The Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware

I finished reading all the books I had planned on a few days early this month, leaving me time to squish an extra book or two in before June. I wanted something easy and engaging, so I decided to try The Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware. This mystery thriller received a lot of attention when it came out last year, and I had seen numerous positive reviews for it online. I figured that this would be the perfect story to get lost in for a little while. I started off my reading with high hopes, expecting lots of twists  and suspense.

The plot follows a young woman named Rowan Caine, who begins the novel by writing a letter to a lawyer, begging him for help. She is currently in prison, accused of murdering a child under her care and wants him to represent her. She explains that once he hears the whole story of what happened, he will understand her situation and take her case. Her explanation of the events that led to her incarceration form the bulk of the rest of the novel.

She begins her story with the explanation of how she landed a lucrative new job as a live-in nanny.  Her new employers, Bill and Sandra Elincourt, are a pair of wealthy architects, and their Victorian style estate has been fully equipped with the latest smart home technology. The salary for the position is suspiciously high, but Sandra explains to Rowan that they've had difficulty keeping nannies in the house recently. The property has a bit of a spooky history, and the last several women in the position have allowed their superstitions to drive them away. The big salary is an effort to ensure that the next person sticks around. Undaunted, Rowan happily accepts the position and before long, the Elincourts leave her alone with the children for a few weeks while they travel to attend a conference.

Once Rowan is left alone with the children, a series of disturbing events begin. Her charges, eight-year-old Maddie, five-year-old Ellie, and baby Petra are difficult to manage, with Maddie in particular engaging in behaviors like running away, refusing to eat, and making vague disturbing comments to express her displeasure with her new nanny. In addition to the children's misbehavior, the advanced technology in the home starts going haywire for no reason, doors and windows seem to open and close of their own accord, items start inexplicably going missing, and mysterious noises occur at night that sound like someone is pacing around the house. Rowan doesn't believe in ghosts, but she's unable to figure out what's going on and is genuinely scared. These unsettling events continue until the tragic event that lands Rowan in prison occurs, where she must try to sort out what really happened and convince the lawyer she is writing to to help her.   

Sadly, I did not think that this book lived up to all the hype it received. It's wasn't a bad read, but it wasn't great either. I was frequently bored, especially in the first 100 pages, and never really felt tense or creeped out. I thought that way too much time was spent describing the features of the smart house, and not enough time was spent on actual, important plot events. In fact, thinking back, there weren't a lot of events, period. It was a couple hundred pages of kids misbehaving, technology malfunctioning, and doors opening and closing. All of the twists and reveals happened in the last 50 pages or so, and none of them were that surprising. I didn't exactly predict the ending, but there was only a limited number of characters that could be responsible for the weirdness...and it was one of them. So, it wasn't as thrilling or mysterious as I was expecting.

Even so, I mildly enjoyed the story and was interested in seeing what the ending would be. I finished it in a few days, and it was a nice, easy read. It was just fairly generic. I don't have much to say about it. This was my first Ruth Ware novel, and I can't say I'd be too interested in reading another. I'm pretty easily entertained by mystery/thrillers, but I just didn't see what a lot of other saw in this one. In any case, it's another book crossed off my TBR pile and ready to be donated. Hopefully another reader out there will fall into it the way I was hoping to.

Challenge Tally
Total Books Read in 2020: 42