Number 20 the Turn of the Key - Ruth Ware

 

Next "new" author is Ruth Ware. I've only read one previously and therefore she counts.  Which is lucky since this is this month's book group read and still fits the theme nicely.

Rowan leaves her job as a nursery nurse in London to be a live in nanny for a family in the wilderness of Scotland. The mother and father are architects and the house, despite looking from the front like a traditional old house, is packed full of gadgets and cameras, and most things are fully automated.

It seems like a grand new start for Rowan, beautiful house, LOTS of money for the job, a friendly boss... shame the kids seem to hate her.

We know things aren't going to go well for Rowan since the book is written in the form of a letter she's trying to write from prison to a lawyer to explain how one of the three children wound up dead.

This is a real page-turner. and I zoomed through the 350 pages in just a few days.  

I assume the title is a deliberate spin on the Turn of the Screw - especially since the set up is a very modern update on the plot of that book = previous nannies leave suddenly, creepy/disobedient kids, ghostly happenings etc. Turn of the Screw is a missing link in my literary history, although I have seen at least three film versions, so I don't feel I can comment much more on any similarities/parallels there with any accuracy.

There are twists and turns galore and some very clever reveals towards the end, none of which are cheats since they've been hidden in plain sight throughout the book. In fact I thought one of those clues to the reveal was an inconsistency in the plot till I realised it was just very cleverly phrased to hide the true meaning.  It's a very well plotted book.

The solution to the mystery wasn't a massive surprise.  With a cast list so small the suspect list is not big enough for a complex mystery, but Ware keeps us switching between the suspects quite effectively throughout. It's thoroughly entertaining and never flagged for even a page.  It was compelling reading (as one of the nice reviewers on the front cover also points out) and hard to put down (as one of the others does).

There are a couple of minor niggle points. Potential spoilers so stop reading now if you feel you need to, just know this is an easy 7.5 out of 10 and well worth the couple of hours it'll take to read. 

Niggle 1 -With all the cameras in the rooms, why are there none in the corridors or on the landings?  Just one in the hallways would have saved Rowan from her fate

Niggle 2 - The last couple of pages tied things up maybe too neatly for my taste. I might have preferred a touch more ambiguity,

Niggle 3 - how did the girls find the secret den since the only way in was that particular route which Rowan seemed to think was impossible to get to?