I was gripped from the first few pages, and although I had a few inklings as to what may have happened, most of them were so far from the truth it scary. And when we do get to the business end of the book I definitely was shocked, as I just hadn't seen it coming.

At all points the police case just didn't quite add up, but just who is innocent of guilty is to be discovered. And I loved the various view points we got, and for a change in these sorts of books, the timeline was reasonably simple to follow too.

From a few days before the incident until we know the truth. What we know from the start is that Caroline Harvey is definitely murdered, and that a baby has gone missing. We know early on that Caroline is having an affair with Callum and that as a result he is prime suspect number 1. We also know that the baby isn't Caroline's or Callum's, but belongs to another family as she was being babysat.

We get insights into Caroline's last days on earth, as well as everything to do with the Dillon family, their holiday to France and their varying dynamics.

I was kept guessing throughout and loved the writing style from Phoebe Morgan. I really should read her other books at some point and definitely keen to read more. This was fabulous.

Thank you to HQ and Netgalley for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily.

This book took me a long time to get into, I’m not sure whether it was the book or just a reading slump I was having. I did enjoy it though, there were lots of twists to it and it turned out not to be who I had thought it would be. It was quite a clever storyline. I didn’t quite warm to any of the characters, but then in this type of genre, I don’t think your meant to!

Thank you NetGalley for my complimentary copy in return for my honest review.

I found this book has me hooked from the first chapter. It opens with the discovery of Caroline’s body, she has been stabbed. She was babysitting Eve, the baby of her old friends but when the police attend the scene they find that Eve is missing. The story then moves to France where Siobhan is holidaying with her husband Callum, her 14 year old daughter Emma and her sister Maria who owns the villa where they are staying. Siobhan is convinced that Callum is having an affair and when he is arrested by the French police on suspicion of Caroline’s murder she realises that she was right. The story is told by different perspectives including the detective investigating the case. Siobhan and her family are torn apart by the media as the police frantically try to find Eve. Was Callum guilty of Caroline’s murder, if so what has he done with Eve? We learn of the back story of Caroline and her hidden secrets. This is a story that will have you totally gripped and suspecting all the characters. A tense and compelling read with a fantastic twist at the end. A great read.
Thanks to Netgalley and HQ for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

Slow to begin with - took me AGES to get into it. Once I did, I was hooked. The plot was clever, even if at times, I felt the writing style could have been a bit better.

The story starts in France, where Siobhan is on holiday with her husband Callum & daughter Emma staying with her sister Maria. At first glance, they seem like a perfectly happy family but we soon see some cracks & tensions under the façade … but when the police turn up to arrest Callum for the murder of a woman in Ipswich, everyone’s life is turned upside down. He doesn’t even know the woman … and even if he does, what’s happened to the baby?
Over the next few days, we uncover an affair, jealousy, and an increasingly tangled web of lies. Even when questioned by the police, the alibis are full of half-truths and omissions - however, nobody can deny that a woman is dead & a baby is missing.

Caroline was babysitting a friend’s baby on the night that she was murdered & she is found draped over the travel cot, but where is baby Eve?

The story is told from several people’s points of view, and we are given short chapters primarily from the points of view of Siobhan, Caroline & the police detective leading the investigation. We flit from present to past and this works well, helping the reader to understand the characters more & developed the plot well. Baby Eve’s parents are obviously heart-broken & just want to know the truth about what happened to their baby, but we never really see the points of view of Callum, Maria & Emma – Callum comes across as very shallow & quite needy, Maria as a warm hearted but quite lonely woman who craves the family life that she sees in her sister, and poor Emma as a somewhat neglected/overlooked teenager who is often treated as a child much younger than her 16 yrs (right from the start she is told to go upstairs away from the police on the doorstep – the way you might treat an 8-10 yr old).
We know that one of this small group must be the murderer, but the books offers enough twists & turns that it is not immediately obvious, and even if you do guess “whodunit”, you will want to keep reading to tie up the loose ends – after all we still have a missing baby … and we still don’t know if she is dead or alive!

Overall I didn't warm to many of the characters but this was a “can’t put down” thriller with twists & turns aplenty. This was my first book from this author but I will definitely look out for more.

#TheBabysitter #NetGalley

Disclosure: I received an advance copy of this book free from the publisher via NetGalley. Whilst thanks go to the publisher & author for the opportunity to read it, all opinions are my own.

I loved this book, you can't beat a good psychological thriller for me, and this was one of the best that I have read for a long time. A dead babysitter and a missing baby - keep it coming, I couldnt put it down, on the edge of my seat for so much of the book. Well worth reading

Caroline Harvey is found dead leaning over the cot of her friends baby Eve. But the baby is missing.
Callum Dillon was having an affair with Caroline. Did he kill her before he left on holiday to France with his family and if he did what has he done with the baby?
The police in France come calling the morning after they arrive and arrest Callum on murder and they bring him back home .
He says he’s not done it but the police don’t believe him.
Plenty of twists and turns in this book.
A great read
Thanks NetGalley

After reading ‘The Doll House” I was very excited to start this book and was soon hooked!!

Siobhan and Callum are on holiday in France staying with her sister Maria, in her holiday home with their 16 year old daughter Emma. All is going well until the police arrive and arrest Callum for murdering his former girlfriend Caroline. Caroline was babysitting for a friend when she was murdered and the child she was looking after has disappeared.

This amazing story is told from several people’s points of view, as we are given bite sized pieces leading up to the night Caroline was murdered.

This is a great psychological thriller with twists that will keep you on the edge of your sofa and with an ending I did not see coming. I love a book where it keeps you guessing and my amateur detective skills are put to the test!!

An author that I will look out for.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy in exchange for a review.

Did Callum Dillon kill his mistress and if so, where is the baby she was caring for at the time of her murder? The women in his life all have different reasons for wanting to see him convicted of her murder but surely none of them would go out of their way to frame him. This book has one of the coldest, most calculating criminals I have ever come across. There is absolutely no remorse for the killing and certainly no sympathy for the parents of the missing child. It's very enjoyable if a bit slow at times.

Ooohhh this was a good one....a woman is looking after a friends baby and she is found murdered and the baby gone...,..a gripping who dun it that kept me guessing right until the end! Loved it!!!

A woman is dead, A baby is missing, an affair is revealed. Two families are in turmoil

But that is all to come, The Babysitter starts with the Callum, Siobhan a couple, their daughter Emma and Siobhan's sister Maria. All have just arrived on holiday in glorious sunny France from the East of England. Though their settling in you get glimpses of disquiet inspite of the happy display. The reader is sceptical of this display, knowing that this illusion of togetherness, display of typical family dynamics is glossing over cracks. Those crack are irretrievably widened shortly with the revelation of infidelity, Caroline's murder (Callum's mistress) and Eve's disappearance, the one year old that Caroline was babysitting the night she was killed.



several red herrings and a couple of cul de sacs
The Babysitter is a pacey read, short snappy chapters through the point of view primarily of Siobhan, Caroline and the one of the police detectives. It is not a complex read but still an intriguing one as the who and why are tantalising.
And whilst it's clear that it must have been one of the small cast of characters it wasn't immediately obvious who did it. The Babysitter achieved the purpose of the book of revealing motives in a straightforward albeit satisfying way, showing that all had secrets and therefore reasons to be involved in this crime. Like me, you may already have guessed part or all the motivation along the way but will still want to read onward to the end to confirm your suspicions.

The Characters
Husband Callum came across as appropriately smug, Way too satisfied with his perceived status: big fish in a small pond, trying to dazzle those around him with his TV exec job. I would be unsurprised if you weren't as eager as I was for his comeuppance. Very much cake and eat it too persona. However the author was able to slowly reveal his personality so you weren't immediately repulsed by his egotism. I pitied more than disliked him for the choices he made as they disclosed his weak character.

The other woman Caroline was a fully developed character. She seemed utterly real...sadly. Lonely more than needy, desperate for attention, to be noticed, coupled with the wish eventually of a family of her own.
" I don’t think anyone’s ever been jealous of me in my whole entire life."
Caroline life discloses how lives that appear 'normal' can in reality be isolated. Her role illustrated that humans yearn for meaningful connections. On the surface it could appear as if she was covetous, then envious. Except wanting to be part of a relationship, family, community, an active welcomed part of a network is a universal desire that most humans experience. That need which can be latent in some and all consuming in others, can drive people to make terrible choices.


And Siobhan the wife, working hard to keep the family together for the perceived benefits of 'family'. Her childhood too has played a part how she manages relationship. How she fights for her marriage. Desperately trying to ignore evidence of the affair subjugating her needs and hating having to make this sacrifice.
Siobhan reveals beneath this family's exterior is a construct that consists of illusions, half truths and things unsaid.

Reading The Babysitter, we never got to see Callum's point of view and in a way that was a good thing as it reinforced the hollowness of him as a person. He seemed a mixture of needs and affectation. We didn't need to read about his internal justifications to know that the choices he made were always self serving.

In Summary
The format of the story was perfect as the interweaving of the present, then the past to get to know the personalities s better and the crime itself, really developed the plot and made it more exciting. All the characters were well casted with flaws and all. The devastation and introspection of the grieving parents of missing Eve evolved deftly. The police investigation appeared plausible though plodding. The setting of France and England added another dynamic which gave the plot greater depth. Overall a nice mystery that isn't too taxing but a satisfying journey of whodunit and why.

My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for a digital eARC in return for a candid review

3 stars - Liked It

The Babysitter is a book I devoured in a day, it had me hooked from the start but I kind of hoped I’d like it as I loved Phoebe Morgan’s last book.
Caroline Harvey is found murdered in her bedroom draped over the cot of a child she was looking after for a friend, but where is the baby??
Siobhan and Callum and their daughter Emma are going on holiday to France to Siobhan’s sisters villa. She hopes to bridge the gap between mother and daughter as Emma has been getting further away from her and seems to prefer her dad and with what Siobhan knows about her husband she does not want this to continue. On the second morning Callum is arrested early in the morning for the murder of Caroline and possibly the baby.
This is a very, very twisty thriller and I loved it, the characters were all believable and the storyline was quite believable which made it even better. I enjoyed seeing things from the police side as well as the families as it gave a greater depth.
I would like to thank Netgalley and HQ for this ARC I Received in exchange for an honest review.

This was a great thriller, well written with so many twists and turns that I didn't see coming.
The characters were really well thought through and had a real depth.
I loved this style of writing and really struggled to put it down!

Thank you to NetGalley and HQ for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

When Siobhan’s husband is arrested for a murder during their family holiday in France her world comes crumbling down. She thought his days of having affairs were behind them, but the murder he is accused of is a girl he had recently been seeing.

Their 16 year old daughter, Emma, is distraught. She had a close bond with her dad; much closer than with her mum which Siobhan envies.

There is also a baby missing, taken from the murdered girl’s flat. She had been babysitting for a friend.

I enjoyed the way the story was told by many of the characters involved in the murder and kidnap, covering the period leading up to the event and also since the event.

Kept me guessing until the final reveal!

As soon as I saw the title and cover of “The Babysitter” by Phoebe Morgan I knew that I would have to read it, and would love it! I certainly did.
A fantastic psychological thriller that kept me riveted for a few days. The characters were written really well. I was suspicious of all of them throughout the book!
The chapters are short, yet jam packed with equal amounts of suspicion and drama.
Highly recommended. 5 stars from me.

Another great book by Phoebe Morgan. I loved the character driven chapters, telling the story from each character's point of view. A story full of twists and turns, just when I thought I knew whodunit, Phoebe's storytelling pushes you in the direction of someone different. Towards the end I thought I knew the way the story was going to end but Phoebe surprised me with a massive twist. Not your usual murder story as there's a missing baby thrown into the mix - hence the title. Thanks to NetGalley for the advance copy.

Siobhan Dillon is enjoying a family holiday at her sister’s villa in France when the police arrive and arrest her husband, Callum, on suspicion of the murder of Caroline Harvey. But that’s not all. Caroline was babysitting her friend’s one year old that night, and the baby has disappeared without trace. Who murdered Caroline and where is the baby?

I really enjoyed this page-turning and twisty whodunnit! From the outset I was desperate to find out what had happened to baby Eve and my heart was in my mouth for most of the book as the police investigation progressed. That it wasn’t at all clear whether or not she was going to be found alive was particularly heartbreaking. I was just willing there to be a positive outcome and it definitely kept me desperate to read more and more.

Phoebe Morgan is a master of creating an intricately woven and perfectly paced plot. The tension in this books ramps up to almost unbearable proportions towards the end, and I sped through the final 100 pages as I just needed to find out what was going to happen. I have to say I mostly guessed the ending (which I’m very proud of!) but not until the last quarter of the book and it didn’t in any way affect my enjoyment.

Something I often struggle with is unlikeable characters, and The Babysitter is full of them. If I’m honest I didn’t much care who killed Caroline or whether Callum was sent to prison, whether wrongfully or not! But a missing baby is every mother’s worst nightmare and my emotional investment in baby Eve’s plight is what largely made the book for me.

A solid, well-written and compelling thriller, The Babysitter is published by HQ and is available to buy now. With thanks to the author, publisher and Netgalley for my gifted eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is quite a dark book (no complaints from me), where you dont really warm to any of the characters, but this makes the story even more enjoyable as you don't quite trust the facade shown.

I read this book more or less none stop, as I just had to know what had really happened the night the babysitter was murdered and the baby in her care disappeared.

I've not read any of Phoebe's books before, but will be definitely be rectifying that!

This is the first Phoebe Morgan book I’ve read. I have to admit, that the start of the book didn’t quite grip me. I persevered and then about a quarter of the way in, I became gripped.

The Babysitter tells a story from different angles. Caroline is murdered in her home and the little girl she is babysitting is missing.
We read Caroline’s view, her lover Callum, his wife Siobhan and the police investigating the murder.
I particularly enjoyed the police transcripts, and the Twitter feeds thrown in too which made it seem true to the modern day and how the media reacts to crimes.

A great read although I was disappointed in the way the book ended. But I will definitely read more of Phoebe’s work in the future.

Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read the book in exchange for an honest review.

The Babysitter by Phoebe Morgan

Caroline Harvey is murdered in her home in Suffolk. She had been babysitting for her friend but, when her body is found, the baby is not. A frantic search for baby Eve begins, obsessing the media and the public, driving on the police. Caroline herself is almost forgotten. But a couple of days later, police arrive at a luxurious villa in France and arrest Callum Dillon for murder. He had been on holiday with his wife Siobhan and their daughter Emma, visiting Siobhan’s sister Maria. And now he is escorted back to England in handcuffs, leaving his bewildered family to scramble back home after him. Siobhan’s life is torn apart as she tries to understand her husband’s connection to Caroline. Who was Caroline? Why would anyone want to murder her? And where is Eve? The world watches.

I absolutely loved Phoebe Morgan’s The Girl Next Door and I couldn’t wait to read The Babysitter, and it was every bit as good. Once more we’re given the treat of a stand alone psychological thriller, which tells a good story involving people you want to read about.

I love the structure of The Babysitter. The novel moves between the present and the past and focuses on Siobhan Dillon and the murdered woman, Caroline, whose life we watch in its final days leading to that fateful night. There’s a poignancy in getting to know a woman while being only too aware that her hours are limited. Siobhan is especially interesting as we try and discover just how much she knows about Caroline and her husband. She has to deal with the fallout of her husband’s arrest as it tears her family apart. It’s hard not to empathise with this woman facing such a crisis.

There are two other central figures to the novel – the innocent baby, Eve, and the not so innocent, philandering and vain husband, Callum. But just because he’s unfaithful, does that make him a killer? That’s the quandary faced by the detectives on the case who also have chapters devoted to them and their investigations. There are so many questions to be answered and this, along with the really appealing structure and the fantastic writing of such a fine author, helps to make The Babysitter a stand out thriller.

I doubt there’s a psychological thriller out there that doesn’t proclaim that you won’t see the twist coming. In the case of The Babysitter the claim is true. It’s extremely hard to put down, it kept me guessing and it’s very well-written to boot!