The Turn of the Key

“I am telling you the truth. The unvarnished, ugly truth. And it is all that… But I didn’t kill anyone. I just fucking didn’t.”
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Soooo… Third book of the year was a revelation. A reminder why I stopped taking up psychological thrillers as bedtime reads. It was creEEeeppy af… And I might have lain awake wondering if the noises from my attic warrants checking or if it might lead to my untimely death Yeah.. go ahead.. laugh😏..
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Anyroad.. The Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware… Is a brilliantly written, disturbingly haunting story of a nanny, in the form of letters she writes her potential solicitor.
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Rowan applies and gets a nanny job at an isolated, completely high-tech, Victorian house in Scotland, with an incredible salary. But her amazing job turns into a nightmare when she is living with constant surveillance, and the well behaved kids she saw during her interview turns into problematic kids, a rebellious teenager joining them later on. Add sleepless nights due to creaky doors, voices in the attic, stories about a child dying, poison gardens, objects going missing and finding them in unexpected places, and malfunctioning technology you are ready to exonerate Rowan for the murder she is accused of. But, then comes the plot twists, and there are so many that you start getting an idea why she got convicted, until the real culprit is revealed. Then all you feel is sadness.
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This book has a subtle menacing feel through out. Rowan is in no way what you call a likeable character(with her own secrets) but you do feel bad for her. Workaholic parents who leave their kids with a nanny for weeks on end, hostile housekeeper, enigmatic handy man, and nannies leaving in the middle of the night and stories about the previous owner and his child adds to the whole creepy haunted Victorian house feel that you expect in such a psychological thriller. Even though the end felt a bit rushed, I would definitely recommend this.

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