The Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware-336 pages
Rowan Caine has been working at Little Nippers for a while now and after being passed over for promotion when her roommate leaves, she decides it's time for a change. Specifically, she sees an advert for a live-in nanny in Scotland. She applies straight away and gets an interview. She is surprised to learn that she gets the job. However, all is not as it seems at Heatherbrae House. Nannies have come and gone with frequency lately. Rowan wonders why. Everyone at Heatherbrae has secrets it seems, including Rowan. She begins to hear footsteps above her bedroom and feel a breeze in her bedroom, also. Maddie, one of her charges, told her the day of her interview that "she shouldn't come back because the ghosts wouldn't like it." Rowan begins to wonder if Heatherbrae really is haunted. She can't sleep in her bedroom anymore. One night all of the lights in the house come on and music blares over the speakers. She wonders if the house is malfunctioning (it's a "Smart" house of sorts). Who or what is causing all of these happenings? Rowan finds an attic above her bedroom with the help of Jack Grant, the groundskeeper. There are strange writings and she finds other strange things (like her necklace that's been missing for days). One night she goes to check on Maddie and Ellie (two of her charges, the others are Petra and Rhiannon) only to find that Maddie is out of bed and has placed a pillow in the shape of a body in her stead. To her horror, Rowan finds Maddie dead below her bedroom window. Rowan is blamed for the death and charged with murder, but she maintains that she didn't do it. The police don't believe her. I wasn't sure what to expect when I started reading this, but I liked all the twists and turns and I ended up liking the book. I still have questions (one especially), but it was a good, suspenseful book.
