The Nanny by Gilly Macmillan

My first thriller of the month. I’m dedicating this month to all things spooky. And have quite a few thrillers lined up. Thanks to Harper Collins Audio for providing me with this audiobook. Otherwise I would have had to wait for the library to come through.

The Nanny – Gilly Macmillan

The Nanny by Gilly Macmillan

When her beloved nanny, Hannah, left without a trace in the summer of 1988, seven-year-old Jocelyn Holt was devastated. Haunted by the loss, Jo grew up bitter and distant, and eventually left her parents and Lake Hall, their faded aristocratic home, behind.

Thirty years later, Jo returns to the house and is forced to confront her troubled relationship with her mother. But when human remains are accidentally uncovered in a lake on the estate, Jo begins to question everything she thought she knew.

Then an unexpected visitor knocks on the door and Jo’s world is destroyed again. Desperate to piece together the gaping holes in her memory, Jo must uncover who her nanny really was, why she left, and if she can trust her own mother…

In this compulsively readable tale of secrets, lies, and deception, Gilly Macmillan explores the darkest impulses and desires of the human heart. Diabolically clever, The Nanny reminds us that sometimes the truth hurts so much you’d rather hear the lie.

AUDIOBOOK REVIEW

11 HOURS, 8 MINUTES 
Audiobook generously provided in exchange for an honest review.

my thoughts

The Nanny was my first book by Gilly Macmillan and my first thriller in a long time.

The audiobook was narrated by two female narrators and one male, who all did a marvelous job. From the very beginning I was divided between Jocelyn and her mother Virginia. Both were interesting characters, but the more the book advanced the more I was rooting for the mother.

Jo, was in an interesting situation. Her relationship with her mother has deteriorate ever since her nanny Hannah disappeared one day. The one woman that was the closest to her, vanished from her life. Now many years later she appears out of the blue. And Jo, does the one thing she remembers the most from her childhood, she trusts her nanny to help pick up the pieces.

Virginia, her mother, on the other hand is downright suspicious about the sudden appearance, and she has a good reason for it.

I was hooked. Honestly from the very first chapter, which alternated between Jo and Virginia, as well as flashbacks and the lead detective’s POV. The manipulation, deception and the way the book was written made this book into a nail biter for me. Maybe because I haven’t read as many thrillers as others, I didn’t feel this book was predictable at all. I was actually sitting on the edge of my seat, worrying what might happen next.

When it comes to the characters, I enjoyed Virginia the most. She was pictured as this typical English aristocrat, but behind the surface she really surprised me. I had some questions, and would have loved to hear more about her opinions in regard to her husband. Because she seemed to be such a strong personality, and I was wondering about her thoughts on a particular plot point.

Jo, was a bit gullible, but she had a hard time letting go of the feelings that were ingrained into her during her early childhood. It was quite fascinating to see her interact with Virginia compared to her Nanny. And made for a fascinating study of human behavior.

The ending of the book came a bit sudden. I actually rewound the audiobook just to make sure I didn’t miss anything. Because I didn’t see it coming at all. And it wasn’t a big OMG revelation, instead it was a sneaky “oh that’s interesting” kind of moment that wrapped it all up.

At the end there were a couple questions I would have liked to get answered. But all in all, I really enjoyed this audiobook. It had the right amount of tension, twists, and manipulations to keep me in the seat of my car way longer than needed. I also kept the phone in my pocket and listening to the audiobook while running around the house doing chores. A sign that I didn’t want to put it down at all.

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4 stars
Amazon
Goodreads

The Nanny – Gilly Macmillan