The Housekeepers

By Alex Hay @AlexHayBooks

Narrated by Jasmine Blackborow @JazziBlackborow

Published by Headline Review (an imprint of Headline Publishing) https://www.headline.co.uk/ @headlinepg

416 pages (12 hours 14 minutes) ISBN 9781472299345

Publication date 6 July 2023

I was allowed access to an audio review copy on Net Galley https://www.netgalley.com/ @NetGalley.  Thanks to the Author and Publisher for organising this.

The cover

A straightforward but very effective cover. The flock wallpaper, the bordering like a posh invitation set off by the bell only too familiar to the poor servants. Add to this the killer strap line “never underestimate the women downstairs” and you have an inviting cover.

From the blurb

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…

The narration

An excellent choice of narrator. Jasmine Blackborow has a wide range of voices, nails the differences between upstairs and downstairs, and is great on historical works. She also brings a sense of joy, as if this isn’t just work but something that is fun and this rubs off on the listener.

My thoughts

During the last year, on this Blog, I have been fortunate to review some great historical crime fiction stories and The Housekeepers adds to this rich seam of enjoyment. I just hope that the readers of this Blog and the novels have had as much fun as I have. This one is a little bit difference being almost a police free crime caper. I think caper is the right verb in this case, as there is a robbery without violence, with an injection of humour and a sense of things getting carried away.

The story is set in Park Lane (London) in 1905, so during the Edwardian era, the last hurrah of the upper classes. Queen Victoria has passed and with it the austere, excessive period of morning for Albert, son Edward VII is on the throne and for the upper classes surrounded by their servants, life is rather jolly, with dinners, balls, promenades and picnics in the sun. In just a few short years for many this will change.

Dinah (Mrs King) is a strong minded and determined woman who doesn’t take dismissal from her position as housekeeper with good grace, why should she. Dinah has a plan though, one that will extract revenge. That is not her only driving force though, she has an important secret, one that forces her forward and adds to her determination.

Dinah cannot execute the plan on her own though, she needs a financial backer and to put together a large team to pull it off, well it is going to be the robbery of the century. Fortunately, she knows who can help with both, Mrs King a pawnbroking blackmarketeer and a bit of a local legend. Together they put together a crack and crackpot team to carry out the heist, supported by an army of muscle and helpers.

The plan is breathtaking and audacious, there are no half measures here, and it’s quite involved. Naturally not everything goes to plan, it never does in real life and where would the enjoyment in fiction be in that. The resulting improvisations prove to be entertaining. The author manages to pull off the trick of making the principal characters so engaging that you want them to get away with it. The reader knows that they shouldn’t be rooting for the criminals but can’t help themselves, the finale brings a sort of redemption so we can do so with impunity.

At the heart of the story there are secrets, so many of them, that are revealed along the way. People are not who they appear to be, there are unexpected connections and a dark sordid one at the heart. Much of this arises because of the abuse of power, power that great wealth brings.

The juxtaposition of life above and below stairs is vividly brought to life, with the finery of Miss DeVries who is organising an opulent ball set against the drudgery of the servants’ lives, servants who are locked in their rooms a night. Those above stairs cosseted by servants much like the modern Royal Family. Even within this there is power at play with the butler and cook ruling the roost downstairs, demanding the highest standards and making the rules. At times you wonder whose side they’re on, are they trustees or almost as bad as the jailers.

The writing is perfectly judged, bright with a cheeky edge, I did say it was a caper, but that adds relief to the dark aspect that has the power to surprise. Using a wholly female robbery ‘firm’ is not exactly original, Lynda La Plante did it forty years ago with Widows, but it is still unusual enough to feel fresh and the historical setting, a time when women were powerless adds to the surprise. It is the characters of these women and the interplay between them that makes the story. Here there is so much to enjoy; the maid who becomes the most flamboyant actress, the crime boss who has to act as scullery maid, the Tweedledum and Tweedledee like sisters who are brilliant acrobats and the kind-hearted woman who just wants to help. If it were men, the ill-gotten gains would be squandered, but these women are essentially looking to do good and put things right, and in a crazy way that is just what they do.

The Housekeepers is a wonderfully entertaining Edwardian crime caper.

The Housekeepers can be purchased via the publisher’s website here

The author

Alex Hay grew up in Cambridge and Cardiff and has been writing as long as he can remember. He studied History at the University of York, and wrote his dissertation on female power at royal courts, combing the archives for every scrap of drama and skulduggery he could find. He has worked in magazine publishing and the charity sector, and is a graduate of the Curtis Brown Write Your Novel course. The Housekeepers is his debut novel and won the Caledonia Novel Award 2022. Alex lives with his husband in South East London.

Source: Publishers website

The narrator

Jasmine is currently shooting as Charly in Guy Ritchie’s THE GENTLEMEN for Netflix opposite Theo James and Joely Richardson.

She plays the Princesse de Lamballe in MARIE ANTOINETTE penned by Deborah Davis for CAPA Drama, Banijay Studios France, the BBC and CANAL+.

Other recent credits include Marie in SHADOW & BONE for Netflix, independent feature films SCHOOL’S OUT FOREVER for Rebellion Productions, THE ART OF LOVE on Netflix and the BAFTA nominated short AAMIR.

Theatre credits include THE BREACH directed by Sarah Frankcom at Hampstead Theatre and most recently the lead role in SUPER HIGH RESOLUTION directed by Blanche McIntyre to rave reviews.

Source: Management company Accelerate Management