Once upon a time, Steven and Regina Rytter lived in a grand house and enjoyed life’s finer things. Then Regina got sick, terribly terribly sick, and her husband gave her many many pills, trying to make her better. He hired a cleaner,Karla, to make sure their house was always spotless. But Karla saw cracks in this facade, and also knew what one piece of their wealth could do for Bill, her landlord, and his young daughter, Sally. Add Jennica who would quickly become Steven’s new “ friend” to the mix, and this tale was not destined to have a happily ever after ending.
Well now, this was a real page turner. Every character had characteristics that made me feel sorry for them, and then bam, each of them would do something that convinced me that they were, shall we say not really very nice people. The funniest part to me, probably the only funny part, was how Jennica interacted with her cat. Priceless.
We know from the beginning that things do not end well for the Rytters, but how and why the end up dead is unknown. I flew through these chapters, told from the POVs of Bill,Karla,Jennica, and people as they were interviewed by the police.
The ending was probably the only thing that I didn’t love. I understood one death, but had trouble understanding what led to the other. That’s just my opinion though and overall, The Woman Inside kept me engaged.
I was a fan of A Nearly Normal Family and this was a solid second book.

Dear The Woman Inside,
You are part thriller, part police procedural, and I really loved listening to you. You kept me guessing, and I absolutely loved that. You had so many moving parts, and different narrators that at times it took me a few moments to orient myself in the story, but I was continuously wondering what was going to happen next. Everything fit together so perfectly, yet unexpectedly, and I lost myself in your intrigue!

Edvardsson is a Swedish writer who has written many children's books in Swedish. His first book published in the USA and Canada was "A Nearly Normal Family" and it is an Indigo 'Heather's Pick". This new release is another crime fiction book. A couple (a doctor and his ill wife) is killed in their home and Bill, who is the single father of an 8-year-old girl, is the main suspect. To help pay the bills he had taken in a border, Karla, who works part time as a housekeeper for the couple. The story of the characters lives and dreams are told, interspersed with transcripts of the police interrogations of the people who knew the couple. This is a slower suspense story with morality questions and a good recommendations for mystery fans who are not looking for a lot of action. I enjoyed it.

This was my first read by the author and I enjoyed it. It started out rather slow and difficult to follow but I did keep up. The book is told with multiple POV and in a back and forth timeline between now with the police investigation and before. Sometimes it was tough to keep up everywhere. I did feel like the author did a great job with the multiple character development and combining the storyline arcs. What was at first kind of confusing was weaved together very well by the end.

Thank you to the author, Celadon Books, and NetGalley for the advance reader copy. I’m leaving my honest review.

Thank you so much Celadon Books and NetGalley for my eARC!

I also received an ALC and listened along side my eARC. The audiobook included an author's note and I REALLY wish it was included in the ebook. It brought SO much meaning and insight to the book to me. Having that insight on what the term "A Family Tragedy" means and the inspiration of the book pushed this from an average read to a really good read for me!

As for the story itself, I liked it! I loved the writing style and the pacing. I'm starting to think this Nordic style is really made for me. I enjoyed each of the characters, their back stories, and flaws that made them each seem real and believable. This was a slow-burn suspense, but I couldn't listen/read quick enough. The plot itself definitely had parts that have been done before, but I had no idea how each of the storylines would come together. I was surprised how everything unfolded, but I didn't love the wrap up. Ugh, while the author's note made me LOVE the concept of the book, it also made me want a different ending.

I LOVED A Nearly Normal Family. Can't wait to see what M.T. Edvardsson comes out with next!

I absolutely loved this whodunnit, with multiple POV and complex characters. One thing I really love about a book like this is getting to know the backgrounds of each character, so you can understand how they are driven by personal experiences you may not uncover until later in the story. So while this is a thriller/mystery, I feel like it has that element of family drama that makes it just that much more juicy of a story.

The pacing was spot on, and allowed me to get absorbed in the story. And I really love how there were police reports, newspaper articles and interviews from police interrogations interspersed throughout, so fans of police procedurals might enjoy this one as well.

Definitely consider this for a summer thriller! It would be an excellent book club selection for a character-driven murder mystery.

While admittedly I didn’t read the author’s previous work, A Nearly Normal Family, so have no baseline to compare it to, I will definitely be checking it out because I enjoyed this one a lot!

Out now, The Woman Inside by M.T. Edvardsson is a five star thriller set in Sweden. Grab yours now!

Bill is having a hard time providing for his daughter Sally since his wife died, so he offers a room to law student Karla. Their lives intertwine living in the same space, and Sally grows close to Karla. Bill is doing everything he can to make enough money so they don't have to move, and in a moment of caring, Karla does something she shouldn't to help him out. But that one thing starts a string on events that no one saw coming.

Steven and Regina are a rich couple Karla cleans for, trying to earn money while studying for her law program test. Regina has been sick for over a year, barely able to get out of bed, but she tries to befriend Karla since she never sees anyone else. Steven is a doctor, always away and not taking care of his wife.

When she was alive, Melinda, Bill's wife, had a close group of friends, but years ago there was a falling out with Jennica over a misunderstanding. In a moment of weakness, Bill reaches out to Jennica to tell her what he really thinks about how she treated Melinda while she was sick. Jennica's life isn't much better than Bill's, but she's met a man and things are looking up.

Throughout the novel, we know that the couple has died, but we don't know how or by who. The chapters switch between Bill, Karla, and Jennica with some police interrogations thrown in now and then. We see the story leading up to the deaths unfold, never being sure of motive or opportunity. The end had a twist I didn't see coming, although I did have my theories. At some points, it wasn't clear what the different storylines had to do with each other, but they intersected nicely in the end.

All in all, a great thriller with a twist to be believed. With multiple viewpoints, it doesn't become confusing. Bill is a sympathetic character, Karla is just trying to make it through, Steven is charismatic, Regina is alone and clueless, and Jennica wants her happy ending. Will Bill be considered a suspect, will Karla move back with her mother, and will Jennica's happiness bubble burst? You'll have to read it to find out!!

Well written with a lot of twists and turns.Enjoyed from beginning to end an author I will be following.#netgalley #celadonbooks

A good thriller always gets me pumped up. I enjoyed this title from Edvardsson. It was not too original but the writing and setting were great. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. I'm rating it three stars.

We start with finding dead bodies, then we learn who, what, where, when and why, but not until the very end.
First we get to know the main characters, Bill the widower and his daughter Sally are barely getting by and need to take in Karla, a boarder, to not lose their home. Karla cleans the home of Steven and Regina. Regina is an invalid and Steven is dating Jennica who has a job of acting as psychic to those who call for advice.

Jennica and Bill have a past relationship that spills over into the present. Her past history of witnessing marital cheating carries over into her present day with trauma and makes her cautious with men. Karla really wants to get into the law studies, but her confidence is low, pressure from her druggie mother keeps trying to pull her away and she really has taken a liking to Sally and admires how Bill has parented her.

All these personalities come together in different combinations and for different purposes. The story could have been shorter and I would have liked it better, but it pulled off an ending I had not imagined. Thank you NetGalley for an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest opinion.

Thank you kindly to NetGalley and Celadon Books for the gifted eARC!

This was an enjoyable read and my first from this author. I love a good whodunnit, especially ones with dual first-person POVs with flushed out, flawed characters and short chapters. The police interrogation elements were a nice touch as well!

When this book started out with a husband hiring a cleaner and telling her his wife is upstairs and sick…I was ready. As the characters we’re following continued to make questionable choices, I was lost. I sat there trying to figure out how they all connect? Who I’m rooting for? Who I think it responsible? What the difference is between the two female leads who for the love of all that is good I couldn’t tell apart? This book left me with more questions than answers. We really didn’t have much closure by then end. That said, I did enjoy the read.

I’m wary of books with the “is the wife sick or is the husband poisoning her?” aspect. I understand similarities in books but at some point it does seem like there may be cases where the author is trying to make their own spin off of an idea. Ya know? I’m not saying that was the case here, but it’s not something I can completely not mention at all. When it’s that specific of an idea to base the story around…

Thank you to the publisher for the gifted copy.

There are lots of perspectives in this book, but it all comes together well! I wasn't sure who to trust!

*many thanks to Celadon for the gifted early copy for review considerations. All opinions expressed are my own.

When Bill Olsson receives a valuable family heirloom from his new roommate Karla, he feels financial relief. After all, it's not easy being a newly widowed and raising a daughter alone. Yet when Karla's housecleaning clients are found dead in their mansion, who is to blame?

I did enjoy The Woman Inside because of the drama with the three main characters, the fascinating police interviews, and the unpredictability of the story. However, at certain times the story was slow.

I was disappointed by the lack of unique differences in the characters' dialogue. Although, the author did provide backgrounds on each of the three characters. However, with a dialogue-driven story, I would have expected more distinguishable voices.

Please keep in mind that some sensitive topics come up in this story. Some content warnings include; drug abuse, gambling addiction, infidelity, murder, etc.

I especially appreciated the brief chapters, multiple points of view, and the criminal investigation interviews scattered about.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced readers copy of The Woman Inside. I really enjoyed A Nearly Normal Family and this was a highly anticipated read of 2023! Unfortunately this did not quite live up to my expectations compared to A Nearly Normal Family, but it was still good. I do really love a book with multiple POVs. I enjoyed Karla and Sally as characters. It would’ve added to the story to maybe have a POV from the Rytters? This book read like many other thrillers I’ve read with maids and a wife upstairs…so honestly I was kind of put off from the beginning seeing that it’s not different from my other recent thrillers. (This could really just be a me thing since I obviously need to broaden my thriller horizons and not read the same story over and over with different titles) This was a quick read where the different POVs and interrogations led to me continuing on with the story. Plot hole though: did Miranda actually cheat or not? Wish we could’ve cleared that up and then had some resolve between Jennica and Bill. Overall, I wanted more. This is still a fine book that I can see many people enjoying. Thank you again NetGalley for the ARC of The Woman Inside!

A wealthy couple is found dead in their home. Is the murderer their house cleaner, the guy the house cleaner is renting a room from, or the dead husband’s mistress?

It was a fun read. I was engaged through most of it. However, I feel like the characters were one dimensional. There were definitely plenty of characters to hate. I also didn’t like the ending. There were no twists or aha moments.

A few highlights from The Woman Inside: a philandering husband, a housekeeper who knows something, a sprinkling of police interviews, and not to mention the murder of a wealthy couple.
This book was quite enjoyable once I got all the characters straight. Every chapter is from a different point-of-view, which I love in a book. Short, fast-paced chapters make this slow-burn story even better!
I recommend this to all Nordic reads fans! While I did not read M.T. Edvardsson's first book, the style of the writing here, makes me want to check it out.

I read “The Woman Inside” by M.T. Edvarsson in nearly one sitting. Set in a suburb of Sweden, it has multiple narrators and each are suspects in the murders of Dr. and Mrs. Rytter. Through the point of views of Karla, Bill, and Jennica the mystery begins to unravel. I enjoyed the story though wished it was a little shorter. The chapters were short but some were a bit repetitive. Overall, a good psychological thriller.

I really loved this book! The plot was very engaging and I couldn't put it down!

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this arc in exchange for an honest review!

The Woman Inside by M.T. Edvardsson ⭐️⭐️💫 published by @celadonbooks

This one was just meh for me. It was told from three different POVs, and I couldn’t ever connect with any of them. I did enjoy that each character was morally gray and none of them were reliable. The book itself moved along, and I kept reading to find out what happened, but I was let down by the reveal. I’m not sure what I would’ve liked, but the ending left me scratching my head. I also found the title to be a bit misleading as I didn’t think it was about the woman inside.