My rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Goodreads rating: 4.05 with 16,632 ratings (as of 9/09/2019)

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. .…more

200 Word Review

‏I was provided with a complimentary copy of this book so I could give an honest review.

What would you do if you were in jail for murder? Try to get someone to help you, of course. That is exactly what the main character in Ruth Ware’s latest, The Turn of the Key, attempts to do. From her jail cell, Rowan Caine writes her lawyer begging for his help.

I work in a courtroom in the criminal court system and hear trial after trial of people accused of various felonious crimes, including murder. I heard countless defendants testify. However, their stories are always fed bit by bit as the attorneys ask questions. This book is a defendant’s story as it happened, from her point of view, from start to finish.

While I enjoyed the format, I found the story hard to get into. I am glad that I finished reading it because the surprise ending makes the story worth reading.

I would be remiss if I did not mention the story takes place inside a smart house. The house is so central to the story it could be considered a character itself. Ware makes us question whether the convenience of smart technology is worth the lack of privacy.

The story is a slow burn but worth reading.

This review was published on Philomathinphila.com, Smashbomb, Goodreads, Facebook, Twitter, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble on 9/9/19. When available, the review will be published on Scribd.com and, using Overdrive, will be rated in 9 libraries.

Genre: Mystery, Thriller
Print Length: 384 pages
ISBN: 9781501188770
Publisher: Gallery Books, a division of Simon & Schuster
Publication Date: August 6, 2019

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