The Au Pair by Jane Renshaw

4 Stars from me

I felt so sorry for the children in this story who were clearly so very fond of their au pair Alice. I read this book wondering quite how many thoroughly unsavoury characters could be crammed into one story – quite a few as it turns out!

Melanie has her motives for being the family’s new au pair and these get revealed along the way and explain why she risks quite so much to uncover the truth of what happened to naive student au pair, Alice. With so much appearing just a little bit ‘off’ about so many members of this family it makes for an engrossing read trying to work out what happened to Alice and whether Melanie is at risk too – is it all just a mix up or are things as wrong as they seem. Can she trust any of them?

This clever and sinister tale made for a great read with some unconventional twists. My thanks to the author and Zooloo’s Book Tours for letting me be a part of this blog tour.

Blurb: The Davidsons seem like a normal family. But they do have one little secret… American student Alice Snyder was excited to be spending the summer in Scotland, working as an au pair for the Davidson family at their remote lodge. But one month after she arrived, Alice disappeared without trace. Now the new au pair, Melanie, has arrived – and soon notices that the Davidsons are a bit odd.  There’s the strange comings and goings at night, the creepy paying guests, and sinister uncle Gray who makes her flesh crawl. And then there’s the worrying scratch marks on the floor of the au pair’s bedroom. Did Alice try to barricade herself in? What could she have been so afraid of? Are the Davidsons somehow linked to her disappearance? And is Melanie herself now in danger? As she desperately tries to find out what happened to Alice, Melanie begins to understand that this old house harbours a truly horrifying secret. Alice was its last victim, but she might be its next…