In English writer Alex Hay's glittering debut novel, The Housekeepers, a band of disgruntled employees and their criminal cronies seek revenge via a heist on a London mansion in 1905. When Dinah King is dismissed from her position at the de Vries' grand home on Park Lane, she immediately concocts a plan. Three weeks from now, Miss de Vries plans to host a costume ball she hopes will coincide with her engagement to Lord Ashley. With the help of two black-market mavens--pawnshop owner Mrs. Bone and Winnie Smith, Mrs. King's predecessor as housekeeper--along with a bevy of faux maids, actresses, and crooked cops, Mrs. King intends to clear the house of its opulent contents, sell them, and live off of the profits.
The countdown to the ball sets a rollicking pace. Hay gradually unfolds the various players' motivations to create an intriguing backstory. Wilhelm de Vries, who died just two months ago, was faking a posh background and, in fact, Mrs. King believes she has a legitimate claim to his riches. Others want vengeance for the abuses that went on under his roof. The ball is a showy affair that Hay describes with panache. The entertainment and the burglary alike involve circus-level feats of disguise and agility. Hired actresses add a veneer of nobility that distracts from the large-scale theft. Some characters, like Alice the seamstress, bridge the upstairs-downstairs divide. The ensemble cast is a delight of this delicious, Downton Abbey-like tale of the reversal of fortunes. --Rebecca Foster, freelance reviewer, proofreader and blogger at Bookish Beck