An adulterous midnight rendezvous in a car parked in a secluded area turns into more than the two occupants bargained for when they observe an odd occurrence that appears to be the disposing of a body and vehicle. Both witnesses are prominent professionals married to other people. Neither can afford to be forthcoming with what they observed for obvious reasons. They silently agree to go their separate ways without reporting what they saw. Welcome to the domestic suspense thriller The Maid's Diary by Loreth Anne White. Kit Darling (née Katerina Popovich) our heroine, cleans houses for a living, snoops into her client’s personal lives for her entertainment while working, and is part of an amateur theater group in her spare time – a women of many talents, who knows how to put together a great show. Kit says: “Full disclosure”, she says as she sets her glass carefully on a small table at her side. "I only became Mia after I saw what Kit Darling is a maid with a snooping problem. She's the "invisible girl," compelled to poke into her wealthy clients' closely guarded lives. It's a harmless hobby until Kit sees something she can't unsee in the home of her brand-new clients: a secret so dark it could destroy the privileged couple expecting their first child. This makes Kit dangerous to the couple. In turn, it makes the couple-who might kill to keep their secret-dangerous to Kit.

Kit: the maid with a snooping problem, who has a traumatic history. What she finds in her client’s home sets in motion a cascade of devastating events Cons: predictable (the theatre thing is a Linwood Barclay special), part of Kit's motive rubbed me the wrong way (see spoilers), some math didn't quite mathulateI also loved how multilayered the story was. There is so much going on. It’s about trauma, revenge and standing up for yourself. My favorite character was Kit (the maid) herself. Her diary entries are short so we really don’t know too much about her, but my heart reached out to her nonetheless. This is the second time I've read a book where the baddie goes off the rails because they became infertile after an abortion. Can we just STOP with this? First, abortion is an extremely polarizing topic and I don't want to read about it in thrillers because when is it ever absolutely 100% necessary for the book to be bangerlicious? Kit being gang raped was more than enough reason for her to seek revenge (although now that I think of it – why was her revenge solely fixated on Jon? What happened to the other guys involved?). We did not need this extra infertility due to abortion razzle dazzle.

When the story gets to three days before the murder, the tension grows. White even writes it up to 2 hours before the murder. The twists, turns, lies, deception, manipulations and corruption keep the reader/listener engrossed in the story. This book is told from the POV of Jess and Lori in alternating timelines. Lori’s POV starts the year before she was murdered and Jess’ POV is in the present as she searches for answers to who killed her mother. I really liked having the story presented this way, as each timeline brings us closer to solving the mystery of who killed Lori. I also enjoyed both of the timelines equally. Instead, it's an emotionally pulverizing tale of the devastating trauma of sexual assault, betrayal, sociopathic minds, and revenge.

The Violin Conspiracy

I especially enjoyed the author's vivid and poignant characterizations of unlikeable protagonists as well as the book's riveting and compelling police procedurals. The plot unfolds perfectly balanced between past and present. We also get chapters from the maid's diary which was a nice touch. Short, crisp chapters kept the pacing swift. Beulah Brown is the 89 year old witness, who made the 911 call after being awoken by a scream, shortly before midnight. Her window has a perfect view of the house and property and she witnessed two people dragging a rolled up carpet to a waiting vehicle. However, she has made several 911 calls in the past, and they will have to determine if she is reliable.