Thank you Celadon Books, #partner for the advanced copy of The Woman Insider in exchange for my honest review. I borrowed the audiobook from the library.
Publisher: Celadon Books / Macmillan Audio
Published: June 13, 2023
Summary:
A wealthy couple ends up murdered in the nicest part of town in this compulsively readable, page-turning thriller from M. T. Edvardsson, The Woman Inside.
Bill Olsson, recently widowed, is desperate to provide for his daughter, Sally. Struggling to pay rent, he welcomes a lodger into their home: Karla, a law student and aspiring judge, who works as a housekeeper to make ends meet. Her clients are the Rytters, an incredibly wealthy couple who hide behind closed doors. The wife is ill and hasn’t left the house in months. The husband is controlling and obsessive. Is he just a worried husband, concerned for his wife’s health? Or is there something more sinister at play?
As Bill’s situation becomes more dire, Karla is forced to make a difficult choice. And when the Rytters wind up dead, and Karla is pulled in for questioning, she’s made to defend some parts of her past she’d rather not revisit.
Every person in The Woman Inside is hiding something, but could any of them really have been driven to kill?
My thoughts:
I loved M.T. Edvardsson’s debut novel, A Nearly Normal Family, so of course I was thrilled to be sent his next book. For sure I am a fan of his work – his books are compelling and compulsively readable, and he is definitely being added to my must-read list!
This book is a little slower than his previous one, though that didn’t stop me from reading it every chance I got. The book opens with a murder investigation and from there we are introduced to a random cast of characters that of course all have some connection to the couple. Interspersed throughout the narrative were excerpts from the police interviews and I found this to be so insightful as information not yet known was slowly revealed, further hooking me into the story.
I love the characters that Edvardsson writes. He just has a way of creating characters that are so morally gray, you can’t be sure whether you are supposed to root for them, trust them or even like them. This is probably my favorite aspect of his books.
While I did figure out one of the major plotlines, I was still surprised with a few of the little twists along the way. But this in no way detracted from my enjoyment because I was more interested in how all the characters were connected than the actual ending, if that makes sense.
Overall, I enjoyed this one, though I think it probably could have been a bit shorter – it was a little on the long side and did drag in a few spots. But I still liked it and am looking forward to seeing what M.T. Edvardsson writes next!
Audio thoughts:
I alternated between the audiobook and the print, and it was a great immersive experience. The audiobook was narrated by a full cast, which I loved. The narrators, Josh Dylan, Nathalie Buscombe, and Sofia Engstrand, all did a wonderful job bringing the story to life.
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