Happy publication day to Mary Watson! Her new novel, The Clear – ‘Domestic noir at its finest.’ I PAPER – is published in the UK today.
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 …
‘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
Philida Literary Award 