I loved A Nearly Normal Family so I jumped at the opportunity to review The Woman Inside. I like how the author started the story with a discussion about how Sweden has a terminology, “Family Tragedy”, for a crime committed within a family unit that has no outside interference/connection. And thus begins this tale. There are a lot of characters and moving pieces so it’s not always the easiest story to follow. But the author definitely pulled things off at the end. Kudos and applause! 👏

*Thanks to MacMillan & NetGalley for this advance audiobook copy for review.

I read this author’s previous book and have to say it is one of my favorite mystery/thriller books ever. This newest book is every bit as good. Often when I read a mystery/thriller, I’m usually able to figure things out before the “big reveal”. Not with M.T. Edvardsson. This author has such a talent for making the reader waver over their feelings for a character. Just when I think I’ve got the character figured out, he gives me another side of that character that leaves me questioning myself. Not until the very end do I know what really happened. That’s quite a talent, those mental twists and turns. Perfect pacing and captivating characters that shape an un-put-downable story.

I found the premise of this book to be super interesting. I enjoyed the multiple POVs and flashbacks. The book is told from the POV of three different people. It took until the very end of the book to find out what they had to do with each other. I liked the ending, but it was fairly anticlimactic. This book is a very slow burn. Almost painfully slow. It definitely could have been a hundred pages shorter. The story did keep me engaged, as I was invested in the story right from the start.

The story is very character driven. The character development was done very well and I felt like we got to know the three main characters well. Each of them was dealing with a lot of past traumas. There is also a child in the story that I really felt for.

If you like slow burn domestic mysteries then I recommended you grab this book.

Thank you Netgalley & Celadon Books for an eARC of The Woman Inside by M.T. Edvardsson. I recently read A Nearly Normal Family, and I couldn’t wait to get my hands - and ears - on this author’s latest novel prior to pub day. I went back and forth between eBook and audibook for this one, and really enjoyed both.

A wealthy couple ends up murdered in the nicest part of town - What on earth could’ve happened?

Bill Olsson is a recently widowed single dad. He has a lower, Karla, stay in his home to make ends meet. As a housekeeper, she works for the Rytters - A wealthy couple who seems to be a mystery in so many ways. The plot gets a LOT more complicated than this, but I hate to give something away.

Multiple POVs and a true psychological thriller that will keep you guessing, I really enjoyed how everything came together in the end and felt satisfied. I can’t wait to see what this author comes up with next!

This was a quick read that pulled me in enough to wonder what happened, but not enough to care. I wished the characters were more developed, and found that I felt no connection to any of them and their plights. The whole book felt predictable and I probably wouldn’t have finished it if it wasn’t my book club’s pick.

4.5 stars

I really enjoyed this page-turner, and it's been one of my favorites of 2023. I loved that the story was told through multiple POVs, giving a well-rounded look into the action. The characters are flawed, which makes them more relatable, and the twists kept me engaged and turning the pages. Everyone's a suspect until the end, which was a surprise (and that's always a good thing!).

As my grandmother would have said in the 80s, Bill is a ne’er do well. Addicted to gambling, and without a job, he can’t hold on to money. He hopes taking on a border will solve some of his financial worries. But he still needs a job because odd jobs aren’t cutting it, especially when he gambles it all away. Karla is in college and wants to become a judge. She cleans houses to help pay for her books, but the wealthy husband and wife are very odd. The wife is bedridden, and the husband has forbidden Karla from interacting with her. She’s unsure how much longer she wants to clean for them, as the pressure is getting too much.

This story comes from Bill, Karla, and Jennica’s pov. Karla has a rich backstory, with a mother addicted to drugs. She’s always longed for a sense of family, and Bill’s daughter Sally provides that. Bill’s character is also written well, as I couldn’t stand him. He was so sketchy, and though Karla always reiterated what a great dad he was, he wasn’t really, not when he couldn’t provide stability. Staying in an overpriced house instead of moving somewhere cheaper isn’t stability, especially when you can’t afford food and electricity because the rent is so high. Jennica felt like an add-on character. She’s lazy, doesn’t clean, and works as a psychic. The story would have worked without her as a character.

I hate comparing an author’s works to their previous work, but I read that this is a book 2 in the Lundasviten series, so I feel it’s fair. I didn’t love this one as much as the first because Bill’s gambling felt like filler. His day to day was repetitive. But on the whole, I enjoyed this one. It’s smart, and I like how it all came together.

Thank you, Celadon Books, for the advanced copy.

A couple is found dead in an affluent neighborhood, and the incident is labeled a "family tragedy" a euphemism for a crime of violence in a home, for which there is no external suspect. So begins the story of the Rytters, and the people they pull into their orbit, including Bill, a single father and Karla their housecleaner. Bill, Karla and the Rytters are on a collision course, though they don't know it. We know how it all ends, but how on earth did it begin? And how did the Rytters wind up dead?

This is MT Edvardsson's second domestic thriller and one I was eager to read, having really enjoyed his debut, 'A Nearly Normal Family'. This one is somewhat different, and a little more sensational than his first, which had much more complexity and many more layers. Still, this was a really fast-paced read, and I got through it a lot quicker than I normally do for an audiobook without benefit of also having the ebook. The audiobook had a full cast of narrators for each character, which made it a more layered listening experience. Recommended for those who like domestic suspense.

I really truly wanted to love this book, but sadly, it fell flat. My first complaint is that it definitely could have been significantly shorter. Parts of it got very repetitive and didn’t add very much to the storyline. However, I really enjoyed the multiple story lines that intersected very neatly at the end of the book. It made the book enjoyable and a story that I wanted to come back to, even when it was drawn out. I did figure out the ending pretty early and the book left me feeling a little let down after all that build- up. Overall, I was disappointed in this book after loving A Nearly Normal Family.

Bill, a widower and Sally, his 8 year old daughter, Karla, a college student who wants to become a judge and Steven and his wife, Regina do not know each other until their lives become entangled. Bill needs money and decides to rent a room in his home. Karla rents this room. Karla needs money to attend school and pay the rent for the room. She takes a job cleaning Steven and Regina’s estate. Secrets are abound and a death takes place.
This novel is suspenseful and twisty.

I truly enjoyed the author’s previous novel, "Nearly Normal Family." When I saw the author's name and an interesting plotline promising a dark psychological thriller, I jumped at the chance to read the author's new book! I didn't regret my decision; this book is an absolutely engaging thriller that keeps you guessing until the end, making your blood run cold. It allows you to connect with different flawed characters and their misdemeanors, struggles, and shortcomings. The book also entertains with smart dialogues. The witty exchanges between the least likable character and her cat, whom she named the dog, made me guffaw several times.

The story opens with the murder investigation of a couple: Regina Rytter, a bedridden wife and daughter of a highly accomplished best-selling author, suffering from a mysterious disease that has forced her to be trapped in her own house, and Steven Rytter, a charismatic, good-looking doctor who seems a little intense, obsessed, and controlling about the cleaning of his house and the medical condition of his wife. Regina is found bludgeoned to death, while Steven has overdosed.

The prime suspect is Bill Olsson, a man barely making ends meet after his wife's sudden death, suffering from a gambling addiction and trying to take care of his little daughter Sally, who is definitely a sweet pie. Bill reluctantly rents a room in his house to Karla, a 22-year-old law student who is running from her past and overbearing responsibilities to take care of her drug-addict mother. Karla works with a cleaning agency to pay her school tuition and is hired to clean the Rytter's house twice a week. She finds herself drawn into their marriage drama and begins to suspect that Regina's illness may be related to something sinister.

The last point of view belongs to Jennica, a black sheep coming from a wealthy family who hates the guts of her cheating father. She becomes an estranged friend of Bill's late wife, but she has no idea that the man she falls hard for is also married.

Throughout the book, you constantly ask yourself what happened to the Rytters. You read the interrogations of Karla, Bill, Jennica, and other people related to the Rytters, wondering if one of the three POVs may be the killer. Both of them hide big secrets, and their desperate measures may push them to make desperate moves.

Overall, even though the book was a slow burn, it kept my attention alert with its amazing character-driven execution. I enjoyed how everything wrapped up, and I cannot wait to read another book by the author soon. My love for Swedish thrillers/Nordic noir escalates with each brilliant book I devour.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Celadon Books for sharing this brilliant digital review copy with me in exchange for my honest thoughts.

I really liked this book. At first, I had problems with the switching between characters with each chapter, but once I got into the flow of the book, it became much easier for me to understand why. The book held my attention well throughout and built to a great ending in my opinion.

The book jumps around a bit so it takes some time to get a feel for the characters. You can tell they connect to one another but I was curious to see how their storylines would come together. You get a glimpse of how it ends but then work backwards to figure out how it got there.

I enjoyed the non-linear storytelling. It always adds a little something to a story. I found 2/3 of the narrators kind of irritating but I think the story enough is interesting that connecting to the characters wasn’t totally necessary.

I'm going to say that this is a book that I hate to love - but it was great! Although I don't always like the alternating points of view for each chapter, in this case I think it worked very well. The story, on the surface, follows several people in different circumstances, each with a fatal flaw that they can't seem to resolve. And somehow, and not in a forced manner, they all seem to reach a sort of nexus by the end. I don't find any of them particularly likable, but that doesn't detract from the story, which is about a single man with a small daughter (perhaps the shining star in this book), a woman renting a room from him who wants to study to become a judge, and another woman who can't seem to find her way in life. And at the heart of the story is a wealthy couple for whom the renter, Karla, cleans house as a way to earn some income. There is a theft involved, which leads to more problems, and the wife of the married couple appears to be getting drugged by her pediatrician husband. Like a crack in a window pane, the fractures run off in some expected and unexpected directions, until the ending is almost a relief. Almost. This was a stomach churner - I hated to turn the page, but couldn't stop myself.

This ARC was provided by NetGalley and the publisher, but the opinions expressed herein are my own.

I had previously read A Nearly Normal Family from this author. It was one of my favorites for the year. I was very excited to get my hands on this one. While I didn't think the ending was as "aha" as the former, it is still most definitely a good read. A doctor and his wife are murdered in their home, and we have to figure out what happened. I liked the format, told from 3 POV's, and the news articles and stories thrown in were a nice touch. The characterization is once again outstanding. I loved Bill and Sally's story and wanted so badly to help them. I felt for Karla, who tries to help them. Jennica was also an interesting character. She really didn't know what she was getting into even though all the signs were so clearly there from the outside looking in. As I said before, the ending just felt a little convoluted to me. Still very good, I was just left with a few questions. I do absolutely recommend this book and author and am eagerly waiting for more!

Thank you to #NetGalley, M.T. Edvardsson and Celadon Books for this ARC. All opinions are my own.

I will post my review to Amazon, Instagram and various other retail and social media sites upon publication.

The description of the novel doesn’t do it justice. The Woman Inside is so much more than the drama of Bill and Karla. There are the Rytters — Steven and Regina whose lives are complicated and eventually intersect with, and affect Bill, Karla, and Jennica.

The story unfolds through multiple points of view. Primarily through Bill, Karla and Jennica. And the reader is drawn into the expanding drama through the lens of each character.

The primary characters are well developed and fleshed out enough to get a feel for their respective personalities as well as moral compass. And like any other novel, there are some characters that you like and others that you don’t like. Some of the characters surprised me when their true colors immerged as the story progressed.

The plot follows a whodunit theme. But there are numerous twists that really made the novel unputdownable for me. And the big reveal toward the end was certainly unexpected.

The Woman Inside was my first novel from author Edvardsson. It certainly won’t be my last. Five stars.

I received a digital ARC from Celadon Books through NetGalley. The review herein is completely my own and contains my honest thoughts and opinions.

This novel comes from the author of A Nearly Normal Family which I enjoyed very much. I happened to read it after returning from Denmark so I also enjoyed the cultural references from the setting in Sweden. The novel focuses around the deaths of Steven and Regina Ritter who were found dead in their home. The story is told from several points of view, all leading the reader to try to determine who was responsible for the killings. Along the way, we learn about the local community in Lund and the characters (Karla, Bill, and Jennica) who interacted with the Rytters specifically as well as each other. Each of them offers their own point of view. This book was fast-moving due to the short chapters with investigative interviews interspersed. These interviews also help tell the story and reveal clues. The ending is fitting and clever. I enjoyed it very much!

This cleverly written rat-in-the-maze story captures the reader right away and keeps the tension high all the way through. This is what happens when well-intentioned lie. I have never read Edvardsson before and wasn't sure I liked how the book was laid out but after finishing the story, I see the mastery this method. I will definitely pick up his next book.

This kept my interest and was an exciting storyline. The characters were easy to relate to and meld together in their life story.
The ending was good at wrapping everything together and tying up the loose ends. Recommend..

This was a terrific read that I could not put down. Great characters and an author whoose next book I cannot wait for. Truly outstanding on every level. Ending was a surprise which is refreshing.