On the Bookshelf: The Turn of the Key

I am always reading something new, usually multiple new things. Working at a library you are always seeing what new books are out or coming across books that look good when returning them so I almost always have a stack of 20+ books waiting to be read and that doesn't include the books that I purchase. On the Bookshelf is going to be where I will review or talk about what I have been reading. Note: I am NOT very good at this whole book review thing so you have been warned.

My latest read was Ruth Ware's The Turn of the Key.

I have read all of Ruth's books and I enjoyed her first two - "In a Dark, Dark Wood" and "The Woman in Cabin 10" - but I did not like her last two - "The Lying Game" and "The Death of Mrs. Westaway"

I was excited to see she had a new book coming out but knew it would be a toss up if I liked it or not. I felt like the plot lines and stories of the last two books were just not that exciting or well put together. I remember getting to the end and thinking, "Wait..that's it?" And I will say that after reading The Turn of the Key, I rank it up there with her first two books. I enjoy thrillers and it had the edge of the thriller story to it, more so than Mrs. Westaway. I wasn't as thrilling as I like my books to be and I feel like she really could have gone deeper into the storyline BUT I did enjoy it. I read it pretty quickly - something I haven't been doing lately because of being busy - but this was a book that I wanted to sit down and find out what was going to happen. I enjoyed the garden aspect of the story - read the book to find out what I'm talking about - and I almost wish they would have used that more to make the story a little extra exciting. The modern house element was interesting too and helped me feel the heebie jeebies along with the main character. I didn't find the ending totally surprising - I suspected parts of it - but there was one surprising element that I did not see coming. Overall I think it was a really enjoyable book and it made for an exciting weekend read. I'd definitely recommend it and I gave it 4 out of 5 stars on goodreads. Great for those that like a good mystery or thriller.

Here is the book description for anyone that may be interested:

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 unravelling events that led to her incarceration. It wasn’t just the constant surveillance from the cameras installed around the house, 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, Jack Grant.

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. Which means someone else 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.

[This description is taken from the book jacket]

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