The Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware Narrator: Imogen Church
Published by Simon & Schuster Audio on August 6, 2019
Genres: Mystery, Thriller
Length: 12 hours, 13 minutes
Format: Audiobook
Source: Library
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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.
I saw The Turn of the Key around and knew it was my sort of read. The setting is London and Scotland. The story was suspenseful with the mystery of what happened and also why the other four nannies left. Both mysteries are solved but not without many creepy tangents.
The main character, a young woman who applies for a nanny job feels a bit like an unreliable narrator. At least, I wasn’t sure at the start. She is certainly flawed, trying to be better but not quite managing it, with lack of experience or knowledge not helping her at times. The whole situation is weird with so many nannies leaving in the past, the oddities of the Smart House, and the emotional upheaval of the children over the year.
The others were only some help. Jack, the odd job man, was kind and tried to help. Jean, the housekeeper, was hostile at the start. With no other adult contact, and children of the different ages and needs for care, she was off balance from the beginning, not to mention the blips with the house systems. Is there anyone she can trust?
It seems really unfair how badly some things went when she was doing her best and was kind and hard-working. Yes, she definitely made mistakes. I’m not sure how she could have gotten a better grasp on things earlier. Along with the suspense of her difficulties, there are some shocking twists. It’s an uneasy, thrilling ride!
Narration:
I’m not an expert on different regional voices but these felt right. Both male and female voices were comfortable and each character was very distinct. I really enjoyed this performance and it added to the emotional timbre of the story. I listened at my normal 1.5x speed.
Listen to a clip:
About Imogen Church
Born in Scotland and raised in England, Imogen trained as an actress at The Drama Centre London, under Christopher Fettes, Yat Malmgren and Reuven Adiv. Since graduating several moons ago, she has worked extensively in theatre, film, commercials and comedy sketch work and she works regularly as a voice artist; she also spent several years underground enjoying success as a deliciously naughty cabaret artiste, making people laugh and generally being rude.
As a screenwriter, her first screenplay won the 2009 award for Best Feature Screenplay at the Reel Women Film Festival in Los Angeles.
About Ruth Ware
uth Ware grew up in Sussex, on the south coast of England. After graduating from Manchester University she moved to Paris, before settling in North London. She has worked as a waitress, a bookseller, a teacher of English as a foreign language and a press officer. She is married with two small children, and In a Dark, Dark Wood is her début thriller.
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I read all types of books but my favorites are urban fantasy and romantic suspense.I like some romance and some action / adventure / mystery in everything.I like sex in my books but please, only between TWO people.Intimate conversation is equally important to the sex in a book.It lets me see the characters.The other thing I enjoy is humor.
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This one caught my eye in a couple reviews so I want to read it at some point. Sounds like a good suspenseful build up.
It is really suspenseful with the blurb clear a child will die. It’s also really hard to be isolated with no adult to trust.
I’m about 70% through the book, expecting to finish today. The narrator is outstanding. Glad you enjoyed, Anne?
Yes the narrator is excellent. My first listen to her. The truths are crazy here. I would love to chat with you later as there is one thing I don’t understand at the end. Well maybe I do, but I want to see if you have the same take.
I don’t listen to audio books, but I have read a book by her and enjoyed it. I might have to pick this one up this year.
If you like this genre, it’s a great choice.
I have been hearing great things about this book. I have read one Ruth Ware book so far and really enjoyed it. I definitely have this one on my wishlist. Imogen Church is a fantastic narrator so it sounds like audio is the way to go.
It’s my first time with this author and narrator. I really enjoyed both. I think you will love this one.
This sounds like my kind of book and I’d love to read it! Great review:)
I hope you love it! I think it is one you would.
sounds good. if it sounds to good to be true….beware. 🙂
Yes and she knew it very well. Parts of this are very sad and other parts are horrible.
It’s the first time I hear about this one but it definitely looks good
It’s very good, although some of the characters are horrible. If everyone was nice, no one would die and the story might be boring tho. Mostly this bunch are misinformed or trying to do something bad. The rest are just innocents caught in the mess, sadly.
I loved this one on audio. So clever!
I loved the narrator and I would never have guessed where it was going.
I read the print version of this and enjoyed it quite a bit, although it wasn’t a favorite. It sure confirmed my feeling that a smart house isn’t for me though! Haha
I agree that I don’t need a smart house. I love having computers and smart phones and some programmable things like thermostats but that house was just creepy to the max.
I’m so happy you enjoyed it, Anne, and I loved your review. I’ve seen some mixed thoughts on this and I really want to read it anyway!
It’s a twisty one. Nothing is quite what it seems and the main character is young and having a tough time with her own choices and others’ deceptions.