“The Turn of the Key” by Ruth Ware

Blurb:

When she stumbles across the ad, she’s looking for something else completely. But it seems like too good an opportunity to miss—a live-in nannying post, with a staggeringly generous salary. And when Rowan Caine arrives at Heatherbrae House, she is smitten—by the luxurious “smart” home fitted out with all modern conveniences, by the beautiful Scottish Highlands, and by this picture-perfect family.

What she doesn’t know is that she’s stepping into a nightmare—one that will end with a child dead and herself in prison awaiting trial for murder.

Writing to her lawyer from prison, she struggles to explain the unravelling events that led to her incarceration. It wasn’t just the constant surveillance from the cameras installed around the house, or the malfunctioning technology that woke the household with booming music, or turned the lights off at the worst possible time. It wasn’t just the girls, who turned out to be a far cry from the immaculately behaved model children she met at her interview. It wasn’t even the way she was left alone for weeks at a time, with no adults around apart from the enigmatic handyman, Jack Grant.

It was everything.

She knows she’s made mistakes. She admits that she lied to obtain the post, and that her behavior toward the children wasn’t always ideal. She’s not innocent, by any means. But, she maintains, she’s not guilty—at least not of murder. Which means someone else is.

My Thoughts:

Hang on to your sanity people, this one will definitely make you question what is real, what is ruse, and what is the truth. Rowan, I found to be likeable but a little rough around the edges. Her childhood had been rough and she seemed to be having a little trouble gaining traction in her adult life. She sees the opportunity at Heatherbrae House as a chance to put the past behind her and start a new life. But her new life quickly takes some very dramatic turns and will leave her questioning her own sanity. This is the best psychological thriller I have read in a long time. The twists are sometimes subtle and sometimes dramatic but always leave you guessing. The characters are great, with even the baby having a distinct personality. Alone in this isolated house with three young children it doesn’t seem possible that the things that happen are really happening. This house if full of mysteries and secrets and the author teases them out in a delicious way. However, nothing will prepare you for the ending when the final truths are revealed. You really must read this book.

Alinefromabook’s rating: