INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER “A superb suspense writer…Brava, Ruth Ware. I daresay even Henry James would be impressed.” –Maureen Corrigan, author of So We Read On “This appropriately twisty Turn of the Screw update finds the Woman in Cabin 10 author in her most menacing mode, unfurling a shocking saga of murder and deception.” –Entertainment Weekly From the #1 New York Times … deception.” —Entertainment Weekly
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Lying Game and The Death of Mrs. Westaway comes this thrilling novel that explores the dark side of technology.
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 events that led to her incarceration. It wasn’t just the constant surveillance from the home’s cameras, 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.
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–but somebody 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.
more
My expectation for this book was high for a thriller but I feel like it didn’t give me the amount of thrill and creepiness I thought it would. Some of the things were a bit predictable even though there were some small twists I didn’t see coming. I also feel like the ending could have been better and some questions are left unanswered. Nonetheless, it was an enjoyable book and I’d suggest you give it a try as we might have different opinions about it.
3.5 stars
A fantastic book to keep you up all through the night to find out the ending. Even after several weeks, I am still thinking about the characters. Read with your doors locked! Perfect ending.
This is a totally addictive story with gothic horror undertones. Ware excels as the unreliable narrator – you’re never sure who you can trust, and the reader is immediately teased by letters and pleas from a prisoner in a Scottish prison, on remand for murdering a child. The prisoner won’t say her real name, and is introduced in the narrative as Rowan Caine, so from the start there’s confusion and mystery.
And so begins Rowan’s account of how she ended up in a nannying job with a salary, too good to be true. The subtle clues for the reader are there from the start, but it’s only when I looked back, after finishing, that I really noticed them. Why exactly is this Rowan’s perfect job? Does she even like children? I love Rowan’s little pleas of mitigation which keep peppering the narrative. Why have the Elincourt’s got through four nannies already? Ware’s insight is biting – slating the mummies at ‘Little Nippers’ with their pretentions and fabric nappies. Despite the boisterous dogs and not meeting Bill Elincourt, Rowan wins Sandra Elincourt over. But the eight-year-olds’ parting words strike terror in her heart and, with hindsight, should have sent her running.
Heatherbrae House is amazing – a mix of Victorian and super modern – this rose petal scented home seems perfect, but it is a house with a split identity. Here, Rowan is stuck in the middle of nowhere with a Tesla as her run around car. She is at the mercy of the intrusive house app called Happy (which is very big brother) plus Sandra’s enormous list of instructions.
Jack Grant, the handsome odd-job man, is the first person Rowan meets, and he provides the offer of an ally and a friend, but when things start going weird, she’s not sure she can trust him either. Over the course of the novel, you learn about the previous owner and history of the house and things ramp up from odd to scary. I found the novel very frightening with footsteps in the attic, dolls, mysterious half-written warnings from previous nannies, difficult children (one incident with a hairbrush will have you reeling), a snarky housekeeper and strange purple flowers. But it’s the walled garden which sent my imagination into overdrive. Ware keeps tightening the tension and I love the introduction of teenager, Rhiannon, whose behaviour tips the balance.
All the time Rowan is at the house there is the question of whether someone is gaslighting her or whether there something supernatural going on. There are little moments of heartbreak too; a note from one of the girls to ‘Dave Owen’ is so sweet, and Rhiannon’s breakdown is very moving. This has real Turn of the Screw vibes with an undercurrent of neglectful parenting. A great read, but I was just a wee bit disappointed by the ending.
long build up that was worth it
I heard reviews on this book and it seemed split down the middle, some loved it some hated it… I had no idea which way I would lean. Once I opened it, I was engrossed in the storyline. I love and hate the characters and I had so many ideas about what was really going on and I did suspect things but there was so much that shocked me… I’m eager to read a part two. Want to know what happens next. I love this book and I hope those who are fans of it will get a sequel…
I enjoyed this book. It’s not particularly scary so if you’re looking for a good fright don’t expect it here. However, the setting of the remote Scottish highlands paired with the narrator’s OUTSTANDING performance, do give you an ominous feel.
As for the ending, I really did not see that one coming. I was pleasantly surprised that it managed to keep it under wraps and not give it away so easily.
Did I mentioned how amazing the narrator is? She might be the best I’ve heard (and I listen to A LOT of books).
I’m not gonna lie, after The Death of Mrs. Westaway, I wasn’t really sure of the Ruth Ware following. Don’t get me wrong, it was a good mystery, but I wasn’t blow away.
Welp, I ate my words because Turn of the Key was absolutely brilliant.
It was atmospheric, gripping, creepy as shit, and packed with twists and turns throughout the plot.
The narration by Imogen Church was spot on. She did an incredible job of showing the breakdown of Rowan’s mindset as she stayed within the gothic house. The fear and anxiety was palpable.
I’m definitely a Ruth Ware believer.
This is is a thrilling read that keeps you on the edge until the end!
It starts when Rowan is searching for something on Google and she stumbles across an ad for a nanny for a family with 4 girls in Scotland. She applies and travels from London to Scotland for the interview with the mother (father is traveling) and meets 3 of the 4 girls (the oldest is in boarding school, the middle 2 are in elementary school and the baby is just shy of 1 year). The house is quite remote and her travels were long so she stayed overnight. Before she left, one of the girls hugs her and says “Don’t come – the ghosts won’t like it”. Rowan brushes it off, returns to London to get some stuff and returns to the home to start her job. It’s a “smart” home and everything is controlled by an app which takes some getting used to. Rowan quickly learns that she is one of many nannies the family has had in a short timeframe and all of the other nannies left pretty quickly. Her bedroom is on the top floor of the house and at night she hears creaking noises above her as if someone is pacing up there.
Twisty thriller about a nanny who is in prison for murdering a girl, but she swears her innocence. The book then backtracks to her time as a nanny for a family living in a smart house. The nanny has secrets, but so do others in the book. The ending is a bit of a shock.
I thought this was a well-crafted twisty novel. The suspense level was pretty high, and the culprit and their motive could have been just about anyone.
TheTurnoftheKey #RuthWare
Holy balls this book was good. I had a hard time putting it down right from the beginning. Excellent.
This Book was fantastic! It read like watch a horror movie.It had me staying up late reading it trying to find out what happens, then not being able to sleep without imagining the creaking. Overall an amazing read!
Another bell-ringer for Ruth Ware, although I was disappointed she left us hanging as to what finally happened with Rowan. Surely, she could have closed it out with a closing comment that the evidence vindicates her and left prison. But a very good read.
Absolutely could not put this book down! Everything else in my life took second or third place!
A page turner! Couldn’t put it down!
I really liked this book up until the last 50 pages. The ending felt very rushed. It was presented and then the book was done.
However, Ruth does a great job building the characters and the story. I feel like I could picture it in my head the entire way through.
Hands down, The Turn of the Key was my favorite Ruth Ware book.
It was a really well-done psychological thriller that was difficult to figure out precisely what was going on.
Because, you see, Heatherbrae is haunted. Or, at least, that’s what the locals say. So, on top of everything else going wrong, it makes you wonder.
Is it the ghost? Is it the house’s strange and tragic history?
You can read my full review on my blog MPWNovels.com — https://mpwnovels.com/2019/10/25/book-review-the-turn-of-the-key-by-ruth-ware/
This crime story is about a young woman who applied for and gets a position as a nanny for four young children in Scotland. The story is entertaining. The characters are believable. There are twists and turns throughout the book that will keep you guessing and wanting to continue reading until all the mysteries are solved.
The Turn of the Key is simply about a nanny who is being accused of murdering one of the kids she was looking after. This book is told in a letter she’s writing to her lawyer and tells him everything that has happened.
This book was very disappointing to me mainly because it took me so long to finish the book. I was hooked from the beginning until I had hit that 20% mark. After that, the book just dragged on and on and on. In my opinion, half of those events that happen in the book were really irrelevant to the main plot of the story. Everything she tells is for a reason, but that reason was that so everyone’s secrets will be revealed towards the end of the book. Why? I have no clue.
Because the book was so dragged out, it gave me one on one time with every single character in the book and for that, I very much appreciated. I loved all of the characters whether they were good or bad.
What definitely made this a two-star read for me was like when someone who actually murdered the child only gets revealed at the end very end of the book so many unanswered questions were still there even after the book ended.
Therefore, I think this book didn’t do me justice since there were unanswered questions. I would only recommend to those that are dipping their toes into mystery/thrillers like me.
I finished this audiobook today. I wasn’t disappointed with this one. I have read too other books by Ruth Ware. But this one I have to say is my favorite one. I can wait to read The lying game next. The narrator does amazing job telling this story. I highly recommend Ruth Ware books. They will have you trying to figure out what is going to happened to next.
Rowan answers ad for a live in nanny. And she try’s to learn of the things that are going on with house. Why or what is trying to pushing out her of this house. Amazing story and twists in this book. Highly recommend this book.