1999, a child goes missing and the nanny is blamed. Present day, Hayley’s past comes back to haunt her…
The Nanny is a dual timeline book set in the UK and Thailand, in the present day and in 1999. The majority of the book alternates between the two times.
Hayley is a busy mum of Alice in the present day. But the events of 1999 are never far from her mind. The baby she was caring for disappeared and was never found. Now someone thinks Hayley knows the truth and is determined to uncover it at any cost.
There is a real tension to the book as there are plenty of clues that give us the opportunity to guess what really happened in the past. The writer gets plenty of emotion into her narrative as Hayley’s experiences and vulnerabilities in the past and present are described. I was so angry at how she is treated by a number of characters in both timelines (always a good sign when a book makes you feels something!)
The pace is quite slow as we gradually discover how the past timeline developed and how this has impacted on Hayley in the present. There are some big twists and I did guess one of them but there were more!
The Nanny is a highly emotive psychological thriller.
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The Nanny: An absolutely unputdownable, edge-of-your-seat psychological thriller by Ruth Heald
As I clutched baby Chloe’s blanket, tears streamed down my face as I remembered what happened the night she disappeared. Looking up at the apartment block I once called home, my mind was crowded with memories. David’s words echoed in my head, telling me to get out and never come back. I understood why: our mistake had ruined everything.
When I accepted a job working as a nanny for David and Julie and their young children, I was excited to be making my own way in the world. I bonded with baby Chloe instantly and would have done anything for her. She had David’s thick, dark hair and smiling eyes. I fell in love with her and was excited for my future.
But when a terrible mistake led to Chloe disappearing, I was instantly blamed. With no evidence, I was let go and I returned home to rebuild my life.
Twenty years later and I am still haunted by what happened. I have a family of my own now and I’ve worked hard to be the best wife and mother I can be, but I’ve never forgotten the child who stole my heart.
Then a young woman arrives on my doorstep and the past secret that I have kept from my family comes hurtling into my present.
I try to tell myself that I am overreacting. But the woman in front of me looks so much like David. Who is she and why is she here? And if I welcome her in, will she want to be a part of my life, or destroy it?
A totally addictive psychological thriller that will have you reading late into the night. Perfect for fans of Lisa Jewell, T.M. Logan and Shalini Boland.
Author Bio:
Ruth Heald is the bestselling author of psychological thrillers THE WEDDING, I KNOW YOUR SECRET, THE MOTHER’S MISTAKE and THE WOMAN UPSTAIRS, and the relationship drama 27: SIX FRIENDS, ONE YEAR.
Ruth studied Economics at Oxford University and then worked in an eclectic mix of sectors from nuclear decommissioning to management consulting. She worked at the BBC for nine years before leaving to write full time. Ruth is fascinated by psychology and finding out what drives people to violence, destruction and revenge. She’s married with two children and her novels explore our greatest fears in otherwise ordinary, domestic lives.
You can connect with Ruth on Twitter @RJ_Heald, or Facebook /RJHealdauthor
Author social media:
Twitter: @RJ_Heald
Instagram: @ruthheald
Tara is shocked and griefstricken when her estranged sister dies in a house fire. Her niece Hannah comes to live with her but there is a tension between them as the past haunts them. But sinister phone calls and notes lead Tara to realise she is in danger and could face the same fate as her sister…
The Niece is a psychological thriller set in America.
The book begins with Beth’s death which is quite tough to read. We then see the after effects as Tara is informed of the tragedy. She welcomes Hannah but it brings to the fore all of the emotions at being separated from her family for so long. Hannah is obviously devastated by Beth’s death but has been raised with a negative opinion on her aunt.
Tara is afraid that the fire was not an accident but rather an act of revenge. This fear is reinforced when silent phone calls and sinister notes are received. Tension is established and well maintained so danger feels imminent. The fire motif used by the author creates a sense of dread as it plays to the readers’ own fears.
There are plenty of clues about the event that divided the sisters, then halfway through the book we are transported back 13 years to Hannah’s 3rd birthday party. I won’t give any spoilers but there was a serious incident and this had my imagination in overdrive as I tried to guess who would be seeking revenge.
The Niece is a gripping psychological thriller with a strong emotional core.
I have previously reviewed The Stepdaughter by Georgina Cross.
Title: The Niece
Publication Day: Sept 2nd 2022
Author: Georgina Cross
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Description:
I love my family. But can I trust them?
Walking down an airport corridor I see her. My mother’s sister. There is no mistaking we’re related; we have the same long, black hair and brown eyes. But my aunt is the one person in the world my mother told me never to trust.
Nothing feels real right now. My beloved mother was my whole world—she taught me everything and she said she would always be there for me. My last memory is of her screaming at me to get out. Then the flames took her, and she was gone.
Now I have to live with my aunt and I hope she’s changed after all these years. But when I secretly watch her speaking to her friends, she makes it sound like I’m a stranger in her home.
She leaves her bedroom door open and I hear her on the phone to the police late at night. I start to wonder if she had something to do with the terrible fire that ripped my life apart. And my blood turns to ice when the detective asks, what are you hiding?
Is my aunt trying to protect me, or is it time to teach her a lesson?
An utterly addictive psychological thriller about a family with a dark secret at its heart that will make you question everyone you trust. Perfect for fans of The Wife Between Us, The Woman in the Window and Gone Girl.
Author Bio:
Georgina Cross is the author of works of domestic suspense, psychological suspense, and thriller.
Georgina has been writing since she was a child. Notebooks & printed pages filled with stories: adventures growing up in New Orleans and tales from Malaysia & England where her family lives. After graduating from Louisiana State University, she enjoyed a career in marketing & communications and founded Susie’s Wish non-profit which sends patients with life threatening illnesses to the beach. She spends time with her husband and their combined family of four sons watching scary movies and basketball tournaments and is thrilled to be a full-time author.
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TRIGGER WARNING: child abuse, murder of foetuses and pregnant women
DI Gary Blood’s latest case is a gory one: missing teenage pregnant girls, their posed bodies and dead babies. But will his focus be distracted by his personal relationships…?
Blanket of Blood is a police and crime thriller set in the UK.
The case itself is very gruesome as well as emotive. The deaths of teenagers and their babies is extremely difficult to read about. Most of the book is in the present day but many chapters end with the killer’s perspective. This reveals deep mental health issues that derive from the abuse they were forced to endure as a child. It in no way excuses the behaviour but it does explain it.
There is a wonderful mix of the gore and the glorious personality of DI Blood. I was completely caught up in the professional and personal plotlines. Suspects and suspicious behaviour were rife and I kept changing my mind on who I thought was repsonsible for these heinous murders.
Meanwhile, there is plenty going on in Gary Blood’s private life. His daughter has announced she is transgender. His brother has OCD and reveals a huge secret when an alibi is required. Blood sleeps with a variety of women, including his ex-wife (awkward!) and flirts with many more. But he and Sue, his brother’s ex, both have a longing for each other that they cannot allow themselves act upon.
The style of writing was engaging and there was a light hearted tone at times in descriptions, dialogue and turns of phrase. This softened the wicked side to humanity portrayed through the crimes and characters. The dialogue is written to show the accents of the characters which gives them an added dimension of realism.
Blanket of Blood is a grisly but glorious, disturbing but fascinating crime novel.
Book Blurb
The body of a baby is found in the woods but all is not as it seems.
A twisted serial killer is targeting pregnant teenage girls.
DI Blood races against the clock to stop the most chilling murderer he’s ever hunted. His private life meanwhile threatens to distract him and derail his investigation.
Any mistakes, any hesitation on his side, could cost another innocent life …
Author Bio
Eileen Wharton is an Oscar winning actress, Olympic gymnast, and Influencer. She also tells lies for a living. Her first novel was published in 2011 to worldwide critical acclaim. And she’s won awards for exaggeration. It did top the Amazon humour chart so she’s officially a best-selling author. She currently has five ‘lively’ offspring ranging from thirty-three to fourteen years of age, and has no plans to procreate further, much to the relief of the local schools and police force. She lives on a council estate in County Durham. She has never eaten kangaroo testicles, is allergic to cats and has a phobia of tinned tuna. She’s retired from arguing with people on the internet.
Follow her at:
1940s Netherlands, Ilse struggles to find food and fuel to keep her aging parents alive as war grips their country. 2005 UK, Anna’s father dies and among his papers she discovers he was adopted. She sets off to find out the truth about his birth parents…
The Boy in the Attic is a dual timeline book set in the UK and the Netherlands in the 1940s and 2000s.
Both timelines have very emotional plotlines. Ilse’s family are suffering and desperate. The fear and dread are vividly brought to life through the descriptions of their circumstances. Anna is dealing with her grief at the death of her dad. I felt equally absorbed by the lives of both women as they deal with their own struggles.
The danger of the Ilse’s situation grows when she leaves home. She befriends a Jewish man Levi which puts her at risk due to the increased proximity and attention of the Nazi occupiers. The tension was maintained well as I awaited finding out how the past timeline linked up to the more modern one.
Meanwhile Anna finds herself increasingly distanced from her boyfriend Hugo both physically and emotionally. I was really annoyed with him (always a good sign when a book evokes a strong emotional response!) and was eager for her to find peace of mind in her relationship as well as in her quest to find her father’s family.
The Boy in the Attic is an interesting and emotional historical novel.
Book Description:
Anna opened the letter with trembling hands. ‘My darling, if you’re reading this, I haven’t managed to unravel my parents’ secret. But you can. Will you finish the search for me, find out who they were, and who you really are?’
Nazi-occupied Holland, 1944. As soldiers patrol the streets, nursing student Ilse is only just surviving the terrible famine and increasingly violent German occupation. Though exhausted by her demanding work at a hospital far from home, she can’t help but notice Levi, the young man with the dark eyes watching the world silently from the abandoned house next door.
Then, early one morning, she finds him terrified and trembling with cold on the back doorstep. Levi’s Jewish family have been arrested and sent to a concentration camp, their likely fate all too clear. And now he needs her help.
So Ilse makes the most dangerous decision of her life, and takes Levi in. Hiding him away in her tiny attic room, he must remain concealed or risk almost certain death. But as the war worsens, keeping Levi a secret becomes ever more difficult, even as their mutual affection grows. And when a local German soldier becomes obsessed with Ilse, they fear their time – and luck – has run out…
London, present day. When Anna’s father dies, he leaves her a ticket to Amsterdam, a bent silver sixpence on a delicate silver chain, and a note begging her to complete the journey he was never able to. To the town where he was born, to find out once and for all who his parents were, and to discover their wartime fate.
Based on the author’s incredible family history, a totally devastating and ultimately uplifting story about a girl who risked everything, including her life, to save the man she loved. Heart-breaking and timely, this powerful tale will be loved by fans of The Tattooist of Auschwitz, The Nightingale and Fiona Valpy.
Author Bio:
Imogen Matthews writes novels based on true stories about the Netherlands during the German occupation in World War 2. Some stories she discovered by chance, others are based on her Dutch mother’s own experiences of hardship and survival during the Hunger Winter of 1944-45.
Her first novel, The Hidden Village, is set in the Veluwe woods, a beautiful part of Holland that Imogen has visited frequently over the past 30 years. It was in these woods that she discovered the story of the real hidden village which provided shelter in underground huts for Jews during WW2. Imogen retells the story of the hidden village with characters drawn from real life and from her imagination.
Within weeks of publication in 2017, The Hidden Village became an international bestseller, ranking at the top of a number Amazon’s most-read book lists.
Following on from The Hidden Village comes Hidden in the Shadows, which has the pace of a thriller yet is also a love story. It tells the story about two young people who are brutally torn apart and must find a way to be together against all odds.
Imogen’s third WW2 novel, The Girl Across the Wire Fence, is set in Amersfoort, Netherlands, and is based on the unforgettable tale of two young lovers who risked everything to keep hope alive in the very depths of hell – the little known Dutch concentration camp called Kamp Amersfoort.
Imogen’s WW2 novels are published by Bookouture, a digital imprint of Hachette.
Facebook: @theHiddenVillagenovel
Twitter: @ImogenMatthews3
Buy Link:
Bodies, Brains & Bogies is a non fiction book aimed at children aged 8+. It is full of facts and diagrams delivered with a comedic tone.
I loved the chatty style of writing that gives plenty of information but in an easy to digest way. As well as enjoying it myself, I gave this to Matthew to read but 9 year old Anya would have enjoyed it too. I could have read this to Zach and he would have understood the content, been amazed by the facts and interested in the illustrations.
The information is right up to date with mentions of Covid and Strictly 2021. There are also a few mentions of ants which we are particularly fond of in our family!
The subject of sex is dealt with but I felt that it was age appropriate. The tone was objective although I really liked the enthusiasm and excitement towards growing up which can feel daunting to children.
My favourite part of the book was the positive message in the final chapter. All of our bodies are different and equally brilliant!
Matthew’s review: I really like this book. It was fun to read and had lots of interesting information and facts.
Bodies, Brains & Bogies
This fantastic title from Paul Ian Cross, the writer of How to Vanquish a Virus, takes the reader on a whirlwind tour of everything that’s disgusting, unusual and amazing about the human body. Find out everything about poo, pus and bogies, while learning a whole lot about how our bodies work hard in hundreds of fascinating ways to keep us alive.
With tons of hilarious and informative illustrations, it includes lashings of Paul Ian Cross’s trademark laugh-out-loud humour, in-depth knowledge and infectious optimism. It’s the perfect funny, accessible way to discover everything you’ve ever wanted to know about the human body, but were too grossed-out to ask!
Purchase Links
Author Bio –
Paul Ian Cross, PhD, is a scientist, researcher, writer, and educator from London, UK.
Paul works in clinical research (developing new medicines) and he’s also a science communicator (presenting science to non-scientists). He specialises in vaccine development and has an interest in pharmacovigilance (the safety of medicinal products). His PhD research investigated the benefit-risk assessment of medicines, and how patients and the public can be more involved in their treatment decisions.
Paul’s popular social media accounts (@DrPaulScience) are full of STEM-themed content for all ages, but particularly for parents and adults to share with the children in their lives. Paul is a member of #TeamHalo, a UN backed initiative where doctors, healthcare workers, and scientists share accurate information about healthcare, science, and the COVID-19 vaccines. In 2021, Paul was named as a ‘Luminary’ at the G7’s Vaccine Confidence Summit, in recognition for his science communication work on social media.
In addition to his research career, Paul has a passion for introducing children to STEM subjects, particularly reluctant readers. By introducing science creatively, he aims to spark their interest, allowing them to gain confidence with their reading. As a previous reluctant reader himself, he understands how hard it can be. But it’s all about making reading fun and interesting!
Social Media Links –
