The Nanny by Gilly Macmillan

The Nanny by Gilly Macmillan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Seven-year-old Jocelyn loves her nanny more than her own mother.
When her nanny disappears one night, Jo never gets over the loss.
How could she vanish without saying goodbye?

Thirty years on, Jo is forced to return to her family home and confront her troubled relationship with her mother. When human remains are discovered in the grounds of the house, Jo begins to question everything.

Then an unexpected visitor knocks at the door and Jo’s world is destroyed again as, one by one, she discovers her childhood memories aren’t what they seemed.

What secrets was her nanny hiding – and what was she running away from? And can Jo trust what her mother tells her?

Sometimes the truth hurts so much you’d rather hear the lie.



A tense and tightly woven psychological thriller that pulls the reader in from the start.

After leaving the family ancestral home, Jo finds herself having to return with her daughter Ruby after a family tragedy and reluctantly move back home with her estranged mother. Jo is determined that her relationship with her daughter will be close unlike her own with her mother Virginia was. She resents the fact that Ruby and her mother seem to get along so well and this rankles Jo. When Ruby accidentally uncovers a skull in the lake in the grounds of the Manor House Jo believes it might be her Nanny Hannah who disappeared when Jo was only seven.

A twisty tale of secrets and lies follows as the pace and tension builds to a conclusion that has to result in the elimination of someone. I did guess what was going on but really the pieces didn’t start to fall together until late in the book exactly what I assume Gillian Macmillan intended. It keeps you guessing who the remains belong to and more importantly who the killer/s was - which is not as straightforward as you might think. A good satisfying read - recommended for all psychological thriller fans and worth 4 stars

I would like to thank the publisher for sending this in exchange for an honest review.