Ruth Ware's Compelling, Eerie "Key"

The Turn of the Screw, the much-loved ghost story by Henry James, has been adapted multiple times for both television and the movies, most famously as The Innocents, the well-regarded 1961 film featuring Deborah Kerr. Another take on the story was the 2020 Netflix series, The Haunting of Bly Manor, from writer-director Mike Flanagan. In 2019, author Ruth Ware set her version of the story in the current day, with her novel The Turn of the Key. Ware is the author of several best-selling suspense thrillers, including In A Dark, Dark Wood, The Woman in Cabin 10 and One By One. The Turn of the Key is an eerie, compelling and very cleverly conceived update to the classic story of the The Turn of the Screw.

The book is structured as a series of letters from a young woman in prison, who's writing to an attorney. Rowan Caine is a nanny that's awaiting trial for the murder of one of the children who were under her care. She's telling her story, in hopes of making the lawyer understand the series of events that led to her being imprisoned. Rowan had accepted what at first seemed like a dream job as a nanny to four children at an estate in the Scottish Highlands, but as with many things in life, this ideal opportunity turned out to be too good to be true.

When the parents of her young charges head off on a business trip, Rowan is left alone with three of the children, in a forbidding house which is upgraded with the latest in smart technology, so that everything in the home is controlled by an app named "Happy." As Rowan tries to bond with Maddie and Ellie,  the two middle daughters, she learns there were several previous nannies, none of whom stayed on the job very long. No one, including the children, Jack, the estate's friendly handyman, or the frosty and distant housekeeper, Jean, who acts in a hostile manner towards to Rowan from the start, will explain why those previous caregivers left the job so quickly.

Rowan gets caught up in a chain of frightening situations that seem designed to endanger the children, and perhaps drive her mad as well. As the odd and unexplainable events continue to occur, Rowan becomes convinced that someone or something is a serious threat to her and the children. The house seems to have a mind of its own, and the children may know more than they're telling about what's going on, especially Maddie and Ellie, who obliquely refer to "the ghosts," and other strange things, in conversations with Rowan. It seems the only person who can help Rowan get to the bottom of things is Jack, but is he part of what's going on? As her own grip on reality starts to slip, Rowan's not sure she can trust anyone.

Ruth Ware has often been compared to Agatha Christie, and her style is definitely influenced by Dame Agatha, but the novel is also a deftly plotted and original mashup of several genres and styles. The Turn of The Key is equal parts Christie, Henry James and modern techno thriller. In this suspenseful and compelling tale, modern technology is just as chilling as ghosts and things that go bump in the night. The story moves along at a breakneck pace, and as the novel reaches its conclusion, there are a couple of red herrings, off-kilter surprises and neat twists to the tale. Ware's well-drawn characters and suspenseful narrative will keep you turning the pages, but just remember that all narrators are not entirely reliable, and nothing is what it seems. The Turn of the Key is a great read for mystery and thriller fans as we enter the Halloween season.