We'll purchase this title because lots of readers enjoy Gilly Macmillan; I am not one of them. I read a LOT of thrillers (and nanny books oddly enough? I don't seek them out but here we are), and Macmillan's fall flat for me.

Holy Moly!!! My head is still spinning!!



I read a previous novel by Ms. Macmillan, I KNOW YOU KNOW (http://cmashlovestoread.com/2018/10/23/review-i-know-you-know-by-gilly-macmillan/ ) and knew I had to read her latest book.

Jo and her daughter Ruby have reluctantly returned to her London childhood home and her mother after the sudden death of her husband. The move from California was only made because Jo needed financial assistance. Jo and her mother, Lady Virginia Holt has always had a strained relationship, especially since the day that her mother sent her beloved Nanny Hannah away.

After their arrival, Jo takes Ruby out on a canoe on the estate's lake and makes a gruesome discovery, a human skull. Virginia does not want the police involved, but why? Does she know more about the death on the estate that occurred years ago? However, Jo does report it and an investigation ensues.

Then there comes a knock on the door and Jo comes face to face with her cherished Nanny Hannah. But Virginia has doubts that this is the "real" Hannah".

The author's written narrative creates such a vivid description of the characters and settings that I felt I was transported into the story.

The suspense had me turning the pages as fast as I could read! There were red herrings at every turn that I kept bouncing between characters as to who was the murderer and who was the victim, who was the better liar and who had the deepest secrets. The ending!!!! The ending was explosive that I am still reeling from it.

An exceptional and thrilling read that had me white-knuckled from the first page to the last word!!

Thank you, Ms. Macmillan, for another entertaining read!!

Posted to GR 08/31/19: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2950029516
Will be posted on blog 09/12/19: http://cmashlovestoread.com/?p=21119

When Jocelyn Holt was seven years old, her beloved nanny left in the middle of the night without saying goodbye, and her mother blamed Jocelyn. Since her parents spent most of their time in London without her, the little girl was soon shipped off to boarding school and never forgave her parents for her loveless childhood. Thirty years later, Jo is widowed and forced to return to her family's estate with her ten year old daughter, Ruby. While boating on the lake, Jo and Ruby find a skull in the water. Jo suspects it may be Hannah, but if it is, who put it there? And if it's not, who is it?

Nannies are popular fictional characters because they are outsiders who are invited into the home and interact intimately with the family. Fictional nannies can be wonderful (like Mary Poppins) or they can be psychopaths. I usually don't read "nanny" books (The Perfect Nanny, Woman No. 17, The Au Pair, etc.), but this one appealed to me since it involved a missing person at an English country home. It's filled with many of the things that make for great psychological suspense: family secrets, false identities, sneaky characters, false or missing memories, doubtful businesses. Fast-paced, very enjoyable, perfect for vacation reading or a long weekend.

Nanny Hannah disappeared without explanation or a trace when Jocelyn was a little girl. Jocelyn and her mother, Lady Holt, have never gotten along. Now, Jocelyn and her daughter have had to return home to Lake Hall following the death of her husband, much to her dismay. However, the events that follow aren't quite as she expects. Compelling read, though frustrating at times due to Jocelyn's oblivious behaviour.

Jocelyn has faced disappointments and sadness in her 37 years. Her earliest disappointment came when she is left stranded by her nanny Hannah at the young age of 7 with parents she could not relate to. She left family in England at a youthful age and headed for America. Now at 37 her husband has died and she and her young daughter Ruby return to her parent's home to live with her mother Virginia. The book tells the family story through the eyes of the adults and that of a member of the local police. The police become involved in their lives when a skull is found on their property. Much ado is made about the aristocracy and life styles. The story builds by taking you back to the past with history of the individuals involved and then to the present as life's problems are faced. It all seems mild but the story is a twisted one and you will be wondering to the end how Jocelyn, her mother Virginia and daughter Rudy will deal with what comes their way.

***Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review***
A taut psychological thriller that had me second guessing myself the entire book.

Jocelyn loved her nanny Hannah but one day at 7 years old Nanny Hannah leaves and Jocelyn mother tells her she left because whe was a bad girl. 30 years later after Jocelyn is left a widow she moves back with her mom and a skull is found on the little island by her mother's house. Who does the skull belong too? Then Nanny Hannah is back too and with her help of taking care of Jocelyn's little girl Ruby things dont seem all that okay.

I found it took me a little to get into this read. After reading for a bit I found the pacing to get better and I was really getting into the story. I found a few things that irked me like the fact that Ruby kept telling her mom that Hannah was not a nice person and she wouldn't believe her. Also how quickly she was to move Hannah into her mother's home. There was some other things but I dont want any more spoilers.

I want to thank Netgalley and HarperCollins for a copy of this ARC for an honest review.

I enjoyed all of Gilly Macmillan's novels so far, and this one is no exception. This twisty psychological thriller centers around the dysfunctional, wealthy Holt family. When Jo is suddenly widowed and left to raise her daughter alone, she reluctantly returns home to stay with her estranged mother Lady Holt. Jo has never recovered from the unexplained disappearance of her beloved nanny, Hannah, 30 years ago. When a decomposed body is found on their property, more questions and secrets resurface as to what happened to Hannah all those years ago. This was a fun, quick, twisty read!

4.5 stars! Jocelyn was 7 years old when her beloved nanny Hanna left without saying goodbye or giving an explanation. She was devastated because her mother Virginia was mean and distant with her and her father was always busy in that huge mansion they had. She was suddenly all alone and could never fully recover. Now, many years later, Jo is forced to go back to that house with her pre-teen daughter Ruby because her husband just died and she has nowhere else to go. One day, Ruby and Jo found a cracked skull on the lake of their property and everything points to it belonging to Hanna... until a woman appears in her doorway, claiming to be Hanna and bringing up a lot of questions. Could it really be her, when Virginia is sure Hanna is dead because she got rid of the body herself all those years ago?

This is where the story starts and it just gets better and better. Told from 4 points of view, the author starts showing you bits of everyone’s lives so you can form an idea of what happened then and what is happening now.
The only thing I hated was how naive Jocelyn was. It seemed as if going back home made her also go back to being a teenager, which was very annoying because she has a daughter to look after. However, even that can be explained because she is still grief-stricken and is trying to keep things under control when everything has just fallen apart when her husband died so recently.
The ending is a bit predictable but I loved how the book challenges the usual way nannys, police and rich people are portrayed, and also they way miscommunication destroys families. I won’t say more because I don’t want to spoil anything, but give this book a try if you can!

4,5 stars from me!

I've never read anything by this author, but after reading this one, I'll likely read her future books.This was a quick, creepy read that kept me engaged and guessing., with characters you just love to hate. I enjoyed the multiple POV's, as it made me feel more invested in the story and characters. The short chapters help keep the pace active.

The Nanny is an excellent example of the lengths some people will go to achieve evil, sinister goals. Gilly Macmillan cautiously reveals the lies and deceptions keeping you anxiously wondering what is coming next. This is an suspenseful, winner.

I've been really hit or miss when it comes to Macmillan. I've had a couple books of hers that I've absolutely loved, but I've also had a couple that have been major misses, and unfortunately "The Nanny" fell into that category. I had an extremely hard time following with which character was who and what I did read was extremely bland. I also found the characters extremely dull. I do plan on giving this book another shot at some point but for the time being this was a miss for me.

When Jocelyn was a little girl her nanny, Hannah, disappeared. One morning she woke up and was told that Hannah had left sometime during the night and was not coming back. Devastated because her nanny was much more of a mum to her than her own biological mother, Jo never fully got over the abandonment. After the devastating loss of her husband in America, now with a daughter of her own, she moves back to the family home, Lake Hall, in London. As she tries to cope with her grief and also deal with the strained relationship with her mother, Jo is completely taken aback when a woman comes to the house saying she is Hannah, back in the flesh.

Suspenseful, riveting and utterly engrossing! Highly recommended!

What a gloriously delicious gothic tale! The dark imagery is mesmerizing. I loved the house Holt’s house and how it seemed to insert itself into the story. I fell in love with Jo, Ruby, and Virginia and their unusual circumstances. This book is thrilling and I’m so lucky to have read it early! I’ll be recommending it to all of my friends.

Holy moley!! My mind is still reeling after reading this one!! I knew very little about this book when I decided to read it and it's my first book by this author. I really need to check out her other books now. It was chilling, thrilling and super suspenseful. The twists and turns kept me on the edge of my seat. This was one of those books that once you start it's near impossible to walk away. It was addictive and gripping from beginning to end.

The Nanny follows Jocelyn, a young single mother forced to move home to her family’s English estate, Lake Hall, after the sudden death of her husband. When Jocelyn’s daughter Ruby finds a human skull while kayaking on the lake, Jocelyn comes to wonder if it belonged to her beloved former nanny, Hannah, who disappeared when Jocelyn was a child. Out of nowhere, Hannah reappears at Lake Hall. Jocelyn is overjoyed to have Hannah back in her life, but Jocelyn’s mother Virginia, and daughter Ruby are hesitant to trust this stranger who has showed up in their lives.

Told from three different perspectives, I wasn’t sure who to trust at any given moment. Instinctively I wanted to trust Jo, the main character, but it was obvious from the beginning that she didn’t know the entire truth. Hannah, the Nanny, gave me hardcore chills. There’s something so quietly sinister about the way she’s depicted. You just know she’s not telling the whole truth.

I loved the style of this book. Written in short, brief chapters, jumping back and forth from the past to the present, and from perspective to perspective, it quietly left you questioning what you really knew. Before the Nanny, I had never read anything by Gilly Macmillan, but it will definitely not be the last.

It's the late 1980s when Jocelyn Holt's beloved nanny, "Hannah" disappears without a trace. Daughter to Lord and Lady Holt, inhabitants of the aristocratic Lake Hall, Jocelyn grows up haunted by a distant relationship with her mother and a relationship cut short with her father. Decades later, Jocelyn returns to her childhood home where human remains are discovered in a lake on Lake Hall property. The gruesome discovery is not nearly as surprising as a visitor who knocks on the door and causes Jocelyn to question everything she has ever known.

This mystery/thriller from Gilly Macmillan alternates perspectives and periods of time. We find ourselves mainly in the shoes of Jocelyn, her mother Virginia, and a detective investigating the human remains. We are a fly on the wall of a rocky relationship between mother and daughter and are witness to a disappearing nanny. Secrets, lies, and deception are slowly revealed and we're haunted by tricky questions: Are people who we think they are? And, how easily should we place our trust in others?

This book will make you second-guess some of the relationships in your life and think about whether violence is justifiable. You'll have to get through a good 75% of the book before figuring out where the plot is headed, so if you're one for earth-shattering plot twists early on, this one might not be for you. If you're looking for a basic mystery that turns out as expected, you won't be disappointed.

Gilly Macmillan is a master story teller. I enjoyed every single page of this book and the story she weaves. Highly enjoyable and unputdownable. Must read!

Jo and her daughter must return to her childhood home due to the tragic death of her husband. Jo is uneasy about returning and soon is delighted to find her old Nanny has returned to her home town. But do her memories equal the truth.

This book is a suspenseful summer thriller that is surely to be a big hit. The author introduces to three women: mother, daughter and a nanny who were tied together thirty years ago. The nanny reappears to their surprise and a mystery unfolds. Their are twists and turns to keep the reader engaged to the end. None of the characters were very like able so I had a hard time relating to any of them. #thenanny #netgalley