Published By: Headline Review
Pages: 416
Released On: 06/07/2023
UPSTAIRS, MADAM IS PLANNING THE PARTY OF THE SEASON.
DOWNSTAIRS, THE SERVANTS ARE PLOTTING THE HEIST OF THE CENTURY.
When Mrs King, housekeeper to the most illustrious home in Mayfair, is suddenly dismissed after years of loyal service, she knows just who to recruit to help her take 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, who has been keeping the dark secrets of Park Lane far too long.
Mrs King has an audacious plan in mind, one that will reunite her women in the depths of the house on the night of a magnificent ball – and play out right under the noses of her former employers…
THEY COME FROM NOTHING. BUT THEY’LL LEAVE WITH EVERYTHING.
*****
Thanks to NetGalley and Headline Review for the advanced copy of this title in return for an honest review.
This book has been on my mind ever since the cover reveal and so I was overjoyed to get an early e-copy. And it’s as splendid as I hoped it would be. And it’s a debut! I cannot wait to see what Alex produces next if this is anything to go by.
You know when you get a book and you really enjoy it, and then you realise you have to write a review of it, and all I want to say is: it’s really, really, really good. It’s as simple as that. It’s exciting and fun and cryptic and humorous and serious. But overall, it’s just jolly good.
It’s more involved than I thought it would be. I assumed it was just going to be about a wronged woman wanting revenge. But there’s so much more going on (I won’t spoil it by going into detail) that makes it fast paced and exciting to read. It’s multi-layered and intense and complex and inventive. It borrows from classic whodunnits and adds a little modernity in its writing and characterisation.
I did wonder at times if maybe there were a few too many characters to keep track of, but Mrs King keeps them all shipshape and you can easily differentiate them. They’ve all got their own agendas, their pasts and presents, loves and bugbears, secrets, and their own reasons to be part of this.
It’s funny how your brain imagines characters. Even though it is stated that Mrs King is a youngish lady, small, slim. I know that. And yet I instantly imagined her as an older, portly, unassuming woman, even as the book went on, and I KNEW that wasn’t what she was, I couldn’t get that figure out of my head.
You’re never fully confident who you can trust. If everyone is who they say they are and who is in it for their own gain. You feel sorry for some who then turn out to be villainous, you dislike others who you end u supporting. It really keeps you on the edge of your seat.
I think it would make a great movie. It’s so visual and Alex has painted such a clear picture as to how everyone and everything should look.
I like that practically half the book was given to the actual scheme itself. It happens so often that something is built up in a book, only to be dealt with quickly and you feel cheated. But Alex has given it a good amount of time, like you’re living it minute by minute with them, so it’s full of detail and you don’t feel short-changed.
Whilst the story is finished and all is wrapped up neatly, there’s still a part of me who wants to continue on these women’s journeys.
Books By Your Bedside 