The following review is posted on Goodreads and also on my personal blog.


I have read all of Ruth Ware’s books to date and this one is my favourite so far. In the previous books I have been frustrated by the flawed main characters’ irrational behaviour and unreliable narration. In Turn of the Key, somewhat ironically, the main character is flawed, irrational and unreliable but it didn’t annoy me as much.

The novel is presented as a series of letters from an inmate to an attorney. The inmate is nanny Rowan Caine and she’s awaiting trial for the murder of a child in her care. In these letters, she tells the story of events leading up to the death and proclaiming her innocence.

Rowan has been working in a daycare/nursery school environment but she’s not entirely happy there and jumps at the chance to move to a remote part of Scotland as a live-in nanny for a wealthy couple with 4 daughters. The couple lives in an old creepy manor house which has been modernized with a creepy smart home assistant that controls everything.

Meeting Mrs Elincort, who will be her new employer, Rowan discovers that the none of the family’s nannies stay very long. She also learns that she will be alone with the children almost immediately as the parents are going out of town. In addition the daughter Maddie warns her that she should leave because it will annoy “the ghosts”.

Any one of these things would make me turn and run but Rowan is made of sterner stuff and takes the job. Sure enough, various creepy things happen–doors lock by themselves, there are weird noises in the attic and one of the children composes hate messages in Alpha-Getti.

I’ve never read Henry James’ Turn of the Screw which was the inspiration for this story, so I enjoyed this updated version thoroughly. It’s a fast, suspenseful read and will appeal to those who enjoy suspense thrillers. It would also be a good fit for fans of Iain Reid.

If you want a scary novel with tones of gothic and supernatural that makes you want to put the covers over your head, this is it. It definitely has the creepy factor and I guarantee you when reading it at night, you will hear every creak and noise around you.
Rowan works for “Little Nippers” a day care centre but one day, leafing through the paper, she happens upon an ad that sounds fantastic. Too good to be true maybe. A live in nanny job for three young girls in a large house in the middle of nowhere with great pay. A house from the past that has been redone with every modern convenience.
After a successful interview, Rowan finds herself at Heatherbrae House. A house of your nightmares with the tragic past glossed over with a complete renovation. Rowan barely has time to unpack before her employers Sandra and Bill leave for a lengthy business trip. She’s left alone with three young girls she doesn’t know, in a house where everything is operated by voice, phones and tablets way out in the middle of nowhere. But she can handle this, right? It’s just children, it’s what she has trained to do.
But this job is a little much for her. She’s isolated. She is on duty 24/7 with children that don’t even know her (and for that matter, what parents leave their children for days with a complete stranger?) and has daily struggles with their sometimes hostile behaviour. She’s in a house she has no clue how to operate and everyday things in the household are a mystery and frustrating. The property is huge and the house comes completely with things that go bump in the night. And what’s with that garden? And why have there been so many nannies before her?
Ruth Ware mesmerized me with my first read of her with “In a Dark Dark Wood” which I read in a small cottage, pretty much in a dark dark wood and like that one, this one is so visual; I could picture it all. I got the creeps as she did. And I couldn’t stop reading.
Turn of the Key” is Rowan’s story, written in the form of a letter from prison to a lawyer in explanation of events that occurred and hoping he will take her case. As a character, I couldn’t help but be endeared to her. She makes mistakes like we all do and she’s in an unfair situation out of her element.
As always when I read a novel like this, my mind is racing for possibilities and explanations and trying to figure it all out before I got there. I was so far off. I love a book that can surprise me and isn’t predictable and this one has twists that I never saw coming. And I have to admit, a little piece of my heart broke at the end. My favourite genre now is the so popular now psychological thrillers and this was a bit of that with a twist.
I can’t wait to see what Ruth Ware comes up with next.
Thank you to the author, publishers and net galley for allowing me the privilege to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

I’d like to thank NetGalley for this ARC!

Ever since I read The Woman in Cabin 10, I have wanted more from Ruth Ware. I was so excited to see The Turn of the Key! Picky as I may be, I am not a fan of the cover. I really liked Cabin 10’s cover, so I hope they do change it up a bit.

This follows Rowan Caine (the summary says Rebecca, but there’s no Rebecca in this book) who applies for a live-in nanny position at Heatherbrae House, a “smart house” in secluded Scotland. The house is half Victorian and half modern technology. There’s an app that controls the locks, lights, heat, and numerous other things. What could go wrong?

Rowan is to care for Ellie, the youngest; Maddie, the middle child; and Rhiannon, the oldest. The girls are a handful, but the pay is good. There are other reasons, but who can say no to £55k a year? Not Rowan. So she applies and eventually gets the job.

Things start going downhill quickly. The kids are more of a hassle than anticipated, the house is creepy, and Rowan is in over her head. Things go missing, things appear and reappear where they shouldn’t be, there’s things that go bump in the night.

It’s written in an interesting way, Rowan is writing to a lawyer, trying to explain her side of the story. She’s in prison for murder, so as you’re reading, you’re trying to figure out 1. Who dies? 2. Who is the killer, if not Rowan? 3. What are the other secrets she’s holding? I really enjoyed this, it wasn’t obtrusive, you forgot about the letter almost instantly as you get into the story. It definitely has its spooky moments, and I do like the Ellie/Maddie dynamic. I like Jack, the handyman, and it’s interesting watching Rowan unravel. It’s not as intense as other thrillers, but I still enjoyed it. The ending was amazing, and makes me wonder what happens next.

The plot twists aren’t all that “mind-blowing”, but they still added new layers to the story. I want more stories about spooky houses and murders. I really enjoyed this book and I look forward to her next book. I would recommend this book to friends; it is worth reading. It’s exciting to read as all the pieces fall together, and I enjoyed always trying (and failing) to stay ahead of the game.

Ruth Ware is a comfort read for me. I've read a handful of her books, some I've enjoyed more than others, but I will always read a new publication when I can get my hands on it because whether or not it surprises me, it’s always a great story and I love a great story.

I didn't realize it until I started reading, but this was exactly what I was looking for. A story about a young girl and an old, large house. There was an air of Gothic to this, making me forget that it's actually very modern and I’d start anytime there was a swear. But I liked the mix and I liked the overall atmosphere of the book, how Ware slowly unveiled the vastness of the house and the secrets of the family living among it.

I was fascinated by this modernized smart home, where pretty much everything ran on an app and voice or tablet controls. Something it seems like society is trying to strive for, anyway. But in this, it was very creepy and added to the suspenseful nature of the book. Has technology gone haywire? Is there something supernatural going on?

I’m not sure how I truly felt about Rowan. I thought a lot of her actions didn’t quite fit with her role and she sort of rubbed me the wrong way for the most part, but it also wasn’t entirely out of place given the circumstances of the house and the situation.

Ware did a great job of blurring the lines and not making it very clear about what was going in. There were some transparent moments, but the overall mystery of what was going on was well lead through the entire book and I could never quite land on one side or the other.

I definitely enjoyed this much better than The Death of Mrs. Westaway , which I did not review very strongly. Seems like Ware has found her groove again and I can’t wait for the next book.

** I received an advance copy of The Turn of the Key for honest review through Netgalley from Simon and Schuster Canada and thank them for the opportunity to read this and share my thoughts.

Finally! The Ruth Ware novel I have been waiting for!
“The Turn of the Key” is the newest novel by Ruth Ware, author of “The Woman in Cabin 10”, “The Lying Game” and “The Death of Mrs. Westaway”, to name a few. I found these books moderately entertaining, more middle-of-the-road, not-living-up-to-expectations novels, but “Key” is exactly what I’ve been missing.
When Rowan Caine sees an ad in a newspaper seeking a live-in nanny, she is intrigued. Even though it isn’t what she expected, Rowan is impressed by the salary and, maybe even more so, by the sprawling grounds of Heatherbrae estate, in the secluded Scottish highlands. Decked out with the most modern and convenient of technologies, the “Happy” app controls mostly everything in the mansion, from the lights to the temperature. Rowan is immediately left on her own when the children’s parents go out of town and right from the onset strange things begin to happen- footsteps overhead, cold draughts from behind locked and closed doors, and even the cryptic messages whispered to her by the children, warning her of the dangers of the house. Again and again, things go wrong in the house and soon, Rowan is doubting her own sanity. But when her secrets are discovered by the oldest child, Rowan begins to wonder if more than her sanity is at risk.
This novel checks all of my boxes; a haunted house full of possible ghosts and ethereal beings, the Scottish highlands setting, and a murder mystery. To be honest, I need nothing else. However, Ware delivers this and more with her well-developed characters and addicting storyline.
I enjoyed the character of Rowan. She was relatable and honest, and just charming enough to be likable. The struggles she faces with the young children are also realistic, compounded with her struggles with the “Happy” home and its many appliances.
This story is told in order, narrated by Rowan who tells the tale to her lawyer from her prison cell. Cryptically, we find out Rowan is in jail and a child is dead but we do not yet know the details. Then we are taken to the Scottish highlands and the haunted house- what more do you need?
Although the story was gripping, I found the character of Jack to be a confusing addition. He appears in Rowan’s life simply to be a suspect in all of the wrongdoings in the house (and of course to be a romantic interest) but then when things are resolved toward the end, Jack is simply written out (in a weak way). As with Ware’s other works, she has strong characters and plot points, but there is no follow-through and major plot points seem to end abruptly, and often disappointingly. The twist at the end though was surprisingly unexpected.
All that being said, “The Turn of the Key” is a creepy read, for those who aren’t looking for blood and gore, Ware weaves a mysterious whodunit, where a child ends up dead. Some of the twists are expected, some of them are not, but this novel is certainly an entertaining one that will hook you from page one.

What a fantastic book. I am a big fan of Ruth Ware’s and think that this is definitely one of her best. A classic Gothic novel, The Turn of the Key features multidimensional characters, a fantastic setting (spooky old homes in Britain are my literary weakness), and an intriguing exploration of what happens when you interweave the old and the new. The Turn of the Key had me hooked from the first page, and I highly recommend it to fans of Gothic literature, psychological thrillers, and/or fans of British mysteries.

I will start by thanking NetGalley for the eARC for my honest review. Its the best yet! Ruth Ware is becoming a true queen of the mystery genre. The carefully paced out drama mixed with her skill at finding the right time to twist her tales easily makes this her best novel yet! I cannot wait to start up-selling this to the customers of our bookstore.

I've always been a fan of Ruth Ware, though the last few didn't fully hit the mark for me. I'm so happy to have had the opportunity to read an ARC of The Turn of the Key.

This story is told from the perspective of the nanny, Rowan, by way of letters written from jail to a lawyer she hopes to represent her. As this story starts with Rowan behind bars, she has to go back to the very beginning to prove her innocence.

Really enjoyed the plot, the format, the writing style... and most of all the twists & turns that had holding my breath the whole way through!

I'll be recommending this one to all my book-loving friends.

Amazing! I couldn't put it down!! This story was very well-written and I thought I had it figured out so many times, but I was wrong each and every time. You need to read this book - you won't regret it!
5/5 stars

Let’s just start by saying: I love Ruth Ware. I’ve read everything she’s written and it’s taken me a while to figure out what it is I like so much about her. None of her books are my favourite, yet I always can’t wait to get my hands on her newest book. It took a while, but I’ve come to the conclusion that I love her books because they are just so damn readable. She has this old school Gothic mystery thing going on and her closed-door crimes are very reminiscent of Agatha Christie.

The Turn of the Key has similar elements to some of her other books, but I actually found it quite different. Ware takes a different approach to this book, telling us upfront what the central crime is, just not who is involved or how it happens. Rowan Caine is our main character and has been working as a nanny for the past few years when she takes a position in a private home in remote Scotland looking after the Elincourt family. Sandra and Bill are both wealthy architects and have converted their home from an old estate into a modern architectural marvel, integrating all kinds of fancy technology into the design to make it a “smart home”.

It’s a lucrative position for Rowan, but when Sandra and Bill take off immediately after arriving, leaving her alone in the huge house with their 4 children, she starts to wonder if there may be more secrets about this post than she was made aware. Previous nannies quit the position because of fears of the house being haunted, of which Rowan is skeptical, but as strange things start happening, she can’t help but wonder if the weird things happening are a result of the faulty smart home technology, or something more sinister.

Ware takes an interesting approach by opening the story with Rowan in prison for the death of one of her charges. We don’t know which child has died, or how, but Rowan maintains that she is innocent and recounts her story in a letter to a lawyer requesting he help her. This book is creepy. I could see how some readers might not like it as much as some of her others because it is more of a slow burn mystery, but I really liked it. Ware spends a lot of time developing the atmosphere of the story and drawing us further and further in to this creepy house in Scotland. It does take a while for the action to get going, but I loved how remote the story was and how it made me question every single interaction for potential answers. I also loved her use of smart home technology in the story. Technology has gotten so creepy and this really drew attention to the ways it has invaded our lives and in some cases made things more complicated.

One of the main complaints I’ve had with Ware’s books in the past is that I think she has really weird pacing. She tends to hit the climax at around 70% in the book, the mystery always continues, but when you hit the high point that early it’s hard to stay engaged for the last 30%. That was not the case with this book. She keeps you on edge, with the creepiness continuing to amp up until the very end.

The only thing I will say is that things finish up so quickly at the end and are so easily explained that it was a bit of a let down. I mostly correctly predicted the ending, but it didn’t take away from my enjoyment of the book. The atmosphere was what won this book for me and I really liked the creepiness factor. My only complaint now is that I have to wait 4 months for everyone else to read this and another year or more for her next book!

Special thanks to Simon and Schuster and Edelweiss+ for providing me with a free advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to the publisher, via NetGalley, for providing me with a copy for review. This in no way influenced my opinion.

I read Turn of the Screw years ago at a resort in the the Domincan, and all I remember about it is how much I hated it, so you can imagine my excitement at Ruth Ware updating the story. But I loved The Turn of the Key, and I'm loving Ware's transition from the domestic thriller realm to a more gothic thriller genre (because I'm burnt out on domestic thrillers, not because she wasn't pulling it off). The epistolary format works, largely because it isn't made up of several short letters, but rather long form descriptions of Rowan's day to day travails. I've seen a few complaints about the many mundane descriptions of dealing with the kids, but the bizarre alongside the mundane is what makes the story additionally stressful. The ending does feel rushed, but I think it matched the time frame in which everything implodes at Heatherbrae House, so I have minimal quarrels with it.
I didn't anticipate nearly as much of the conclusion as I did in Mrs Westaway, and I look forward to Ware's next story.

I found this book to be more like the death of Mrs. westaway than in the dark dark woods (which is a good thing). I was definitely hooked early on. It was a tad creepy but knew that it wasn't real I just could not figure out who was doing it and why. There were suspicions from everyone but I didnt see the end coming and some of the twists.

Good book,
Thanks NetGalley for this ARC

Once again, Ruth Ware has created an atmospheric, intense novel. However, this one seemed different than her previous works, not only from the format, but that it didn’t seem quite as complicated.

Rowan applies for a live in nanny position, and to her surprise, is hired. She moves into the family’s smart house, and right away, odd things start happening.

The story is told through letters that Rowan is writing to her solicitor, as she sits in prison for a crime that she insists she didn’t commit.

Rowan is a fairly likeable character, and I found myself hoping for her success. This is a very interesting, hard to put down book.

Thank you to Netgalley and Simon and Schuster Canada for the ARC of this book!

Thank you to NetGalley, Simon & Schuster and author Ms. Ruth Ware for this Advanced Readers Copy.

Absolutely Delicious!
This is a thrilling and compelling story that I binge read!
From the beginning to the last page I was riveted under my reading blanket! I HAD to keep reading!

It's the story of a young woman, "Rowan", who answers a job advert for a live-in Nanny. A Nanny NEEDED, most urgently, for a family with 4 children located in a remote area in Scotland. The house is quite special too...an old Victorian home with numerous modern upgrades and few old skeletons in the closets.
The story is genius in that it is told as a "letter" written to a solicitor requesting help for a crime that wasn't committed....?

Exciting! Very visual! A complete rollercoaster ride without a theme park ticket!

Thank you to Net Galley and Simon and Schuster Canada for an ARC of The Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware.
4* The newest book from Ruth Ware is sure to be the one you see everyone reading this summer!
Who doesn’t love a good mystery with a creepy old mansion, a poison garden, ghosts and a murder to solve? The story unfolds in letters Rowan, the main character, writes to a solicitor from prison. She has been charged with murder. I was hooked from the start and devoured this book.

I enjoyed reading this book. It had a good story to it. I liked the variety of characters in it. I read the previous book by this author and liked it too. This book like the last one was a well written book.

The Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware is another masterfully crafted tale of suspense and palpable tension from an author who is, deservedly, drawing comparisons to the brilliant Agatha Christie. Ms Ware has become a must read author for me, and her latest, highly anticipated, offering does not disappoint in any way, shape, or form. This is a chillingly addictive read from the very first page.

Rowan Caine is in prison for a murder that she claims she did not commit. Through a series of letters addressed to a 'Mr Wrexham', a solicitor whose services Rowan is attempting to engage, we learn the story of Rowan's employment at Heatherbrae House in Scotland, the home of the Elincourt family. Rowan has accepted a nanny position with the family, but things are amiss from the very start, and a sense of unease takes hold almost immediately. The house holds a plethora of secrets, and not everyone is who they seem. If Rowan is indeed innocent of the crime for which she is accused, who, in fact, committed murder at the ominous and haunting Heatherbrae House?

This is a twisty tale that had me questioning everything, and everyone, from the start. A well-executed and compelling mystery, this is Ruth Ware at her very best. Recommended.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Canada for this wonderful ARC.