“She will leave your surfaces sparkling.
But she may well leave you dead…”
Released today, Make Me Clean by Tina Baker follows Maria, a good woman and a good cleaner. She cleans for Elsie, the funny old bird who’s losing her marbles, with the terrible husband. She cleans for Brian, the sweet man with the terrible boss. She cleans for the mysterious Mr Balogan, with the terrible neighbours.
If you’re thinking of hiring her, you should probably know that Maria might have killed the terrible husband, the terrible boss and the terrible neighbours. She may also have murdered the man she loved.
She didn’t set out to kill anyone, of course, but her clients have hired her to clean up their lives, and she takes her job seriously – not to mention how much happier they all are now. The trouble is, murder can’t be washed out. You can only sweep it under the carpet, and pray no one looks too closely…
Rating: 
Today is my stop on the blog tour. Thank you to Viper Books for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
A darkly humorous domestic thriller, Make Me Clean is an original and engaging story told through Baker’s distinctive narrative.
Maria’s story is an intruiging one. You always know that something must have happened to her in her past and the mystery of this drives your curiosity forward. Told through multiple narratives, her tragic past is slowly revealed, as the reader is gradually given more insight into Maria’s motives.
While I did find Maria’s story a little slow at the start, I enjoyed it a lot more by the end as I began to understand her more. I would have liked the deaths themselves to have had more of a focus, but Baker has a lot more to say through Maria’s actions than simply being able to get away with murder.
Personally, I was expecting the story to be a little darker and with a lot more bloodshed – but that just says more about me! But Maria’s killing isn’t out of anger or revenge. It’s out of redemption, protection, the care for her clients. She isn’t just scrubbing away the consequences of her actions, but she’s scrubbing away her guilt, her fears, her heavy burdens, and the regrets of her past.
This makes her a much more relatable character than a simple “female villain”. Baker always writes incredibly memorable characters, and Maria is sure to be a character who you will think about often.
Details:
Make Me Clean by Tina Baker
Release Date: 16th February 2023
Print Length: 400 pages
Genre: Crime Thriller
Publisher: Viper Books
Synopsis:
She will leave your surfaces sparkling.
But she may well leave you dead…Maria is a good woman and a good cleaner. She cleans for Elsie, the funny old bird who’s losing her marbles, with the terrible husband. She cleans for Brian, the sweet man with the terrible boss. She cleans for the mysterious Mr Balogan, with the terrible neighbours.
If you’re thinking of hiring her, you should probably know that Maria might have killed the terrible husband, the terrible boss and the terrible neighbours. She may also have murdered the man she loved.
She didn’t set out to kill anyone, of course, but her clients have hired her to clean up their lives, and she takes her job seriously – not to mention how much happier they all are now. The trouble is, murder can’t be washed out. You can only sweep it under the carpet, and pray no one
looks too closely…Darkly funny and completely gripping from the first page to the last, Make Me Clean is one thriller you won’t be able to scrub from your mind. Perfect for fans of Harriet Tyce, Fiona Cummins and My Sister the Serial Killer.
About The Author:
Tina Baker, the daughter of a window cleaner and fairground traveller, worked as a journalist and broadcaster for thirty years and is probably best known as a television critic for the BBC and GMTV. After so many hours watching soaps gave her a widescreen bum, she got off it and won Celebrity Fit Club. She now avoids writing-induced DVT by working as a Fitness Instructor.
Call Me Mummy is Tina’s first novel, inspired by her own unsuccessful attempts to become a mother. Despite the grief of that, she’s not stolen a child – so far. But she does rescue cats, whether they want to be rescued or not.
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