The Housekeepers by Alex Hay

  

320 pages

Publisher: Headline Review

Publishing Date: July 6, 2023

NetGalley

 

Blurb

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.

Mrs. King is no ordinary housekeeper. Born into a world of con artists and thieves, she’s made herself respectable, running the grandest home in Mayfair. The place is packed with treasures, a glittering symbol of wealth and power, but dark secrets lurk in the shadows.

When Mrs. King is suddenly dismissed from her position, she recruits an eclectic group of women to join her in revenge: A black market queen out to settle her scores. An actress desperate for a magnificent part. A seamstress dreaming of a better life. And Mrs. King’s predecessor, with her own desire for vengeance.

Their plan? On the night of the house’s highly anticipated costume ball—set to be the most illustrious of the year—they will rob it of its every possession, right under the noses of the distinguished guests and their elusive heiress host. But there’s one thing Mrs. King wants even more than money: the truth. And she’ll run any risk to get it…

After all, one should never underestimate the women downstairs.

 

Review

I saw this book described as Downton Abbey meets Oceans 11 and that feels about right. What we have here is a clear case of ‘never underestimate the help’. The help has had it with the system and is planning to get their own back in what looks like an intriguing yet probably impossible heist.

The book starts with Mrs. King being fired from her job as a housekeeper in an opulent house on Park Lane, London. Rather than fall into despair or panic, Mrs. King has a plan and in order to execute it she needs help. Enter a varied group of women, some of whom have also worked in The House of de Vries and others who will find themselves working there while they work out the logistics of the planned heist.

And so begins a story that is about a lot more than ‘just’ the 'biggest heist of the century’ taking place during the ‘biggest costumed ball of the century’. In fact, we are halfway through the story before we reach the day of the heist. I’m not getting into what that ‘more’ is. The story shares details in small doses and at a leisurely pace, keeping the reader guessing exactly what is going on, how the various characters relate to each other, and if ‘getting revenge while getting rich quick’ is not the only motivation for Mrs. King and her co-conspirators.

The mystery in this book is not ‘whodunnit’. In fact, when the story starts nothing (obvious) has been done and the reader is a witness as the scheme is organised; seeing everything unfold through the eyes and thoughts of the characters. But there definitely are mysteries in this story, and the process of discovering what exactly is going on and why it is happening was fascinating and at times thought-provoking.

This was a well-written and brilliantly plotted story. I knew from early on that there had to be more to the story than the obvious and I loved how slowly but steadily layer after layer lifted to reveal secrets. The heist itself was just the right mix of suspense and over-the-top shenanigans. An original and compelling read!