The Turn of the Key
by Ruth Ware
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of In a Dark, Dark Wood, The Woman in Cabin 10, The Lying Game, and The Death of Mrs. Westaway comes Ruth Ware’s highly anticipated fifth novel.
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.
Full of spellbinding menace and told in Ruth Ware’s signature suspenseful style, The Turn of the Key is an unputdownable thriller from the Agatha Christie of our time.
Momma Says: 4 stars⭐⭐⭐⭐
I'm assuming from the title and premise that The Turn of the Key is a retelling of a certain drawn out James novel. Actually, I didn't make the connection until I started reading. Maybe it's because I'm older now, or maybe not, but this one held my interest and didn't drag nearly like I was afraid it might once the connection clicked. Ruth Ware gives us a modern day smart home with all the bells and whistles, yet she still manages to give the story a Gothic feel. There is a lot of the mundane, taking care of kids, everyday stuff to get through, but interspersed throughout the story we get strange sounds, drafts, sinister comments, a rather strange family, and a nanny with secrets. Oh, and it's all wrapped up and tied in a pretty little bow with a completely unreliable narrator in Rowan as she tells the story via letters to a solicitor. Smart house or no, I can't imagine reading this one and not feeling the need to occasionally look over your shoulder as you notice all those little noises that houses make. I will add that this one does take a good amount of suspension of disbelief, especially in this age of everything being on the internet. There were a few too many key elements that just couldn't have happened in this day and age. That would normally be a deal breaker for me, but this time it wasn't. Whether is was the writing, which is quite good, the creepy atmosphere, the secrets, or a combination of it all, I enjoyed the read. I also enjoyed the twists. It does take a while to get there, and I did have one figured out, but I still enjoyed them. I think the final twist will receive mixed reviews with some liking it more than others, but I am firmly in the former category. In the end, unbelievable or not, I found The Turn of the Key hard to put down from the very beginning, and I will be checking out more of this author's work.
I'm assuming from the title and premise that The Turn of the Key is a retelling of a certain drawn out James novel. Actually, I didn't make the connection until I started reading. Maybe it's because I'm older now, or maybe not, but this one held my interest and didn't drag nearly like I was afraid it might once the connection clicked. Ruth Ware gives us a modern day smart home with all the bells and whistles, yet she still manages to give the story a Gothic feel. There is a lot of the mundane, taking care of kids, everyday stuff to get through, but interspersed throughout the story we get strange sounds, drafts, sinister comments, a rather strange family, and a nanny with secrets. Oh, and it's all wrapped up and tied in a pretty little bow with a completely unreliable narrator in Rowan as she tells the story via letters to a solicitor. Smart house or no, I can't imagine reading this one and not feeling the need to occasionally look over your shoulder as you notice all those little noises that houses make. I will add that this one does take a good amount of suspension of disbelief, especially in this age of everything being on the internet. There were a few too many key elements that just couldn't have happened in this day and age. That would normally be a deal breaker for me, but this time it wasn't. Whether is was the writing, which is quite good, the creepy atmosphere, the secrets, or a combination of it all, I enjoyed the read. I also enjoyed the twists. It does take a while to get there, and I did have one figured out, but I still enjoyed them. I think the final twist will receive mixed reviews with some liking it more than others, but I am firmly in the former category. In the end, unbelievable or not, I found The Turn of the Key hard to put down from the very beginning, and I will be checking out more of this author's work.
❃❃ARC provided by NetGalley and Gallery/Scout Press
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