And worst of all, he was…Jesus, I can’t bring myself to say it. When Bill’s ribald advances do not prevent Rowan from accepting the job, Ware’s dialogue between them leaves the reader wondering. You’ll feel your own frustration level rise with Rowan’s at the numerous tech glitches that happen in the book. The Happy app, which controls everything from the lighting to the doors, adds substantial suspense. Outfitted with all the modern conveniences of a smart home, the house takes on a life of its own as a creepy character. The writer describes Heatherbrae House in splendid detail so the reader can picture the setting precisely. Part traditional, part modern, the house is tasteful and located far from the hustle and bustle of city life. Having traveled to Scotland from London, she spends the night at Heatherbrae House, the Elincourts’ renovated Victorian lodge. When Rowan comes for the interview and meets the children, they appear well-behaved. Finally, there are the Elincourts’ two black Labrador retrievers, a pair of dogs that add just the right amount of believable chaos as events unfold. Brisk and unfriendly, part-time housekeeper Jean MacKenzie appears to dislike Rowan, and we are left to ponder what secrets she may be keeping. Enter Jack Grant, their handsome handyman and driver with a secret of his own. Each girl is woven into the story like an intricate silken thread of a spider web three harbor their own secrets and one tot with the terrible twos behavior complicates matters. Her charges range in age from teenaged rebel Rhiannon to moody Maddie, eight, shy, sweet five-year-old Ellie and toddler Petra.

Rowan has her own reasons for wanting this position, despite that the last four nannies left in a hurry. Set in the beautiful Scottish Highlands, she secures the job for a well-to-do pair of architects, Sandra and Bill Elincourt. Betrayal, lust, love and a gripping conclusion that keeps readers guessing-this novel encompasses it all.Īn experienced nanny, Rowan answers an advertisement for a live-in that is her dream job with a generous salary. The crime is the death of a child, but readers, take heart you won’t figure out which child until near the end of the story. Reminiscent of a gothic ghost story from a bygone era, Ware’s newest protagonist, Rowan Caine, demands your attention from the opening with her letter to a lawyer she has never met, protesting her innocence. Her latest novel, The Turn of the Key, delivers with unstoppable, page-turning prose. Pegged as the 21st-century Agatha Christie, British author Ruth Ware holds her own in the mystery genre.

Turn of the key review