A slowly unfolding plot
Full of suspense, twists and turns to keep you transfixed
With a unpredictable ending.

Good read

Thank you netgalley, Gilly MacMillian and Random House UK for allowing me to read and review this book.

What a page-turner! Set against the background of a mother-daughter relationship between Jo and her mother, and between Jo and her daughter, this murder mystery and a thriller had me guessing the entire time if the Nanny is really who she says she is.

While I hated Jo and her incessant mistrust in her mother, the character development for all the rest was work of sheer brilliance. Oh and the ending - I could have never expected the ending!

I cannot recommend this book highly enough.

A really enjoyable and fast paced psychological thriller. I was totally gripped by the storyline which was interesting and very well written.

Overall a great read

This book had many characters who were all not as they first appeared , I thought the story was well written, and well described.I wish I had liked the characters more, and felt more empathy for them though as it would have made reading the book more enjoyable for me.I really wasn't sure what to make of the book in the end.I don't want to give much away and I do think it is worth a read .Thanks to netgalley and the publishers for an ARC.

One of those books where you know someone is lying - but is it who your suspect?

Jocelyn and her mother have never had a close relationship. Raised by her nanny until she disappears overnight, Jo - as she now prefers to be known - leaves their stately home as soon as she can and never returns - until now. Faced with financial difficulties, she is forced to return bringing Ruby, her daughter . As her father has since died, the atmosphere is distinctly frosty between the two mothers. Then Hannah the nanny turns up unexpectedly and everyone seems suspicious of everyone else .. but what's really going on?

This starts off as a bit of a family saga, drawing the reader into a false sense of security. But as the story progresses, it is positively dripping with suspense! Who did I trust? Everyone to begin with, and absolutely not one single soul towards the end! What a cleverly created novel! It's an exceptionally exciting read; riveting, gripping and gut-wrenching at times. The ending? Never in a million years would I have guessed where it was going! The characters are fabulous - each of them are totally believable and so true-to-life that I pictured each one clearly in my imagination. With lots of authentic details, especially pertaining to British aristocracy, all adding to the credibility to the periods of time concerned, this is an all-round cracking read and one I cannot recommend highly enough. A super flashing, sparkling and dancing five gold stars - and, frankly, easily worthy of ten!

My thanks to Random House UK, Cornerstone for my copy via NetGalley. All opinions stated here are entirely my own.

An unpredictable, twisty tale of dark secrets.
This is the 1st book I’ve read from this author but I will be reading more.
30 years ago Jocelyn woke up to find her nanny had vanished. After being widowed and forced to return to her family home the tension between her and her mother grows.
When human remains are found she’s quick to think her mother had something to do with Hannah’s disappearance.
What secrets is Virginia keeping and why?
After Hannah makes a sudden reappearance these secrets start to reveal themselves.

A tense and well paced thriller. Thoroughly enjoyed this. I live Gilly McMillan and she never fails to disappoint. Highly recommended for mystery thriller lovers.

Enjoyed the story but took me a while to read. It Was a bit fractured and disjointed. The characters were well fleshed out.

Well, I didn't see that coming. A book told from different peoples' points of view. Jocelyn is back living with her hated/hating mother Virginia. A major part of Jocelyn's life was when her nanny Hannah 'goes missing' - she was 7. Not long after returning she and her daughter Ruby go kayaking on their lake and find a skull. Jocelyn wonders if it's Hannah's. Her mother knows that it is.

This is a book about prejudice, relationships, forgery - very much life in general. A good book.

When a favourite author brings out a new book there’s always a worry that it’s not going to live up to expectations but Gilly Macmillan is a class act and The Nanny was absolutely spot on. I do love a dysfunctional family and here we have one of my favourite families of the year so far! Three generations of the Holt women come together when a shocking discovery is made in the grounds of their home. Does this tie in with events from the past that Jocelyn thinks she remembers? And what happened to The Nanny? Once you picked up this book you won’t be able to put it down until you find out the truth.

This was a great read that really kept the tension high throughout. First impressions were quickly overturned once the secrets from the past started crawling out of the woodwork and I enjoyed working out what had happened all those years ago to have caused such a family rift! There were some unexpected twists and turns along the way and a super ending that shocked the hell out of me! But essentially I was really curious about the relationship between Jo and her mother, which was strained to say the least!

The storyline was solidly crafted and flowed perfectly with the pace being slow enough to be able to build up characters and descriptive prose but not so slow as to cause the reader to lose interest! And I did like the way in which we hear from both Jo and her mother Virginia as well as the investigating police officer who didn’t seem as impartial as he should have been-I mean a crime is a crime if committed with intent so a victims social standing shouldn’t be used as a weapon to be beat them with!

I thoroughly enjoyed every page of The Nanny as the tension increased to a denouement that made me squeal! It’s a darkly atmospheric, chilling book with some great characters. Overall one that I’m definitely recommending!

Wow, this book has more twists and turns than a rollercoaster. Just as soon as the reader gets comfortable with something, the rug is pulled out from under them! The "jumping" around between time confused me at first, but I got used to it after a while, and then enjoyed it! Recommended.

Jocelyn or Jo, as she now likes to be called, is returning to her childhood home with her daughter Ruby after recently becoming a widow. She didn't have the best relationship with her mother, Virginia but she has nowhere else to go. Jo is the daughter of Lord and Lady Holt, a very well to do family and growing up was looked after by her nanny, Hannah who she adored, then when Jo was seven Hannah disappeared without a trace. Not long after Jo returns home human remains are discovered with the grounds of the house and while the police start their investigations, Jo begins to question what really happened the night Hannah disappeared and just when she thinks she's figured it out an unexpected visitor turns up at the house and throws everything she ever believed from her past into turmoil, who is telling the truth and how can she ever trust anyone again.

This story is told over two timelines and is full of unexpected twists, I was drawn in right from the start. To begin with I disliked Virginia and felt sorry for Jo but as the story progressed my loyalties switched and I was firmly on Virginia's side and praying she would be proved right, I adored Ruby and loved the relationship she immediately struck up with her grandmother, it brought out a softer side to Virginia and gave her the love she'd missed out on when Jo was growing up. This is a well crafted book and the first I've read by this author, but it definitely won't be the last. Definitely recommend this one.

I'd like to thank Random House UK and Netgalley for the approval, I will post my review on Goodreads now and on Amazon on publication day.

Very enjoyable and unique read. It was full of twists and turns that kept me hooked. My only issue and why I didn’t give it 5 stars was I couldn’t relate to Jocelyn and she really irritated me in the way she acted. Otherwise a very good book.

A gréât thriller. Full of twists and definitely not the ending I thought. Would definitely read more from this authors

After the tragic death of her husband, Jocelyn and her ten-year-old daughter Ruby returns to England to Lake Hall where her mother Lady Holt lives. Jocelyn as a seven-year-old child was never close to her mother. But, to her nanny Hannah. But she was left devasted, when Hannah left without a trace, never to be seen again. The distance between them grew. But, when Ruby meets her grandmother, a relationship blossom between them.
There is nothing much to do at Lake hall and her mother warned her not got to go onto the Lake. The boat house has been locked up for quite a while. When the get Geoff the handyman to open it. They find a Kayak that is still safe to use, and they go out onto the lake. When somethipng happens and Ruby’s foot get stuck and when they pull her foot out of the water a skull is foundat. Jocelyn thinks it might be Hannah after her untimely disappearance. Also, when Jocelyn was seven her parents use to host wild parties around that area, and she was banished to the house. The police are called, and an investigation starts. When an unexpected visitor comes to visit, questions are asked between her and her mother as Hannah returns. Jocelyn wants to find out what happened that day when Hannah left.
Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC exchange for a honest review. Although this was a slow burner of a story, I liked the Nanny. It’s quite different to other psychological thrillers I have read. Firstly, I felt sorry for Jocelyn, her parents even with all the money they had couldn’t give the love that she needed, so they always palmed her off to the Nanny. I disliked them for that. But when the story went forward 30 years to the present, it felt quite realistic when Jocelyn thought her mother was going a bit batty in her old age when she tries to tell her about Hannah. Not every person at a certain age does that. I didn’t like the character of Hannah at all. If you like psychological thrillers, but a but different to the norm. This is the book for you.

Although domestic noir and family-based psychological thrillers are not my usual thing, I decided to give The Nanny a try as I've loved Gilly Macmillan's police procedurals featuring DI Jim Clemo. And it didn't leave me disappointed, offering a compelling and twisty tale of sociopathy and family secrets. Very much recommended if you're after a page-turner in which nothing is as it seems.

A good read, I enjoyed it. It as quite absorbing and you really had no idea exactly what was happening, so it kept me guessing. Family secrets and large houses always make for an interesting read, throw in a dysfunctional relationship and a lake and you have the recipe for a good story.
I did feel that there are one or two anomalies in the story and it had a really abrupt and not terribly satisfying end, which was a shame, however it was pretty good.

Well written but a slow burner - one which, in parts, feels too slow and did make me consider not carrying it on. I liked the family saga factor and that kept me going through - one to take your time over and savour. It’s certainly not a quick read.

This story gradually ramps up the chill factor as it progresses.
It initially comes across as a normal family drama with a neglected child from a rich family who is befriended by her loving nanny. Her nanny gives her the affection and attention she craves.
But the nanny isn’t quite what she seems and suddenly you find yourself shouting at Jo and telling her not to trust Hannah!
I thought the beginning was rather slow, and I did begin to get a little bored. The style was appropriate for the family saga storyline, which added to the authenticity of the opening chapters. Overall it was well written without mistakes in the grammar and vocabulary, but not a book that hooked me.

In UK psychological thriller The Nanny, new widow Jocelyn Holt returns to her childhood home, a mansion in the English countryside, with her young daughter Ruby. Both are heartbroken over losing Jo's husband/Ruby's father, and reeling from being uprooted from their Californian life and left broke. Her mother is also in mourning following the recent passing of her husband, Jo's father. For Jo, the place holds few happy memories. Most of the good ones relate to her nanny, Hannah, who left without saying goodbye when Jo was seven. Although she has always held her father high on a pedestal, she is distanced from her mother and fears her influence on young Ruby. Then human remains are discovered in a lake on their estate, widening the us and them gap between the Holts and the villagers, and between the Holts themselves. And a woman comes knocking at the mansion that may be a godsend or a villain. She makes Jo distrust all her memories, her mother, her daughter and herself. The twists and turns keep coming, and with them grows Jo's realisation that the truth is far worse than her imaginings. I recommend The Nanny to those readers who enjoy a slow-burning psychological thriller.