Dirty Laundry by Disha Bose

A twisty, domestic suspense debut about a clique of mothers that shatters when one of their own is murdered, bringing chaos to their curated lives.

She was the perfect wife, with the perfect life. You would kill to have it…

Ciara Dunphy has it all–a loving husband, well-behaved children, and a beautiful home. Her circle of friends in their small Irish village go to her for tips about mothering, style, and influencer success–a picture-perfect life is easy money on Instagram. But behind the filters, reality is less polished.

Enter Mishti Guha: Ciara’s best friend. Ciara welcomed Mishti into her inner circle for being… unlike the other mothers in the group. But, discontent in a marriage arranged for her through her parents back in Calcutta, Mishti now raises her young daughter in a country that is too cold, among the children of her new friends who look nothing like her. She just wants what Ciara has–the ease with which she moves through the world–and in that sense, Mishti might be exactly like the other mothers.

And there’s earth mother Lauren Doyle, born, bred, and the butt of jokes in their village. With her disheveled partner and children who run naked in the yard, they’re mostly a happy lot, though unsurprisingly ostracized for being the singular dysfunction in Ciara’s immaculate world. When Lauren finds an unlikely ally in Mishti, she decides that her days of ridicule are over.

Then Ciara is found murdered in her own pristine home, and the house of cards she’d worked so hard to build comes crumbling down. Everyone seems to have something to gain from Ciara’s death, so if they don’t want the blame, it may be the perfect time to air their enemies’ dirty laundry.

In this dazzling debut novel, Disha Bose revolutionizes age-old ideas of love and deceit. What ensues is the delicious unspooling of a group of women desperate to preserve themselves.

Published by Ballantine
on April 4, 2023

Review:

I used to love the TV show, Desperate Housewives. When I read the summary of this book I immediately thought of that show, and I’m happy to say, I was not disappointed in what I found on the pages of this book. It was a really fun read. I loved getting inside the heads of these characters as we worked toward figuring out who killed Ciara Dunphy, the queen bee of the neighborhood.

In the first two chapters of the book, we meet Ciara Dunphy – a supposedly perfect woman – happily married and the mother of two. Her husband makes good money and Ciara is a very well-known Instagram influencer. Every woman in the neighborhood is happy to know her and hang on her every word – everyone, that is, except Lauren Doyle. It’s made perfectly clear in the first chapter that Ciara has no time for Lauren in her life. She thinks she’s a bully and a pariah. In fact, I was convinced after reading the first chapter that Lauren was a total skank bag, and I’d never met her! Like the women of the neighborhood, I, too, was under Ciara’s influence.

But in chapter two, we get a look at Lauren, her partner Henry and their three kids. Lauren isn’t the heinous bitch Ciara made her out to be. In fact, she seems more my speed. She’s earthy, she’s a great mom, and she works her ass off trying to take care of her kids and her dead-beat long-term partner, Henry who hasn’t held down a job since he closed his bookshop.

By the end of chapter two, Ciara is dead, Lauren finds her and we’re left wondering how, exactly, did Ciara die? We then flash back a few weeks when Ciara is still alive and kicking and we get a closer look at what happened before the death. We also meet another major player in the events – Mishti Guha. Mishti is an immigrant from Calcutta. She and her husband from an arranged marriage and their daughter also live in the neighborhood, and Ciara – for some reason – decided that Mishti was going to be her BFF. Mishti’s daughter Maya and Ciara’s bratty daughter are close friends, which keeps Mishti and Ciara close, but we soon begin to wonder if maybe Ciara isn’t trying to sink her hooks into Mishti’s psychologist husband.

We also learn that Ciara really doesn’t like her kids, and she despises her husband. They are all pawns in her game and she uses them to make her followers adore her. We also learn that Ciara is screwing around with another man from the neighborhood and before we know it, we have several potential folks who all would have had a motive for killing Ciara.

The book is very well written and keeps you guessing the entire time. All the characters are fully fleshed out, and honestly, I was never exactly sure who did it – not until the very satisfying end.

If you loved Desperate Housewives, and like a good, juicy suburban mystery, I would highly recommend this one.