I felt like this was a slow burn. The characters were all a little unlikeable so it was hard to get interested. Everything picked up about the 1/2 way point and I enjoyed the story but the ending felt a little rushed. Overall I enjoyed it and I enjoyed the intertwined points of view. 3.5/5 stars on the book. 5/5 for the narration. Thank you for allowing me to read this ARC.

Having read and loved A Nearly Normal Family, I was ecstatic to be gifted an ALC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion. And quite honestly, this is another win for M. T. Edvardsson in my humble opinion. I thoroughly enjoyed this slow-burn twisty thriller and peeling the layers as the book progressed. It kept me very interested and engaged and guessing how it would all culminate. This story is told from three different POV, and all three narrators did an amazing job bringing their characters to life. A huge thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for allowing me to listen to this wonderful in advance of the 6/13/23 release date.

A slow burn audio which may have been better had I been reading and able to flip faster through the pages. This was my first M.T. Edvardsson novel and the language, words I didn't understand, things I looked up because #thatshowmybrainworks, made this one an interesting read.

The premise involves multiples of characters, wealth, poverty, a drugged wife, bad choices, some intrigue.....all of that kept me listening and I finished this one in an afternoon and a morning. Here's the one catch which I cannot explain - despite enjoying the book, there was not one single character I liked or cared about. Even the kid annoyed me. How is it possible an author can create a world where I would have been fine with all of them dying, yet I still listened joyfully to the end? Maybe that's a me thing???

The stars show 3, but in a perfect world, you'd actually see a 3 1/2 up there.

Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for allowing me to listen in advance of the 6/13/23 release date.

Thank you Macmillan Audio and Netgalley.com for this alc. It was a gripping and captivating audio experience. The narration skillfully draws you into a web of secrets and suspense, making it impossible to put down. While the characters may not be likable, they evoke a range of emotions, from sympathy to a desire to shake some sense into them. The only drawback is the slightly unsatisfying ending, leaving a sense of emptiness. Nevertheless, this thought-provoking thriller is a must-read (or listen) that keeps you engrossed throughout, even if you're left yearning for more.

At the start of this book it was easy to draw similarities to The Housemaid series. I was intrigued by a lot of the setup and I really like the format of the book. This book has multiple points of view and will change after each chapter.

After the initial intrigue wore off I started to get a little bored with the amount of character detail. The story was not long but it felt long. There are a lot of characters that get a lot of details and it just started to be a little too much.

The way the book started and the way it ended would have been a perfect book for me if a lot of the details were shorted up in the middle. I understand why it was there and what it builds towards, but the story was not for me.

The ending however was definitely for me. It’s crazy and will make the middle almost worth it.

If you like mysteries definitely check this book out, just expect it to have a lot of padding along the way.

Thanks to NetGalley for an audiobook ARC of this book.

At first I thought it was a bit slow and sometimes hard to follow when there were names of places that were in Swedish and I was hearing and not reading them. Thankfully this didn’t last long.

I really liked that there appeared to be two unrelated storylines, but when they came together it was a bit of a jaw-dropping moment for me. I really liked how they were neatly seamed together at the end.

Well done!

This book makes effective use of multiple storytellers, providing pieces of the narrative from their first-person points of view, to gradually reveal the story of an apparent "family tragedy"--a Swedish euphemism for an instance of murder or murder/suicide in which the perpetrator and victims are all from within a single family.

The characters are complicated and multi-layered; there are no one-dimensional good or bad guys here. Edvardsson also effectively explores the theme of our private selves vs. our public personae.

In the end, there are no easy answers about right or wrong, and no platitudes about justice and morality. Instead, there are flawed people muddling through life, sometimes making bad decisions, often having blind spots about their own failings, and mostly trying to navigate the more mundane, but equally impacting, family tragedies of everyday life.

Overall, thought-provoking and engaging.

Thank you to #NetGalley and #MacmillanAudio for the read/review of #TheWomanInside by #MTEdvardsson. This was a pretty good book with lots of lies and deceit. loved how it all came together in the end.

M. T. Edvardsson does an excellent job of telling a story from different points of view that allow you to see that in reality there are always multiple versions of the truth.

The Woman Inside is told in three different characters’ POVs. It’s their perspectives that we learn about events surrounding the murder of a wealthy couple and the secrets that every single one of them want to hide.

This is the second book that I have read by Edvardsson and I enjoyed both books. The audiobook of The Woman Inside, is well narrated with three separate narrators. I recommend listening to this audiobook.

Thank you @macmillan.audio and @netgalley for allowing me to listen to this audiobook ahead of publication in exchange for my honest review.

I consumed this audio in a day!

This was my first by M.T Edvardsson and after reading a few other reviews it sounds like I need to check out A Nearly Normal Family since I enjoyed this one so much!

I always hear the term Nordic mystery and don’t think I have read one til now. I absolutely enjoyed this fast pace novel. The storyline and the pov shifts had me saying… ok just one more chapter. This one leaves you with a feeling of unease as you get to know each of the MC. With the book starting with the ending, it leaves yourself asking “What happened to the Rytter’s” and making your own conclusions which I was expecting but enjoyed the execution.

A slow burn, character driven suspense.

Swedish author M.T. Edvardsson returns following A Nearly Normal Family with his latest Scandi-Noir domestic thriller, THE WOMAN INSIDE —A wealthy couple found murdered in this riveting whodunit in a complex web of secrets and lies.

Have you ever wondered what is behind a murder of a couple? Sometimes things are not as they seem or as straightforward.

Set in Sweden, Steven and Regina Rytter are found dead in a wealthy part of Lund. Steven was a successful pediatrician doctor, and Regina was from a wealthy family. Regina was the one with the money. Steven liked the perks.

Who would murder them?

Meet Widower Bill Olsson. He is struggling financially and trying to provide a good home for his young daughter, Sally. He lost his job and having issues finding one. Bill tragically lost his fiancée due to cancer and was trying to find a way to provide both emotional and financial support for his daughter. He had promised Miranda he would take care of Sally.

Karla is an ambitious law student who wants to be a judge. She has had a rough childhood and a drug-addicted mother. She takes on a cleaning job contract for income; the client is the Rytters.

Bill decides to take in a lodger for money. Karla moves in.

Karla discovers Regina is very ill. The woman says her husband is drugging her. Karla is no stranger due to drugs and addicts due to her mother. Can she help her?

Regina is addicted. She says her husband is trying to kill her for her money. But she has to get off the drugs slowly.

Jennica is a student who grew up with Miranda (former friend) and Bill's late fiancée. A serial dater, hotline psychic advisor, and in a relationship with the victim (she thinks his wife is dead). A dark sheep of her family. She is a pretender, a liar, and an unlikable character.

"Love is dangerous."

In the meantime, Bill (a jerk) envies everyone with money and loses his job. Yes, he is desperate to provide for his daughter but he is greedy and manipulative. He also has a gambling problem.

He talks Karla into taking expensive jewelry from her employer. She feels sorry for him. She gives it to Bill to sell. Instead, Bill loses the money gambling.

The novel is told in alternating POVs, primarily through Bill, Karla, and Jennica.

Through the eyes of each character, the reader is drawn into the dramas interspersed with police interviews and media to the explosive ending when the three voices connect!

Thought-provoking and gripping! From grief, financial issues, addictions, greed, envy, and manipulation. Each person connects in this heart-pounding psychological thriller.

With a slow build, the author keeps you guessing about the real murderer—a Whodunit, Whydunit, and Howdunit. I enjoyed the author's notes and inspiration behind the book.

Every character has an agenda. Some good. Some bad. Some think they can justify their actions. I disliked Bill and Jennica and liked Karla's character.

I enjoy this author's writing. I could not wait to find out whodunit!

AUDIOBOOK: I listened to the audiobook, and I enjoyed the narrators, Josh Dylan, Nathalie Buscombe, and Sofia Engstrand, for each voice immensely.

While reading, I thought of two recent books: The lodger part: Happily Married by Victoria Jenkins, and the cleaner/owner part, The Housemaid's Secret by Freida McFadden.

Thanks to #MacmillanAudio for a gifted ALC via #NetGalley for review purposes.

Blog review posted@
JudithDCollins.com
@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks
Pub Date: June 13, 2023
My Rating: 4.5 Stars
June 2023 Must-Read Books

I enjoyed that THE WOMAN INSIDE was inspired by true events. I did however, have a difficult time following the audiobook. Maybe reading it would work better for me. I loved this author's previous novel so I will try this one again.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Macmillian Audio for my #gifted ALC.

First of all, I'm sending a huge thank you to the team at Macmillan Audio and Celadon Books for granting me advanced audiobook access to this twisting thriller, but I will have to just say that I don't think it's for me. I think with this book not being a translated work, I was having a hard time tracking the plot and the reveals. I wish the author and their publisher nothing but the best, but it was just really hard for me to keep up with.

💭Thoughts:
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.

The audiobook had three different narrators and I thought that really helped me keep the POVs clear. I always appreciate an audiobook with a full cast. They did a great job bringing the characters to life.

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

Karla is renting a room from Bill, a man struggling financially to care for his daughter. Karla is working as a part-time housekeeper for the Rytter family to help finance her education and reach her goal of becoming a judge. It’s not lost on Karla that despite their wealth, the Rytters are a very unhappy, dysfunctional couple. When they are found murdered, Karla becomes just one of several suspects. Told from multiple viewpoints, this is a Scandi thriller with a twist

A wealthy couple is found dead by their cleaner. The story is told from several POV’s of people who are interestingly connected to one another.

Bill: A man raising his eight year old daughter Sally. His partner has died and he’s struggling financially, self pitying and has a gambling addiction.
Karla: A law student who is Bill’s tenant cleans for Steven and Regina. She has a mother who is a demanding addict. She starts stealing from her employer to help Bill out of pity.
Jennica: A desperate online dater and former friend of Bill’s partner. She is working as a hotline psychic and in a relationship with one of the victims, unaware he’s married.

This cast is mostly unlikeable which is always fine by me. The characters are so much more interesting that way. The full cast narration on audio is excellent. A Nearly Normal Family is my favorite from this author and while I liked this one, it didn’t rate quite as high for me.

Thank you to @netgalley @macmillan.audio for an audio copy.

Pub date: June 13, 2023
Pages: 384

3.5 stars

Edvardsson shares an intriguing author's note about the idea of "family tragedy" to kick off the novel and sets up a challenge for readers: to decide if the enclosed events fit this description. I loved this entry point, and it provoked my interest even more when it came to the wild characters and situations that occur within the narrative.

There are several characters featured in this piece, and their lives intertwine in intriguing ways. With multiple narrators, this also makes for an engaging listen; get the audio version when/where accessible.

There's enough backstory to help readers become more invested in some of the characters, and this helps when they make what I will say in a potentially judgy way are some challenging decisions. That detail also - at times - made me long for quicker pacing. I detest spoilers, so I'll keep this intentionally vague, but the ending really paid off, and that's a critical piece of a successful thriller for me.

The happiest readers of this piece will be those who appreciate more backstory to match contemporary events. I enjoyed this overall and have already queued a previously missed piece from this author.

Thank you Pan MacMillan and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. This was a good read but the medical miscorrect information drove me bonkers. I am a board certified psychiatric pharmacist, so I am subject matter expert in what was discussed.

I hate when authors don't do their research.

This book is in a sense an exploration of how much our environment growing up impacts the life we lead as adults and how we handle the setbacks thrown at us, especially when trying to avoid our own children experiencing any of the trauma that we did. Many of the characters make poor decisions because of this and when they all get caught up in the web of a wealthy couple battling for control, things get chaotic and the couple ends up dead. This is a beautifully written thriller inspired by an actual case where a family was found dead and I highly recommend it!