The Boy, named Samuel, is convinced that the housekeeper, Ruth, somehow has killed his mother. That Ruth is not a warm fuzzy type, and that Samuel's mother appears to be less than maternal (per the letters he discovers) leads to a house filled with tension and angst. That a boy of nine could begin to imagine this type of thing isn't implausible, especially when egged on by his best/only friend, and the author does a decent job of putting this in Samuel's voice. Yet there's something a little off here, perhaps the rushed nature of the ending after the incredibly slow pacing of the rest of the book? It just misses being a good horror book.

eARC provided by publisher.

There is not a lot of action in this book, yet it's chilling story line and pacing kept me interested in how the story would play out. Samuel is a nine year old boy who lived with his mom and housekeeper in a large house in the English countryside. One day, Samuel's mom leaves. Ruth, the housekeeper takes care of Samuel as best she can despite her harsh demeanor. Yet Samuel is convinced that something has happened to his mom, that maybe Ruth might have had something to do with it.

Despite the slow pacing, the story is both creepy and has enough of mystery to keep me turning pages. I do wish the ending was not as vague. I received an e-book from the publisher in exchange for a review.

The Boy at the Keyhole is a disjointed mystery with some redeeming qualities. The author does a great job creating a stifling and claustrophobic atmosphere in which a young boy's mother has gone away on an extended trip, leaving the boy in the care of a stern and strict housekeeper. As the boy gets more and more obsessed with finding out where his mother has gone and when she's coming back, we start to wonder what's really going on.

Samuel is a nine year old boy who lives in England and is being cared for by his strict and sometimes violent housekeeper Ruth, after his mother disappeared late one evening. Nobody will tell him when his mother will return only that she left for America to take care of business. He receives post cards from her but he is not allowed to speak with her on the phone or write to her. Samuel, not understanding why his mother never said goodbye and why she has been away from him for so long begins to question her disappearance. He becomes obsessed with discovering the mystery behind his missing mother and is convinced that her trip to America might be a cover up for murder.

The Boy at the Keyhole is a mysterious novella in which a young boy tries to discover the truth behind his mother’s disappearance. This novella is marketed as a psychological thriller, and while it might qualify for the genre, I felt like it fell short. Samuel is a very inquisitive child who dislikes his caretaker Ruth and is desperate for his mother to return home. When his attempts at finding information continue to get thwarted, he becomes convinced that something terrible has happened to her. Most of the mystery, for the reader, is exposed early on when Samuel discovers some old letters and what we are left with is a nine year old's perspectives of the evidence. His vivid imagination leads to a downward spiral into despair at his mother’s absence and ends with a rather strange twist and maybe even a few more unanswered questions. Although I did not dislike this novella, I felt like it had a really good premise but just didn't deliver a well-developed product.

After reading this book, i have to say i have very mixed feelings about it. To me it was rather dark and troubling due to what was happening to the 9-year old boy, Samuel, throughout the story. First he is “blessed” with a mother who really was never “there” for him in more than one way. And he is entrusted with a caregiver, Ruth, who is pretty hard-lined and difficult to understand why exactly she treats Samuel like she does. Samuel struggles with understanding what is going on in his life, and ultimately thinks Ruth is responsible for his mother’s absence. The story has its twists and turns that makes it a good psychological thriller. I know this book will rank high with many readers with the way it is written, the drawing out of the characters, and the twists it takes to an unexpected ending. Unfortunately I felt a bit flat when I completed reading this book. Thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin for an ARC of this book in return for an honest review, which this was.

Nine-year-old Samuel misses his mother. She’s left him alone with the housekeeper Ruth. Ruth as told Samuel that his mother had to go to America to try to save the family business. She didn’t even say goodbye and left in the middle of the night while he was sleeping. But she’s been gone months and he begins to suspect that something has happened to her. He begins to believe that Ruth has murdered his mother.

The comparisons of this book to the work of Shirley Jackson and Daphne Du Maurier convinced me that it was a must read. I believe the book is closer to the work of Jackson than Du Maurier. The author has created a very tense, suspenseful atmosphere. At points in the book, you think you know where it’s headed but then the author turns it around, again and again, until you’re really not sure what to expect. My heart was touched by the anguished plight of young Samuel. It’s quite a sad story, either way the author decided to go. I had a hard time putting it down and found it to be a very satisfying read.

Recommended.

This is a physiological drama told from the point of view of a nine-year old boy. It’s a unique perspective to see young Samuel Clay’s view of his world, one where his mother Margot has been away for more than 100 days.

He receives no phone calls, no telegrams or packages. The only thing he waits for are the few postcards his mother sends from her travels across the United States and of course, his hope of her return. Samuel lives alone in a large estate in Surrey England with only the housekeeper, Ruth, to attend to his needs.

Samuel tracks his mother’s travels using an atlas and pins when he receives a postcard. Being a person who loves maps, it’s particularly enjoyable to read about the atlas and Samuel putting colored pins in Boston, San Francisco, London, Bath and Penzance.

Samuel’s father died a few years ago and the dire financial state of affairs prompted Margot Clay to go “fund raising” across the country and the USA to raise money. She left in the middle of the night without saying goodbye to her son. Ruth takes care of Samuel by cooking and cleaning. You suspect Ruth in the beginning of withholding information from the boy.

As you read the story from a nine-year old’s point of view, the adult reader can see and understand some of the reality of the situation. An example of that is when Samuel sneaks into his mother’s room and steals letters his mother had written to her husband.

You get the idea that Margo Clay had been in an institution or some home. Samuel remembered that from a remark by his father about Margot being away in bath where there would be peace and quiet. She evidently wasn’t suited to domestic life. In a letter from Margot to Samuel’s father she implores him not to bring he boy next time he visits as his arms around her make her feel as if she is sinking in the water. Not everyone is suited to be parent. When Ruth catches the boy in his mother’s room she berates him and tells him he should be ashamed snooping around.

“Ruth didn’t understand that he was only trying to be near his mother, she was a creature in orbit and the one way he could feel close to her was to linger in the traces she left behind.”

Ruth is really a piece of work – alternately making his favorite meals, asking about homework then berating him and being mentally abusive. The ending wasn’t what I thought might happen, quite a surprise actually. Can’t say I didn’t have questions about that and since they will be spoilers, I won’t talk about it here.  Goodreads has a spoiler feature so I will add my thoughts about that there.

I always notice the foodie parts in a book. Here are the offerings:

Shortbread, cake, freshly baked bread, roast beef and potatoes with peas, mince pie, eggs and sausages, roasted chicken and potatoes, roasted lamb, roast rabbit and chestnut stuffing, tea cakes and lemon tarts.

As I love making bread, the baguettes seemed a good option. (photos on my blog)

Good heavens, I couldn't put it down... This entire story is told from the perspective of young Samuel Clay. His father is dead, and his mother has been gone one-hundred-and-fifteen days and counting. Samuel fears the worst. He is his mother's little man - only something terrible could have kept her away this long.
He has been left in the care of the sour and spiteful housekeeper, Ruth. She alternates between cooking Samuel's favorite things, and abusing him verbally and sometimes physically for his perceived insolence.
To be told entirely from Samuel's point of view, this truly is a psychological thriller. It would make an excellent movie. Giles does a stellar job of portraying the fury concealed behind Ruth's quiet yet brutal words and the menace and threats veiled behind her care of Samuel.
Samuel wavers back and forth between wondering if he is the victim of a disturbed mind or trapped in a murderous plot. I was guessing until the end. Suddenly the ending was twist after twist, and it certainly met my expectations for a dark thriller.

Before I even get into the review, I have to say that if you are going to give out ARCs on Kindle you have to format it! I don't know what went wrong with the people at the publishing house formatting this book, but it was atrocious and really took away from my enjoyment of the book. There were huge lumps of paragraphs with no breaks, while other pages had a a few words per line then a break. It was often hard to know who was speaking. There was also an issue with the letter "f" and in a lot of words there was a space after it, for example "f lour" "ref lected". I mean, it was BAD. I'd never seen anything like it.

There was also some issues with the copy editing. Some grammatical issues and filtering: "He heard/ he felt" and sentences like "he had nodded."

I would have liked for there to have been a trigger warning for some child abuse. I knew going into it because I'd read reviews on Goodreads so I had prepared myself, but I can imagine that to be very troubling for some.

When it comes to the story itself, I thought that the pacing and voice were good. It was interesting to read something from a child's perspective that wasn't middle grade, and glean facts about what was going on, and learning more about his mother and his housekeeper through clues since he is an unreliable narrator. The suspense was good as well.

I definitely think it could have used more descriptions. I wanted to be grounded more in the house. Every now and then we'd get a sentence about the light filtering through or the mist which was beautiful but there wasn't NEARLY enough of it! For it to have really worked as a Rebecca/Shirley Jackson-type creepy mansion vibe like they're marketing it as there weren't enough descriptions.

This book needed more of a subplot. We got some info on the background characters but every single chapter and page was the same. Samuel is sneaking around Ruth, Ruth catches him, where is Samuel's mother, she would never leave her boy alone, she loves her little man, Ruth is bad. It got really monotonous.

Many on Goodreads said that the ending was abrupt and really didn't explain what happened and I'd have to agree. I can imagine the author wanted to leave some mystery to fit with the genre, but the ending just left me saying "huh?"

Though a neat idea, and some elements worked well, overall I wouldn't recommend this book to someone.

I was really looking forward to this one. I enjoyed most of the book, but the ending ruined it for me. I was left with more questions than answers.

Thank you #netgalley and #harlequin #hanoverpress for the eARC.

For most of this book I was set on giving a solid 3 stars. However, the last 1/4 of the book won me over a bit and I'll round up to 4 stars. I can't decide if the first half of the book was a slow burn on purpose, building tension and suspense, or just slow moving. But it did plod on slowly and I found myself worried I'd get bored before long. Many comparisons are being made between this book and Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca and classic gothic novels in general. While I can see the similarities I would argue that, for me, this comparison is not warranted until the second half of the book when things begin to pick up and the story truly gets rolling. Considering that this is Giles' first adult novel, I can understand the initial struggles a bit better. Overall I think it is a good effort and I applaud the idea and premise. Having the typical gothic, gaslighting mystery centered on a child makes for an interesting take and addition to the genre. There are times when you do question the main character, Samuel, and find yourself wondering exactly how it will end. The fact that the main character was a child is also a reason I bumped the score up a bit. The ending is, again in keeping with the gothic style, ambiguous and leaves you wondering exactly what happened and how it truly ends. A good read and I'm glad I stuck through the slow beginning as I did enjoy it. Thanks to Netgalley for the advance copy for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this quick-reading thriller. Nine-year-old Samuel is left alone with the housekeeper at his family's deteriorating country estate. His father has died, and his mother ran off to America in the middle of the night. As the months drag on, Samuel starts to suspect that his mother didn't take a business trip, but she was murdered -- by the housekeeper who takes care of him. This novel is full of tension as the situation takes it's toll on Samuel's mental state. Ruth, the housekeeper, gives him plenty of reasons to doubt her as he tries to figure out what happened. Don't want to spoil anything -- just read it!

I loved the gothic style and the immense slow burn. My complaint is I had way too many questions at the end.

Samuel is a quirky nine year old who lives in a wondrous estate and is being taken care of by his housekeeper Ruth. Samuel's mom has gone to America on a "business trip" and Samuel has not heard from her in a long time. He gets postcards from his mom when he's seeming to question her whereabouts more often than other days. Samuel speaks with his friend Joseph who suggests that something has happened to his mother. His mom did leave months ago without saying goodbye...so maybe something bad HAS happened to her! Ruth seems to dismiss this, so naturally Samuel thinks she is up to no good. What happened to his mother? Is Ruth responsible for her long stay away?

I thought the author did a great job at incorporating the voice of a nine year old boy. It's not an easy task and I truly felt like I was in his head the whole time. I felt the story dragged on longer than it needed to. It could've been a really good short story. Most of the book was Samuel's sneaking around trying to find clues as to what happened to his mother. I was hooked in the beginning, but felt like I was being dragged through most of the storyline. The ending? Not my favorite at all. It was predictable and boring to say the least. I thought this had a lot of potential, but I digress... 

2/5 Stars

I was not expecting to be so intrigued by this book. It was a real page turner. Ican't wait to recommend it to our patrons.

Thanks, NetGalley and Hanover Square Press for offering me a galley of The Boy at the Keyhole. I threw my TBR right out the door as soon as word came in that I could access my copy! This book has been suggested for fans of Shirley Jackson and Daphne du Maurier. And though it is but an echo of those masters, this is a solid start in a new genre for author Stephen Giles.

The gothic overtones of this book are delicious. Samuel has been left behind on the family estate with the alternately loving and lurking housekeeper Ruth to care for him. It's been well over 100 days since Samuel's mother left suddenly in the night to sail to America, seeking funds to keep the family business afloat now that Samuel's father has passed. After some sinister suggestions from a neighbor, Samuel is beginning to suspect his mother never boarded a boat, but was murdered by Ruth. As Samuel tries to track down the clues to confirm his mother's whereabouts, he makes some startling discoveries. This information leaves the ghoulish ending open to interpretation.

The writing is solid, but Giles could have done more to establish the relationships between characters, thus creating a more enjoyable reader experience and filling out this slim volume. I'd love an explanation of the apparent admiration between Samuel's mother and Ruth, as well as bit more on Samuel and Ruth's relationship prior to his mother's departure.

The film rights for this book have been sold already, giving me hope that some Hitchcock style direction will take this story to another level. I'm giving this one-sitting read 3 stars and keeping my fingers crossed for an even stronger sophomore story from author Giles.

Thank you to Harlequin and NetGalley for an e-ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

This book was a quick read - I finished in one day. It was sad and I felt for Sammy as he is missing his mother, and yearns for her return. He doesn't understand the reasoning behind her leaving, and he is left in the hands of the housekeeper, Ruth, who is not exactly the motherly type.

I would recommend this to anyone looking for a quick, but suspenseful read.

Goodreads link: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2444100147

A well written psychological thriller. A true tour-de-force of a debut novel. Well worth the read. Looking forward to more from this author.

I stopped reading this book at around 11% through, I figure that if I haven't gotten into it by that point then I no longer want to spend time trying to get into it. I'm going to create a list of things that I felt did not work with this book:

1) There was no use of transitions between the scenes, which gave the book a very choppy feel to it.

2) The characters lacked depth. For the first part of the book, the part I couldn't seem to get past, was the fact that they were repeating themselves for the whole time. This child's mother disappeared, I understood that from the first page, but the fact that he kept asking the maid or the housekeeper where she went and when she was coming home, it became very annoying. A child knows to ask more questions than just those ones. I feel this character could've been made stronger.

3) The characters almost didn't seem to fit the story that they were placed into.

4) The writing style was very repetitive.

Those are just a few of the things I picked up on from the first 11%, but I didn't feel willing to watch the characters go around in circles and wait for something to happen.

What a page turner! I couldn't wait to finish it and find out where the author was going with this claustrophobic, chilling story. Although many readers have complained about the ending, I thought it was genius. The more I think about it, the more nuanced I think it was.