria, feeling sorry for her present situation.
Elsie who has dementia is a sweetie,lovely to see how much Maria loves her, making her a priority in her life.
The book neatly balances endearing and dark.

The storyline is unique enough to capture my interest, it’s got a good pace. It has a gentle dark humour. There’s potential for a sequel.

I enjoyed it, if you’ve enjoyed the previous books I think you’ll enjoy this one too.

I have read and enjoyed this suthors previous books so was looking forward to this one.

In Make Me Clean we meet Maria. She is a domestic cleaner who really likes to go the extra mile for her clients. Elsie has dementia and Maria takes on the role of carer as well as cleaner. With Brian, he loves to gossip and hates his boss. And then there is Balogan. A definitely shady character whose neighbours are causing him trouble.While following Maria round her day-to-day jobs, we are also slowly told of her past and how she ended up where she is and doing what she does.

Maria is a great character and I really liked her relationship with Elsie. This was a pretty dark story with some good touches of humour. I enjoyed how Maria's past and present were weaved together and I would love yo know what happened next!

Having read Call Me Mummy and Nasty Little Cuts and loving them, I definitely wanted to read Make Me Clean. Not disappointed.

It's a clear progression from Call Me Mummy - darker, twistier and the characters are *chefs kiss*

I have zero knowledge of the travelling community and so can't comment on any accuracies there but the sense of being trapped, impending disaster and just general claustrophobia is wonderful writing.

Favourite character has to be Bologan though. Nasty piece of work to be sure but he did help Maria save herself in the end. Sort of.

Great book and Tina is now a definite favourite author with Make Me Clean added to my list of recommendations when anyone asks - Read anything good recently?

Thanks so much for letting me read an advance copy!