3.5 stars

I received this book from the publishers/author via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Jocelyn Holt has never been close to her mother, and her fondest memories of her childhood also include her old nanny Hannah, who vanished overnight when she was small. When Jocelyn is forced home to live with her aging mother and a skeleton is unearthed in the family lake, Jo begins to question whether somehow her mother was involved in Hannah's disappearance all those years ago.

The Nanny is a mystery thriller that has so many twists and turns and what ifs, it left me reeling at points but desperately eager to continue on to the next chapter and the next and the next. I flipped opinions about characters from the start to the finish, and I really liked how Gilly Mamillan was able to present them as one kind of person and transform them into another within a few chapters.

I started the book firmly on Jocelyn's side, and really disliking the grandmother in the story Virginia Holt. But by halfway through, I really felt for Virginia, and couldn't stand Jocelyn who honestly was one of the most pathetic, frustrating and selfish characters I've read in a long time. I physically threw up my hands at the book at one point because Jocelyn was being so dumb.

I felt sad and uncomfortable at times at how easy Virginia could be overlooked and talked over by other characters, and I think it highlighted well how old age/disability erasure can happen to those who are elderly and/or infirm in any way.

The end was quite rushed for me but I liked the intensity of some moments. I feel like I would have preferred more conversations between Jo and Virginia and a few more grievances properly aired and past actions explained. I also feel like there were some loose ends just not tied up properly and left to flap in the wind a bit.