This novel has been described as “Downton Abbey meets Ocean’s Eleven,” as a group of current and former housekeepers (and others) of a British mansion in 1905 work together to plan a massive heist of all the contents of the mansion during a costume ball.

Sadly, the execution of the book does not match the fun concept, as the book was kinda boring and confusing. There are so many characters with complicated backstories and motives, and I often found myself confused as to who was who and what they were doing and why. The book did get more interesting as it got further in, but even the heist itself felt kind of confusing and hard to picture.

Thank you NetGalley and Graydon House Books for sending me this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.
“The night of London’s grandest ball, a bold group of women downstairs launch a daring revenge heist against Mayfair society in this dazzling historical novel about power, gender, and class.”
I was drawn to this book because it seemed like a combo of Downton Abbey and Ocean’s 11/Ocean’s 8 – all of which I loved. Unfortunately, when I started reading it, I just found it a bit dry and hard to get into. I also found it a bit confusing and I felt like I had been dropped in the middle of something and couldn’t really follow. I only read until 11% until I put it away, intending to come back later, but I never found the interest to do so.
Because I have to give a star rating, I'm giving this two stars here, because I think the premise is promising. Because I didn't finish it. I will not post this review anywhere else.

The Housekeepers was an interesting read, which follows many previous housekeepers of Park Lane who are setting out to rob the home of all its belongings. While the story line is interesting, and I was intrigued to see how all of the characters connected, I found it took a long time for the story to pique my interest and it felt very long.
Overall, it was an okay story, with more details than it needed.
Thank you NetGalley and Grayson House Books for the ARC.

Not only was this a good story but it will make a GREAT movie. Hopefully someone will think of that and proceed. I enjoyed the characters so much! Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher

If you combine Ocean's 11 (or maybe Ocean's 8?) with Downton Abbey, you might end up with a book something like this. I really liked the premise and several of the characters, but it had SO much going on it distracted from the plot, in my opinion.

Thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for the complimentary digital review copy of this title.

The premise of this book sounds amazing. I'm for a good heist book. However, I just couldn't get into the story. I was struggling in the beginning. It wasn't holding my attention like I thought it would. I'm bummed about this one.

I loved this book! It's well-written, enjoyable, and a great read. The author did a great job of writing in a way that captures the readers attention, and makes you not want to put it down until you're finished! Alex Hay's writing is top notch. I would highly recommend it!

This was a really interesting historical novel, that I would definitely recommend trying!

I received an e-ARC from the publisher

Wonderful idea for a book and fascinating to read how this heist is put together by the unassuming housekeepers. Not my favorite read of 2023 but one I would recommend to friends who want to read something a little different.

When a housekeeper, with a somewhat shady past is dismissed from her position from one of London's elite mansions, she decides to unite with other women each wronged in their own way, to exact her revenge and plots to relieve her former employers of their wealth. Definitely is a blend of the traditional heist ala Oceans 11 and a touch of Downton Abbey. I think it is perfectly readable and has a little bit of everything-mystery, suspense, action and historical fiction. I think we will see this adapted to the big or little screen soon.

The Housekeepers by Alex Hay is a fantastic, genre-crossing novel and one of my favorite mystery reads of the year. A combination of historical fiction, mystery, and tragedy, this book really captures and holds the reader’s attention. Set in 1905 London, the book introduces you to Mrs. King, a woman who has just been fired from her job as a housekeeper at Park Lane, one of the grandest houses in the town after being caught in a delicate situation following the death of the master of the house, Mr. de Vries. Soon you’re introduced to a cadre of characters: Mrs. Bone, Winnie, Hephzibah, and Jane 1 and 2, a group led by Mrs. King to pull off the greatest heist that the town has ever seen. But everything is not what it seems, there are secrets in all the cracks of Park Lane, and everyone is hiding something.

The Housekeepers is a fun mystery read, where you discover something new about the characters and chip away at the great mystery and challenge with each chapter. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and found that although there were a lot of characters to keep track of, I could follow them easily because they all had such distinct personalities and stories. Hay’s writing and character development is incredible, and throughout the chapters of the book you can slowly see the characters develop, change, and grow.

I recommend this book to fans of mystery and historical fiction. Hay’s writing is fantastic, and I look forward to reading more of his work in the future. This is a great opportunity to read a novel about a team of housekeepers and other women exacting justice for the deep wrongs that have been committed.

Thank you to NetGalley, Harlequin Trade Publishing, and Graydon house for this ARC. All opinions are my own.

This is a fun read, but you need to pay attention. With a large cast of characters, each with their own motives, and twists and turns along the way it's a full story. I found myself having to reread and really focus to keep up with this story.
Overall it is a good story with a great cast, however please be sure to read this when you want have time to really focus on it.

Wow. I knew from the description alone that I had to read this novel. However, I did not expect the entertaining and thrilling book that I got. If you combined Downton Abbey and Ocean’s 8, you would have The Housekeepers. And that kept me hooked from start to finish.

This is a novel in the Ocean’s style, meaning that there are a lot of characters to keep track of- this “cast” is full of fascinating women who all have their own stories to tell. And if I’m being honest, their life stories (and motivation to do the heist) drew me in as much as the heist itself. As yes, you will notice that I said women; the men are very much in the background and quite frankly, that gives the story more room to breath.

The only slight “warning” I have for this novel is to read it in as few settings as possible, as the heist has a lot of moving parts and you will need to be paying attention to keep track of it. I read this in two settings, roughly 50% in one go, and I felt like that let me follow all of the action.

Finally, I didn’t expect the twists and turns throughout. Or I should say, I expected there to be some but not the specific ones that come along. Hay does a fantastic job of weaving the threads throughout so that once it happens, you can see how we got there without standing out along the way.

The Housekeepers is a book that is hard to define. It is historical fiction, has some suspense and mystery and is sometimes described as a thriller. Mrs. King is the housekeeper in the grandest home in Mayfair. She was not a regular housekeeper, but a woman born into the world of thieves and con-artists. When she is suddenly fired by the new mistress based on lies, she decides she is going to get what she is due. She recruits a group of women to join her in her revenge. All of them have a reason for joining her crew in the thefts. As the book and plan proceed, secrets come to light and it is hard not to root for Mrs. King and her crew.

One reviewer, mandylovestoread, describes The Housekeepers as Downton Abbey meets Oceans 11, which is a perfect description. I really wanted to love this book, the synopsis sounded great, but alas, I just liked this one. The book is set in London at the turn of the twentieth century. With a large, grand home and the master of the house recently deceased, his daughter is ready to become a standout in society. The grand ball, most of which was planned by Mrs. King before she was sacked, is her time to shine. She has an elegant guest list, giving Mrs. King her chance to implant one of her crew, an actress. The characters were an eclectic group and added some humor to the story. I was enjoying the planning of the heist, the preparations and plans, but then it fell flat. The ending was not what I was expecting and somewhat a letdown. Themes include the class system, difficulties for domestic service workers, wealth distribution, social status and inequality all set at the turn of the 19th century with a heist caper. I enjoyed the writing, the character development and most of the story, so I will try another book by Alex Hay, but this ended up only being a 3 star book for me.

"The Houskeepers," by Alex Hay is a good old-fashioned heist story set in 1905 London. Soon after the death of the master of the house, housekeeper, Mrs. King, is fired from her job by her employer's daughter, the new head of the house. This does not seem to overly concern Mrs. King, as she has already hatched a plan to rob the daughter blind. Working closely with her friend and benefactor, Mrs. Bones, Mrs. King proposes to rob every item in the house of her former employer on the night of a grand ball to be held at the residence. Recruiting other former and present housekeepers, Mrs. Bones and Mrs. King plan everything.

Expected twists and turns come into play in this "Ocean's Eleven" like novel. All the main characters have thier own motivations and back story that drives their participation. Unfortunately, my attention wandered during parts of the story and I often found myself unable to fully sympathize with some of the decisions made through the story. Overall it is a fair read, but perhaps more tame than I had anticipated.

Thank you Netgalley and Graydon House for the ARC

This was incredible and exactly the kind of heist story I wanted. So impressed by this debut. Thanks to HarperCollins Canada for an ARC!

This one was pitched as Downton Abbey meets Ocean’s 8 and it was as delightful as that sounds.

I was very ready for a fun heist book but this curious and conniving cast of characters and the intricacies and nuance in the plot, not only in terms of the heist details but the wider personal and societal issues as well, were so beyond my expectations.

Surprisingly, this book only really takes place over one month but so much happens and you get immediately sucked into it. I could feel the danger each character was up against and the author keeps us guessing as each of these characters are hiding bits of their backstory and motivation so we only get the whole story nearer to the end.

Strong women working together to right social wrongs. Strong women coming to terms with their individual pasts to create a path forward. Either or both of those are strong concepts for a compelling story. The Housekeepers by Alex Hay is entertaining but has too many subplots and takes too long to bring all the threads together. This book is concepts with potential that, for me, do not quite attain their promise.

Read my complete review at http://www.memoriesfrombooks.com/2023/12/the-house-keepers.html

Reviewed for NetGalley.

Very interesting read! The book pulled me in from the start and I wanted to see how it ended. Try it and see if this book is for you!

This “cozy mystery with an edge” is perfect reading for anyone craving upstairs/downstairs intrigue. The writing is funny, smart and accessible. I will definitely recommend this to many customers during this busy holiday.

A digital copy of this book was provided to me by NetGalley, Harlequin Trade Publishing and Graydon House. The opinions are my own and freely given.

This book centers around two former housekeepers of the same house, who plot and plan to steal EVERYTHING from the house. Along with former and current employees of the home, they make big, big plans.

I have to admit, I requested this book because I am in love with/obsessed with Downton Abbey. The characters in this book are nothing like any of them, and I had a hard time "falling in love with them". Once the heist actually came to fruition, the story picked up some, but I struggled most of the way through it. While the two housekeepers were gathering all the accomplices and putting them into place, I had a hard time following. I did put this book down and read 17 other books before I picked it back up. Many of the people involved in this story have a secret, some of the secrets connect them to each other, but not all.

Overall, this was a decent story, I just didn't love it.

Thank you NetGalley, Harlequin Trade Publishing and Graydon House.