The Night She Disappeared, By Kevin O’Brien ~ 4.0 Stars

Tags

Adult Fiction, Mystery, Psychological Suspense

Thanks to NetGalley and Kensington Books for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: July 27th, 2021

395 Pages

Synopsis: For fans of Gone Girl and of Harlan Coben and Linwood Barclay’s domestic suspense—a gripping novel by New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Kevin O’Brien, in which “the other woman” becomes the prime suspect when the wife goes missing.

Some nightmares you can’t forget
From the depths of sleep, Seattle TV reporter Anna Malone awakens to her phone ringing. She rarely drinks, and this hangover is brutal. Why can’t she shake the feeling that something terrible happened last night? And why can’t she recall any of it?

But even worse
What Anna does remember: an awkward restaurant meal with her married lover, Russ Knoll, and his unsuspecting wife, Courtney. Russ’s phone call reveals that Courtney is missing, and as days go by with no trace, he comes under police scrutiny. Anna’s in the spotlight too, thanks to a TV rival with a grudge. Anna’s not proud of her affair, but she and Russ aren’t bad people. They’re certainly not the killing kind.

Is the one you can’t remember . . .
Anna already suspected that Courtney—a successful, charming author—might have a darker side. Is she truly missing? Perhaps the sudden disturbances in Anna’s life aren’t accidental after all. But no scenario that Anna imagines can compare to the twisted game unfolding around her, one chilling piece at a time . . . (Goodreads)

I’ve been a fan of Kevin O’Brien since I read his first book, Only Son over twenty years ago. While The Night She Disappeared isn’t one of my favorites by him, seeing as how my NetGalley request wasn’t approved until late yesterday afternoon, and then I proceeded to gobble it up in three hours, it still was pretty darn good.

O’Brien excels at creating flawed characters and that is very much on display here. I had an extremely difficult time connecting with Anna, Russ, and Courtney in the beginning because, well, they’re just not very likable. However, being secretive, manipulative, and untrustworthy is also a plus because it keeps the reader on their toes as to figuring out what happened and who the villain is. While I’m going to be purposefully and annoyingly vague here, the person who I disliked at the beginning had my sympathy in the end, and the one who I felt badly for in the beginning, vice versa. There are also several secondary characters with their own backstories that I think for the most part weren’t necessary and they slowed down the pace a little. As for the central mystery itself, it was very twisty with a few red herrings thrown in to make it more so. Despite my quibble with too many characters, this was most definitely a page turner right up until the end which brings me to my last critique in that I felt it was a little rushed and tied things up almost a little too neatly.

Even though, as I said previously, The Night She Disappeared isn’t one of my favorite books by this prolific author, I sped through this and found it quite enjoyable. Kevin O’Brien is an author that you really can’t go wrong with in terms of psychological suspense/mystery. If you’re looking for a great beach and vacation read you need not look any farther than this!

Just One Look, By Lindsey Cameron ~ 4.5 Stars

Tags

Adult Fiction, Alcoholism, Mental Illness, Mystery, Psychological Suspense

Thanks to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: July 27th, 2021

304 Pages

Synopsis: The eyes aren’t the windows to the soul. Emails are.

Cassie Woodson is adrift. After suffering an epic tumble down the corporate ladder, Cassie finds the only way she can pay her bills is to take a thankless temp job reviewing correspondence for a large-scale fraud suit. The daily drudgery amplifies all that her life is lacking—love, friends, stability—and leaves her with too much time on her hands, which she spends fixating on the mistakes that brought her to this point.

While sorting through a relentless deluge of emails, something catches her eye: the tender (and totally private) exchanges between a partner at the firm, Forest Watts, and his enchanting wife, Annabelle. Cassie knows she shouldn’t read them. But it’s just one look. And once that door opens, she finds she can’t look away.

Every day, twenty floors below Forest’s office, Cassie dissects their emails from her dingy workstation. A few clicks of her mouse and she can see every adoring word they write to each other. By peeking into their apparently perfect life, Cassie finds renewed purpose and happiness, reveling in their penchant for vintage wines, morning juice presses, and lavish dinner parties thrown in their stately Westchester home. There are no secrets from her. Or so she thinks.

Her admiration quickly escalates into all-out mimicry, because she wants this life more than anything. Maybe if she plays make-believe long enough, it will become real for her. But when Cassie orchestrates a “chance” meeting with Forest in the real world and sees something that throws the state of his marriage into question, the fantasy she’s been carefully cultivating shatters. Suddenly she doesn’t simply admire Annabelle—she wants to take her place. And she’s armed with the tools to make that happen. (Goodreads)

Just One Look is a completely over-the-top, unbelievable read, that’s so much fun that I challenge anyone not to feel compelled to read it in one or two sittings!

Cassie, the anti heroine in this twisted tale, is a wee little bit unhinged. Something happened that derailed her once promising career in corporate law, and now the only job she can get is as a temp. Part of the mystery is what exactly happened in the past, and Cameron tantalizingly leaves clues throughout the book. Without giving away any spoilers, once Cassie’s transgression that precipitated her fall from grace was revealed, I actually felt more sympathy toward her than I did in the beginning. In the present, Cassie’s instability is made worse by her drinking and she begins spiraling out of control. Like Joe Goldberg in Caroline Kepnes’ You series, you can’t help reluctantly wanting Cassie to have a happy ending, hopefully which will also get her some much needed psychological help.

Diametrically opposed to the hot mess that Cassie and her life have become, is the seemingly perfect couple of Forest Watts and his lovely wife Annabelle. Or are they? As we all know, appearances can be deceiving, and in this case all is definitely not as it seems. I humbly admit that I did not see the twists that upended this story until right before they occurred. While the first half of the book is a slow burn set up, the second half is more like a runaway train, and the ending had me laughing and doing a facepalm at the same time.

Just One Look is an exciting debut from Lindsay Cameron, and another book that I’ll be shocked if it’s not adapted for film. I guarantee it will be one of the more buzz-worthy reads of the summer and I highly recommend it for fans of authors like Caroline Kepnes, Liv Constantine, Paula Hawkins, and Gillian Flynn.

Mirrorland, By Carole Johnstone ~ 4.0 Stars

Tags

Adult Fiction, Child Abuse, Domestic Abuse, Dysfunctional Families, Mystery, Psychological Suspense, Substance Abuse

Thanks to NetGalley and Scribner for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: April 20th, 2021

320 Pages

Synopsis: With the startling twists of “Gone Girl” and the haunting emotional power of “Room,” “Mirrorland” is a thrilling work of psychological suspense about twin sisters, the man they both love, and the dark childhood they can’t leave behind.

Cat lives in Los Angeles, far away from 36 Westeryk Road, the imposing gothic house in Edinburgh were she and her estranged twin sister, El, grew up. As girls, they invented Mirrorland, a dark, imaginary place under the pantry stairs, full of pirates, witches, and clowns. These days Cat rarely thinks about their childhood home, or the fact that El now lives there with her husband Ross.

But when El mysteriously disappears after going out on her sailboat, Cat is forced to return to 36 Westeryk Road, which has scarcely changed in twenty years. The grand old house is still full of shadowy corners, and at every turn Cat finds herself stumbling on long-held secrets and terrifying ghosts from the past. Because someone—El?— has left Cat clues in almost every room: a treasure hunt that leads right back to Mirrorland where she knows the truth lies crouched and waiting…

A twisty, dark, and brilliantly crafted thriller about love and betrayal, redemption and revenge, Mirrorland is a propulsive page-turning debut about the power of imagination and the price of freedom. (Goodreads)

I need to begin by saying that Mirrorland is not going to be everyone’s cup of tea. It’s extremely dark, deals with domestic and child abuse, and at times is mind-numbingly complex. More than once I felt as though I had gone so far down the rabbit hole that I’d never find my way back. But given all that, this debut is pretty impressive and deserving of the kudos it’s receiving including a rave from Stephen King.

At the heart of this twisty tale are twin sisters Cat and El. Despite having a close bond as children, something has driven them apart as adults and while I had more than one theory, in the end it wasn’t what I expected. The book starts out a little slow, as Johnstone teasingly lays out a trail of breadcrumbs for the reader to follow. Bit by bit snippets of the girls childhood is revealed as well as the creation of Mirrorland. I was constantly trying to figure out what was real and what wasn’t. The story is told from Cat’s POV and she’s an unreliable narrator so that adds to the uncertainty. The more I discovered about Cat, and the horrors that were hidden behind the doors of 36 Westeryk Road, the more I related to her because of my own unhappy childhood. One coping mechanism she unknowingly uses, I unwillingly use myself even to this day. 

El, I had more of a difficult time with, but that was because until the last third of the book, I was seeing her through Cat’s eyes, and she wasn’t a very sympathetic figure. The last several chapters, while somewhat overwrought, clears up all the murkiness and while I still questioned some of El’s actions, I understood them.

The third person that needs mentioning is Ross, the childhood friend of the twins and now grieving husband of El. His past and present role in their lives I continually guessed at, and although some of the mystery began to clear by the halfway point of the story, there were still plenty of shocking revelations to come.

The ending was relayed in multiple parts, and each time I thought the surprises were done, another one was thrown in. When the finale came though, I thought it perfect. Overall, this dark, psychological suspense/mystery is a memorable debut from Carole Johnstone, and it has me eagerly looking forward to what she comes out with next.

Kill All Your Darlings, By David Bell ~ 4.5 Stars

Tags

Adult Fiction, Mystery, Psychological Suspense, Sexual Harrassment

Thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Books for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: July 6th, 2021

416 Pages

Synopsis: When a student disappears and is presumed dead, her professor passes off her manuscript as his own—only to find out it implicates him in an unsolved murder in this new thriller from the USA Today bestselling author of The Request.

After years of struggling to write following the deaths of his wife and son, English professor Connor Nye publishes his first novel, a thriller about the murder of a young woman.

There’s just one problem: Connor didn’t write the book. His missing student did. And then she appears on his doorstep, alive and well, threatening to expose him.

Connor’s problems escalate when police insist details in the novel implicate him in a murder from two years ago. Soon Connor discovers the crime is part of a disturbing scandal on campus and faces an impossible dilemma—admit he didn’t write the book and lose his job or keep of the lie and risk everything. When another murder occurs, Connor must clear his name by unraveling the horrifying secrets in his student’s manuscript.

This is a suspenseful, provocative novel about the sexual harassment that still runs rampant in academia—and the lengths those in power will go to cover it up. (Goodreads)

Kill All Your Darlings is a fun, addictive read, filled with flawed characters and suspect motives. The main character, Connor doesn’t have the best judgement in the world, but while normally this would annoy me, I found him sympathetic because of the death of his wife and son. You’re probably asking how someone who plagiarizes his missing student’s thesis, could possibly garner even a droplet of sympathy, let’s just say what leads him to do this is complicated. Yes it’s stupid and immoral, but it’s done at a time when he’s not thinking clearly. Madeline, the student in question who turns up two years after her mysterious disappearance, I was less keen about due to her initial snarky attitude, but she grew on me as the story progressed. While I figured out fairly early on, the “who” in the mystery, the why remained elusive until the final chapters. The timely topic of sexual harassment on college campuses is a very important part of the book and Bell does a credible job writing the rest of the storyline around it. The pacing of the story was solidly fast right up to the satisfying ending and I flew through it in two sittings. Kill All Your Darlings will undoubtedly please David Bell fans, and for any of you looking for an exciting psychological suspense mystery and enjoy authors like Harlan Coben, I highly recommend you give this a try.

You Let Me In, by Camilla Bruce ~ 4.5 Stars

Tags

Adult Fiction, Dark Fantasy, Dysfunctional Families, Psychological Suspense

Thanks to NetGalley and Tor Books for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: April 21st, 2020

256 Pages

Synopsis: Cassandra Tipp is dead…or is she?

After all, the notorious recluse and eccentric bestselling novelist has always been prone to flights of fancy—everyone in town remembers the shocking events leading up to Cassie’s infamous trial (she may have been acquitted, but the insanity defense only stretches so far).

Cassandra Tipp has left behind no body—just her massive fortune and one final manuscript.

Then again, there are enough bodies in her past—her husband Tommy Tipp, whose mysterious disembowelment has never been solved, and a few years later, the shocking murder-suicide of her father and brother.

Cassandra Tipp will tell you a story—but it will come with a terrible price. What really happened, out there in the woods—and who has Cassie been protecting all along? Read on, if you dare…

I have to be honest and admit I struggled in the beginning of You Let Me In. I think this was due to me realizing a couple of chapters in, that this story wasn’t going to bear much resemblance to what the synopsis described. I was expecting a psychological suspense story, and instead it turned more into a dark fantasy. I hope the publisher changes this before the publishing date because it’s misleading and an annoying distraction.

That said, once I was about thirty pages in I actually enjoyed reading this dark, deeply twisted tale. Camilla Bruce’s writing is beautifully detailed and truly serves to bring her disturbing characters and settings to life. Throughout the story and even at the end, the question of whether Cassie is the victim of horrific child abuse, or has been pulled into the clutches of the twisted and manipulative Pepper-Man, is never truly answered, which I found both frustrating and brilliant. I love books (mostly) that make you think and tie your insides into knots, and this one certainly accomplishes that. Cassie is a flawed yet sympathetic character and her suffering broke my heart.

While I had some misgivings in the beginning, I wound up being completely captivated by Let Me In. It’s a cross between Neil Gaiman and Sarah Pinborough, and I unhesitatingly recommend it to readers who enjoy unsettling dark fantasy mixed with psychological suspense. I would warn survivors of child sexual abuse that this book has multiple triggers. While Cassie’s abuser is left shrouded in ambiguity, there’s no doubt that she is a victim, and I think there are some scenes that might bother some people. My list of trigger warnings are: Implied sexual abuse, implied abortion, verbal abuse, murder, and suicide. Overall, I think it’s a very creative and utterly mesmerizing debut by Camilla Bruce and I’m looking forward to seeing more of her work in the future.

The Apartment, by K. L. Slater ~ 4.0 Stars

Tags

Adult Fiction, Mystery, Psychological Suspense

Thanks to NetGalley and Amazon UK for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: April 28th, 2020

266 Pages

Synopsis: It’s an opportunity she can’t refuse. The woman before her tried…

Freya Miller needs a miracle. In the fallout of her husband’s betrayal, she’s about to lose her family home, and with it the security she craves for her five-year-old daughter, Skye. Adrift and alone, she’s on the verge of despair until a chance meeting with the charismatic Dr. Marsden changes everything. He’s seeking a new tenant for a shockingly affordable flat in a fashionable area of London.

Adder House sounds too good to be true…but Freya really can’t afford to be cynical, and Dr. Marsden is adamant that she and Skye will be a perfect fit with the other residents.

But Adder House has secrets. Even behind a locked front door, Freya feels as if she’s being watched: objects moving, unfamiliar smells, the blinking light of a concealed camera…and it’s not long before she begins to suspect that her dream home is hiding a nightmarish reality. Was it really chance that led her here—or something unthinkably dark?

As the truth about Adder House starts to unravel, can a Freya and Skye get out—or will they be locked in here forever?

The Apartment is a twisty tale of gaslighting that had me completely glued to the pages from beginning to shocking end. You obviously have to suspend disbelief a little because obviously, who in their right mind would move into an apartment, especially one that seems to good to be true, with a five-year-old daughter, without doing some research, but this is so much fun, that’s accomplished fairly easily.

K.L. Slater does a wonderful job ratcheting up the tension, piece by piece, layer by layer. Despite a few poor decisions, I really liked Freya, and I loved Skye, who has quite the precocious personality. I was so invested in them that it broke my heart as Freya started to unravel, and Skye lost her joie de vivre. It actually reminded me a little of Rosemary’s Baby, only without the satanists. The only thing I found a bit jarring were the segues through Freya’s memories of her past with her deceased husband. They were unnecessary and to top it off, the only loose plot thread was tied to his death.

Overall though, The Apartment is a thoroughly enjoyable read that mystery/psychological suspense fans will easily breeze through in 1-2 sittings. I’m looking forward to seeing what Slater comes out with next.

Girl At the Edge, by Karen Dietrich ~ 5.0 Stars

Tags

Psychological Suspense, Substance Abuse, YA Fiction

Thanks to NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: March 3rd, 2020

368 Pages

Synopsis: A thrilling nature-vs-nurture psychological suspense novel about a daughter trying to deny her worst impulses and distance herself from her violent and dangerous father.

Not a single resident of St. Augustine, Florida can forget the day that Michael Joshua Hayes walked into a shopping mall and walked out the mass murder of eleven people.

He’s now spent over a decade on death row and his daughter Evelyn—who doesn’t remember a time when her father wasn’t an infamous killer—is determined to unravel the mystery and understand what drove her father to shoot those innocent victims.

Evelyn’s search brings her to a support group for children of incarcerated parents, where a fierce friendship develops with another young woman named Clarisse. Soon the girls are inseparable—and by the beginning of the summer, Evelyn is poised at the edge of her future and must make a life-defining choice: whether to believe that a parent’s legacy of violence is escapable or that history will keep repeating itself, whether we choose it or not.

Dark, creepy, and disturbing are the three adjectives that immediately spring to my mind after reading Girl At The Edge in one sitting last night. With some deeply unsettling scenes, this may not be a book for everyone, but I found it mesmerizing from the very first page and was unable to put it down until I came to the end. Dietrich’s writing is beautiful and quite visual which adds to the enjoyment. This isn’t an action-packed story but rather a thoughtful look at how two girls cope with living with the knowledge of their fathers’ monstrous actions. Whether nature or nurture forms the essence of who we are is an age old question, and I’m not sure if anything new is added to the debate here, but Evelyn’s battle with her own inner demons is fascinating and her story is perfect for book discussion groups with older teens. I highly recommend this with one caveat: don’t read this immediately before bed because I guarantee you’ll be up thinking about it for hours.

The Woman in the Window, by A. J. Finn ~ 4.5 Stars

Tags

Adult Fiction, Agoraphobia, Depression, Mystery, Psychological Suspense, Substance Abuse

Back in December of 2017, I had the pleasure of reviewing The Woman in the Window, by A.J. Finn. As the long awaited movie is being released in May, with the amazing Amy Adams playing the lead, I’ve decided to repost my old review in hopes of convincing any of you who haven’t read this twisty mystery, into giving it a try. At the end of the review I’ve included the trailer as well.

Thanks to Edelweiss and William Morrow for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: January 2nd, 2018

448 Pages

Synopsis: What did she see? 

It’s been ten long months since Anna Fox last left her home. Ten months during which she has haunted the rooms of her old New York house like a ghost, lost in her memories, too terrified to step outside.

Anna’s lifeline to the real world is her window, where she sits day after day, watching her neighbors. When the Russells move in, Anna is drawn to them. A picture-perfect family of three, they are an echo of the life that was once hers.

But one evening, a frenzied scream rips across the silence, and Anna witnesses something no one was supposed to see. Now she must do everything she can to uncover the truth about what really happened. But even if she does, will anyone believe her? And can she even trust herself?

The Woman in the Window is a debut novel that’s been buzzed about for months. There’s even a movie in the works already. In cases like this I’ve found more often than not that the book just can’t live up to all the hype. However, in this instance, it actually does.

For Hitchcock fans you might have thought reading the synopsis that it sounds like the classic Rear Window. And you’d be absolutely right. Only in this case instead of the lead character being laid up with a broken leg like Jimmy Stewart, Dr. Anna Fox has severe agoraphobia which keeps her trapped in her three story New York brownstone. She’s completely alone except for her tenant Daniel, who lives in the basement, her psychiatrist, and her physical therapist. She has a husband and daughter but they’re separated, although they talk everyday. Her days for the last ten months, for the most part consist of taking pills to control her anxiety and depression, and drinking too much wine. She also loves watching old black and white movies (mainly Hitchcock), and watching her neighbors through her Nikon camera. When she witnesses an attack in her neighbors house across the street, no one believes her. The neighbors deny anything happened and the police find her not to be credible. Soon even Anna begins to question herself.

Anna is one of the most complex characters I’ve come across this year. She was a successful psychologist herself until an unknown trauma destroyed her life ten months previously. I had already begun to guess what happened long before the trauma that put her in this state was revealed, but the heartbreaking details still managed to shock me. I found myself frustrated by her drinking and pill popping while at the same time sympathizing with the pain she was in. And once Anna witnesses this crime across the street, well that just adds a whole new level to her suffering. But what I loved the most about her was by the end of the book she was a much stronger woman than she gave herself credit for. To be honest, if I had gone through what she does, I’m not sure I would be able to persevere. 

The beginning of the story is a little slow, but as it progresses and you get to know Anna and the other characters that are introduced, the pace picks up. I don’t think I’d call this a thriller but more a simmering suspense. The twist at the end did catch me completely unaware. 

In my humble opinion, The Woman in the Window stands out from the other books that have come out in the wake of novels like Gone Girl and Girl on the Train. There’s a claustrophobic, noirish atmosphere introduced from the first chapter, and that, coupled with the two puzzles: what happened to Anna ten months ago, and has she now indeed witnessed an unspeakable crime, kept me feverishly turning the pages in search of the answers. 

I highly recommend this for fans of slow burning suspense, sketchy characters, and twisty plots. I guarantee that by the time you’re at the halfway point you’re going to have a difficult time putting this down. I also promise that Dr. Anna Fox will stay in your mind weeks after you’ve finished the book.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Third Mrs. Durst, by Ann Aguirre ~ 1.0 Stars

Tags

Adult Fiction, Psychological Suspense

Thanks to NetGalley and Midnight Ink for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: August 8th, 2019

325 Pages

Synopsis: Some people just need killing.

Marlena Altizer Durst lives in her husband’s shadow. He controls her every move—what she wears, the food she eats and the friends she’s allowed to make. If she disobeys, there are…consequences. And he has all the power, so nobody would believe her. 

Her Cinderella story has been well-documented and it seems like she leads a fairy-tale life. But nobody ever wonders if Cinderella was happy after she married the prince. Marlena has traded freedom and safety for luxurious imprisonment, and most days, that seems like a bad bargain. Death may be the only exit she’s allowed. Just like his first wife. And his second.

Unless she flips the script.

And gets away with murder…

Some people just need killing. And maybe I’m one of them. My husband certainly thinks so. My husband certainly thinks so, but then, he feels  that way about most women. I may not survive his style of love. His first wife didn’t. Neither did his second. The flames are everywhere now. It’s getting hard to breathe. We’ll see who dies today.

And with that chilling hook, I was instantly sucked into what I thought was going to be an exciting domestic thriller. It was a great kick-off,  but unfortunately the rest of the story didn’t quite live up to it.

This is more a plot-driven rather than character-driven story, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. However, despite her sympathetic backstory, I ultimately found Marlena to be almost as despicable as her cookie-cutter, villainous husband and the supporting cast wasn’t believable at all. The sex scenes came off as forced and passionless, and left me cringing more than once. It actually reminded me a little of Fifty Shades of Grey, and for many of you who’ve been following me for awhile, you know how much I love that book. *Insert eye-roll*. 

With that, the best I can say about The Third Mrs. Durst, is that it’s a quick read. Otherwise, in my humble opinion, there are far better books in this genre out there such as: The Wife Between Us, by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen, and Behind Closed Doors, by B.A. Paris. As always though, for readers intrigued by the premise, I recommend you check out other reviews. There’s quite a few positive ones on Goodreads and NetGalley, so maybe I was just in a cranky mood when I read this.

 

The Nanny, by Gilly Macmillan ~ 4.5 Stars

Tags

Adult Fiction, Dysfunctional Families, Mystery, Psychological Suspense

Thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins Publishers/William Morrow for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: September 19th, 2019

400 Pages

Synopsis: The New York Times bestselling author of What She Knew conjures a dark and unpredictable tale of family secrets that explore the lengths people will go to hurt one another.

When her beloved nanny, Hannah, left without a trace in the summer of 1988, seven-year-old Jocelyn Holt was devastated. Haunted by the loss, Jo grew up bitter and distant, and eventually left her parents and Lake Hall, their faded aristocratic home, behind. 

Thirty years later, Jo returns to the house and is forced to confront her troubled relationship with her mother. But when human remains are accidentally uncovered in a lake on the estate, Jo begins to question everything she thought she knew.

Then an unexpected visitor knocks on the door and Jo’s world is destroyed again. Desperate to piece together the gaping holes in her memory, Jo must uncover who her nanny really was, why she left, and if she can trust her own mother…

In this compulsively readable tale of secrets, lies, and deception, Gilly Macmillan explores the darkest impulses and desires of the human heart. Diabolically clever, The Nanny reminds us that sometimes the truth hurts so much that you’d rather hear the lie.

Given these last two books I’ve read, I seem to be on a nanny kick lately. But, let me assure you The Nanny is as different as can be from The Turn of the Key. It’s a slow burn of a story and I’d call it more psychological suspense than thriller, but that doesn’t make it any less of a page turner. Gilly Macmillan’s writing is very detailed and visual, and throughout the story I felt as though I was there at Lake Hall and the village. The chapters moved seamlessly between two time periods and multiple POVs, which isn’t always easy to pull off without taking away from the storyline, but the author effortlessly accomplishes this.

As for the characters, for the most part, they’re not particularly likable and some are downright evil, but they’re well-developed which makes them intriguing. The entire time I was reading I didn’t know who to trust, which further added to the mystery and suspense. 

While the dramatic ending was a bit rushed and I was left with a few questions, overall I feel The Nanny definitely lives up to its pre-publication hype. Gilly Macmillan has taken the familiar theme of a dysfunctional family being torn apart by secrets and lies, and given it an original and entertaining spin. This is the first book I’ve read by her but it certainly won’t be my last.