Ruth Heald’s psychological thrillers investigate why people do what they do and the consequences they encounter. They are always well plotted with great twists. In this book Heald explores a nanny’s worst nightmare ~ a missing child.

Heald’s exploration begins with highlighting the power imbalance between Haley Taylor and her employers, Julie and David McFarlane, then shows how Hayley’s life is impacted forever by the incident in Thailand.

In writing from Haley’s perspective, Heald ensures that we are emotionally engaged and can fully understand the nanny’s experience. When the unthinkable happens and Chloe goes missing, Haley is arrested. As the timeline changes and we are introduced to Haley Taylor twenty years later, we see that the stakes are high; she’s a mother herself now. This adds another dimension to the story, and we understand her anxiety and paranoia. It all begins when the Taylors find themselves in dire straits financially and are forced to rent out their spare bedroom. It’s a choice they live to regret.

This has everything you expect from a Heald novel; seamless time hopping transitions, great characterization, taut plot, unreliable characters, secrets, lies, and an ending you won’t see coming. As always, I really enjoyed another nail-biting Ruth Heald read.

Heald’s latest book examines how the past will always come back to haunt you unless you find a way to work out the problems and let them go. Letting go, for Hayley, has a price. You’ll have to read to find out what’s involved and if Hayley can stop the cycle before it’s too late.

I was gifted this advance copy by Bookouture and NetGalley and was under no obligation to provide a review.

The Nanny
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: Thriller
Format: Kindle eBook
Date Published: 9/8/22
Author: Ruth Heald
Publisher: Bookouture
Pages: 351
Goodreads Rating: 4.28

I requested a digital advanced readers copy from NetGalley and Bookouture and providing my opinion voluntarily and unbiased.

Synopsis: 20 years ago, a little girl disappeared. You thought it was your fault. Until now… I juggle my job with the school run and taking care of my mum, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. But when a young woman arrives on my doorstep, a past secret that I have spent years running from comes hurtling into my present. In an instant, I am taken back to a dream trip to Thailand and to a job as a nanny that changed my life forever. It it turned into a nightmare. I try to tell myself that I am overreacting. But the woman in front of me looks so much like him. Is she the child who vanished without a trace? Does she want to be part of my life, or destroy it?

My Thoughts: The story is narrated in alternating timelines through the present and flashbacks, through Haley’s POV. The flashbacks in Thailand are perfectly described, that you felt like you were there. This is a first time read author for me, I will definitely be intrigued to read more books by this author. To really enjoy this book, you have to fully commit to it, even if it seems implausible or impossible. The lies, secrets, deceptions, and betrayals are portrayed in such a way that everyone is a suspect! The characters are well developed with depth, mystery, x, and creatively written. The author’s writing style is complex, edgy, suspenseful, twisty, and kept me absolutely engaged. The story first builds the characters, and we learn a lot about Haley from the flashbacks, the plot is delivered in twisty layers, and then the ending was outstanding. This was a gripping, fast paced, page turning read that I got through pretty quickly. The other thing I would liked to have seen different is to shorten it up a little, at 72 chapters and 351 pages, it is a little long. This book releases next month and I would recommend that you preorder now!

I was hooked by the setting of this book, Bangkok in 1999. Haley, a nineteen-year-old from England took a gap year and the action begins when she is robbed and needs to get a job to stay afloat. Asking her mother for money is not an option so she applies for a nanny job and miraculously gets it. She works for an engineer, David, and a doctor, Julie who live in a spacious apartment in a wealthy neighborhood. David's two daughters from a previous marriage are staying there temporarily and Haley's main job is for the newborn, Chloe.

The relief of a nice place to live and work soon dissipates when Julie begins setting down difficult rules and is not interested in her baby. Julie decides to return to work early on in her maternity leave and Haley becomes overwhelmed with the care of the baby, the two sisters, and keeping the apartment in perfect order. Life becomes extremely difficult and then it crashes altogether.

The novel alternates with chapters in '99 Bangkok and present-day England. Haley's grown-up life with Lars, her Swedish husband, and their daughter, Alice. When a student appears at the door applying for the vacancy they have for a lodger, life turns into a familiar scenario of chaos and fear. The Nanny turned into a complex and intense thriller. I thoroughly enjoyed every twist and turn.

Thank you, NetGalley, and the publisher for this e-ARC.

Thank you Bookouture and Net Galley for an early copy of The Nanny. WHOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA did NOT see that coming at ALL!!!! What a shocker over a little over halfway in the book. What an excellent read!!!! LOVED, LOVED, LOVED this from the characters to the plot to the ending. Fantastic!!! Enjoy you Lucky readers.

Name of Book: The Nanny
Author: Ruth Heald
Publisher: Bookouture
Genre: Psychological Thriller
Pub Date: September 8, 2022
My Rating: 4.6 Stars

Story is told in two timelines 1999 and Present Day
1999: Nineteen years old Haley Taylor was a student and working as a nanny/au pair in Bangkok Thailand. She took care of baby Chloe McFarlane and her two half-sisters ~ Eva age four and Emily who was six years old.
Julia McFarlane was excited about having ‘their’ baby. However, baby Chloe was more attached to Haley than Julie.
When baby Chloe goes missing, Haley is accused of taking Chloe or perhaps killing her!

Present: Haley is now like any other young married mother; has a daughter, Alice, works, helps her mother who has dementia but financial circumstance with her husband Lar’s business have lead them to take in a lodger to help with costs.
Johanna believes the young renter looks a bit familiar- actually resemblances David McFarlane, the father of the missing Chloe. Perhaps she is a relative or is Johanna really Chloe?
This was a nice surprise read for me! I went into this expecting a typical Nanny accused of taking the baby she was caring for story!

I lam a psychological thriller fan ~ love the twists & turns!!
This did not disappoint!

I always love reading the author’s notes and acknowledgements.
In this case, the author’s notes are in “A Letter from Ruth”.
Ruth Heald tells us she got her inspiration for this story from the case of teenager Louise Woodward in the late 90’s, who took the job as a nanny in a foreign country and had very little experience taking care of an infant.
Knowing that there is a big power imbalance between the nanny and her employers, Ruth wanted to write a story and explored that situation.

She certainly made me a fan!!

Want to thank NetGalley and Bookouture for this early eGalley.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for September 8, 2022

A story of a missing baby ( Chloe ) many years ago in Thailand and how the main character ( then a nanny ) had been blamed for this, but never charged, present time and everything she has tried to hide from everyone is about to come back and haunt her, with bells on, can she handle it? And did she have something/anything to do with the missing baby….
It’s well written and you can almost see Bangkok via the descriptions, also quite tense as ‘the past’ starts arriving on her doorstep, echoes of the Louise Woodward case ( mentioned in the authors letter at the end ) give the book some reality but I am not sure I fully invested in the way the story progressed or ended
None the less a mainly solid read that did have me wondering just who was telling the truth and who wasn’t

7/10
3 Stars

Thank you Netgalley & Bookouture for an eARC of The Nanny by Ruth Heald in exchange for an honest review! I’ve only recently discovered Ruth’s books and it’s safe to say that not only is she an auto-buy author of mine, but you can expect some great twists from her.

What’s it about?
20 years ago, a little girl disappeared. Haley thought it was her fault, until now…Haley is a mother to her daughter, juggling her job with school runs and taking care of her mother who has dementia. Everything changes when a young woman arrives on her doorstop, and a secret from the past comes back to haunt her.

20 years ago, Haley was on a dream trip to Thailand and had a job as a nanny to make extra money. This was supposed to be her chance at a better life, but it turned into an absolute nightmare. Why is she here? And who exactly is she? And why does she look like HIM?

I flew through this psychological thriller. The plot is fast-paced and there are secrets uncovered throughout, instead of all saved for the end. I found myself frustrated at times with Haley 20 years her junior - But given that she was meant to be a teen in those chapters, the way she was acting makes more sense. This may have even been done on purpose. Thank you again Ruth Heald for an enjoyable read!

A great psychological thriller that will draw you in and have you hooked to the end. It’s full of secrets and lies with a fast paced plot that will entertain you from start to finish. Thank you to NetGalley, Bookouture and the author for the chance to review.

The Nanny is an interesting and heartbreaking psychological thriller. The story is told in two separate timelines, one 20 years in the past in Bangkok where Haley Taylor is a nanny to three young girls, including baby Chloe who goes missing.

Present day Haley has tried to forget her past in Thailand, but is haunted by the mystery of what happened to Chloe and whatever became of her two older half sisters. So far she's kept that past separate from her life as a wife and mother, but is forced to come to face with it when she and her husband decide to take in a lodger.

Overall I enjoyed this title, though parts of the book were too slow for me and many of the characters were unlikable. Haley's reaction to the parents she was nannying for was a little frustrating, but I was kept intrigued by the mystery of it all.

This was a solid read. The pace was steady, I was intrigued with the story and direction it was going, and overall it was a pretty quick and easy read. BUT. There were moments I was frustrated with the what are you doing characters. You know those absolute dumb ones in a scary movie who are running in the opposite direction they should have gone and you’re screaming at the TV WHAT ARE YOU DOING! Quite a few of those moments towards the end but regardless it ended neatly.

Hayley used to live in Thailand living here best traveler life with a couple of girlfriends when she is running low on money and needs a job. She becomes a nanny where what she expected to be easy work was quite a nightmare of a job. Present day she is working and happily married and has a daughter named Alice. Her mother seems to be suffering from dementia so she’s also living with them. She places an ad for needing a lodger and a girl shows up that brings up all sorts of uh ohs from twenty years ago. You are then presented the story from past to present all while finally catching up to what happened and the big bad truth in the end.

I would recommend this book as a good whodunnit. It’s pretty straight forward no crazy wild rides but enjoyable.

Thank you to Bookouture and NetGalley for the arc in exchange for my honest review.

A great beginning--although I had to out out of my mind that this was taking place in Bangkok which is so heavily crime ridden it makes a lot of this improbable to even impossible--that had me curious. It slowed a bit after that, dipping into long descriptions that did not forward the plot in anyway. And, unfortunately, it never picked up. The ending was so predictable I felt cheated.

The Nanny by Ruth Heald is a great psychological thriller that kept me on the edge of my seat to know what was going to happen. It was a fast-paced and twisty thriller, going back and forth in time in Haley's life. Twenty years ago, a child disappeared while in the care of Haley. Now Hayley lives outside of London and is in a happy relationship with her own daughter. Then an unexpected woman shows up at her door, and the story takes off!

Ruth Heald does a wonderful job of crafting a well-plotted thriller with good twists. The story was engaging. I would recommend The Nanny by Ruth Heald and give it a solid 4 out of 5 stars.

The Nanny is definitely perfect for fans of Lisa Jewell, T.M. Logan, and Shalini Boland.

#TheNanny #NetGalley @bookouture

Definitely a page turner to figure this one out. I have to say the ending was a bit obvious from the beginning but a crafty way to get there.

This was such a fun, quick, suspenseful read! I loved the characters, loved the twist and turns. Loved the writing style.

Haley Taylor is a mum to daughter Alice and married to Swedish Businessman Lars. She juggles her day looking after her daughter, working and looking after her mother also lives with her. Her mother has Dementia.
The couple are struggling financially so they decide to take in a lodger. That is where Haley meets Johanna a young woman that has a strange resemblance to someone from her past that she is trying to forget.
Twenty years previously Haley was a nanny to an English couple living in Thailand. Using the money to pay for her travelling around Thailand and beyond. But the couple keeps relying on her so much that she was virtually looking after the couple children and doing the housework that she didn’t get to see her friends. When an accident happens, and Haley is arrested for taking their daughter Chloe but was later released. But the guilt stayed with her all these years. But Chloe was never found.
I have read several books from Ruth Heald, and I think this is her best book yet.
This is a really good, fast paced twisty thriller, going back and forth in time in Haley’s life that kept me engaged throughout. It has great characters and I actually felt sorry for Haley, the way she was treated by the parents of the kids she was looking after, and you could sense the guilt coming off the pages. It had one of them endings that you don’t seem coming. 5 stars from me.

This was a really great psychological thriller by new to me author Ruth Heald. The book is both edgy and full of suspense and drama. Sure to keep you on the edge of your seat!

The Nanny is a gripping, can't-put-down, stay-up-all-night thriller (I honestly read this book in one sitting). The story is told from Hayley's point of view both in the past and the present. The author expertly uses the dual timeline to tell Hayley's story. Twenty years ago, Hayley was working as a nanny in Thailand when a tragedy occurred. Now Hayley lives outside of London and is in a happy relationship with a beautiful daughter. When an unexpected woman shows up at her door, Hayley realizes that her past is catching up with her. I was able to predict quite a few of the big "twists"; however, that did not take away from the book. I liked seeing that I was right. The pacing is great and the reader truly feels for Hayley throughout the book. The ending is a bit unbelievable; yet, it still didn't take away from the overall reading experience. I'll definitely be recommending The Nanny!

I really enjoyed this book, it was fast paced all the way through and didn’t let up at all right to the end! The dual timeline was great and I didn’t see all the twists coming. I would definitely recommend this but set aside some time to read undisturbed as you won’t be able to put it down!!

Just wow! A thriller packed with multiple twists that keep you guessing. There are books that you can't put down and this is one of them.

The narration follows two timelines and about the past always catching up with you when you least expect it. The story centres around Hayley, a mom multi tasking her job and responsibilities to her family. She has a past from her time as a Nanny which catches up with her when a woman resembling someone she knew walks through her door. A story with multiple suspicious characters and plotlines.

Definitely recommend reading this one! A good thriller that you can't put down. Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for this ARC!

Haley Taylor is a wife and Mom with a dark past. As a young girl, spending a gap year in Thailand, she gets a job as a nanny for 2 little girls and another on the way. She loves the girls, and when the baby arrives, she falls in love with her too. Suddenly, the baby disappears, and Haley becomes the number one suspect. The case remains unsolved, and 20 years later, Haley is now a mom to her own daughter. When a young man approaches her, and asks her to tell her story about the disappearance of the baby, Haley’s life takes a difficult turn.

This book was well written and quite engaging. The story unfolds in each chapter, alternating Then and Now. There were quite a few twists by the end of the book.
I enjoyed this fast, suspenseful book. 5 star worthy!

Thank you NetGalley, and Bookouture for the advance copy!