“Turn of the Key”

Listening to Ruth Ware’s Turn of the Key while knitting, and the (?)heroine is driving me nuts. I want to slap her. Since that’s not possible, I’ll opt for a running commentary. Spoilers abound.

10 September. Knitting. Lovely green shawl for a friend (Hi Laura!) who is expecting twins.

Not A Spoiler. The book opens with the protagonist, Rowan, writing to an attorney from a Scottish prison where she is awaiting trial on charges of killing a child in her care. She insists on her innocence and asks the lawyer to read “the whole story” of what led up to the child’s death.

9 September. Knitting: an appallingly hideous scarf knit from some frightful hairy novelty yarn. Someone hired a friend (hi Merike!) to knit two of them, and I offered to do one.

Story so far: Rowan takes a position as a nanny for a rich family with 3 small girls and a teenager, who live on an isolated estate in remote Scotland. Every room of the old home place has been outfitted with cutting edge computer activated smart house features, including surveillance capability. Normal, right? She accepts the job without nailing down important details about her duties, the girls, or the smart house stuff. Mom seems to be a nervous wreck and dad is a sexist pig. She also ignores the flashing red light that 2 or 3 hundred nannies quit during the previous year, ostensibly because the place is “haunted.”

As soon as she arrives, both parents leave for a few weeks (also very normal, right?) and then ~~☆*creepy spooky*☆~~ stuff starts to happen. Mysterious creaky footsteps, disappearing keys, lights going on in the night, strange noises in the dark? Is it a ghost? (spoiler: I doubt it.) More to follow!