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The Cleaner

Penguin Shop: 3 Clothbound Classics for £33

A heart-thumping thriller packed with exciting twists.

The Cleaner is a masterclass in tension. Plotted like an intricate spider's web, I was glued to the page for the entirety.

Jennie Godfrey, Sunday TImes bestselling author of The List of Suspicious Things

Revenge is a dish best served up spotless...The relentless attention to detail is wonderfully claustrophobic.

You'll race through this compelling, sinister mystery.

Propulsive...compulsive and ambitious.

A sinister page-turner...that takes readers on a psychological journey.

A modern fairy tale – beautiful, dark, visceral, truly spellbinding.

Sunday Times and Irish Times No. 1 bestselling author Andrea Mara

Tense from the first page, the pressure builds inexorably. A multifaceted tale of secrets, obsessions and betrayals.

Sam Lloyd, bestselling author of The Memory Wood

The Cleaner is a richly textured thriller that veritably hums with menace. Taut, twisty and beautifully atmospheric, it pairs a gripping plot with dark, intricate themes. Class, privilege, wealth and entitlement are all put on trial in this immersive tale of betrayal and revenge.

Kia Abdullah, author of Waterstones Thriller of the Month Those People Next Door

The Cleaner is utterly gripping, dark and gothic – a brilliant tale of jealousy, envy and betrayal with one hell of a twist. I devoured it. A tour de force and the arrival of a brilliant new voice in adult fiction.

Edel Coffey, author of An Post Crime Fiction Book of the Year Breaking Point

In The Cleaner, Mary Watson creates an immersive, twisty, character-driven web of family secrets and lies that builds to an ending you won't see coming.

Fiona McPhillips, author of When We Were Silent

A rollercoaster ride of manipulation and obsession - I couldn’t put it down.

Lisa Hall, bestselling author of Between You and Me

Dark, tense and intriguing, these characters linger in your mind long after you've put the book down - and what a twist!

Sam Blake, No. 1 bestselling author of Little Bones

I loved this tightly plotted exploration of privilege and damaged people, and the twists just kept coming.

Laura Pearson, Kindle No.1 bestselling author of The Last List of Mabel Beaumont

The Cleaner is a layered tale that takes a sharp look at themes of privilege, identity and class...it's a book that you’ll whip through, thanks to its twists, turns, hate-readable characters and dramatic climax.

Oh my goodness - the twists in this! Dripping in atmosphere, this tale of revenge is edgy and immersive, laying bare the fractures within a picture perfect household with a scalpel-like precision.

What a wonderful book - I hope it becomes the bestseller it deserves to be. I was hooked from the opening page - a totally compulsive read. Beautifully crafted.

Marsali Taylor, author of The Shetland Mysteries Series

If you’re a fan of crime thrillers, this is your next must-read. You won’t want to put it down…

If you’re after an edge-of-your-seat thriller, look out for this one.

Mary Watson is a writer of great skill... hard to put down and harder to forget.

She’s here to clean your house. 
She’s here to get revenge . . . 
 
Esmie is meant to be invisible. Just a cleaner with a foreign accent that no one quite has time to place, and a uniform of leggings and a duster that allows her to explore the homes of the wealthy Woodlands gated community, unnoticed. 
 
Which is exactly what she wants. Because Esmie isn’t really a cleaner. 
 
One of the residents of Woodlands has ruined her life. And when she finds out who, she’s going to make them pay . . . 
 
This beautifully sinister, propulsive page-turner that explores themes of identity and privilege is perfect for fans of Harriet Tyce and Lisa Jewell.

Brought to you by Penguin. 
 
It's not dust she's looking for. 
It's dirt. 
 
Esmie is supposed to be invisible. Just a cleaner with a foreign accent that no one quite has time to place. Her uniform of leggings and a duster allows her to explore the homes of the wealthy, unseen; an outsider creeping around the edges of privilege. 
 
But as she sweeps through the exclusive Woodlands gated neighbourhood, cleaning is the last thing on her mind. Treading silently over the polished wooden floorboards and cloud-soft carpets, Esmie gathers up the mess of broken marriages, quiet deceptions and careless failures. She tucks away their fragments, keeping them safe. For now. 
 
Because one of the residents took from her the person she loves most. She’s not here to clean; she’s here for revenge – and she’ll get it using the weapons her employers unwittingly handed her along with the keys to their homes: their own secrets… 
 
This beautifully sinister, propulsive page-turner that explores themes of identity and privilege is perfect for fans of Harriet Tyce and Lisa Jewell. 
 
'The Cleaner is a masterclass in tension.' - JENNIE GODFREY, Sunday Times bestselling author of The List of Suspicious Things 
 
'Beautiful, dark, visceral, truly spellbinding.' - ANDREA MARA, Sunday Times No. 1 bestselling author 
 
‘Taut, twisty and beautifully atmospheric.' - KIA ABDULLAH, author of Waterstones Thriller of the Month Those People Next Door 
 
© Mary Watson 2025 (P) Penguin Audio 2025

Mary Watson is from South Africa and now lives on the west coast of Ireland. She has a PhD from the University of Cape Town, where she taught for many years. She won the Caine Prize for African Writing for her adult publishing in South Africa, and in 2014 was named on the Africa39 list of writers under 40 with the potential to define trends in African literature. Her YA novels have been nominated for the Irish Book Awards and the Carnegie medal. Her adult debut, The Cleaner, was an instant Irish Times bestseller.

The Cleaner

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