The Babysitter – Emma Curtis

Published By: Corvus
Pages: 400
Released On: 05/10/2023

Three women. Three secrets.

Claudia’s life imploded ten years ago when she was convicted of the murder of her child. Now she has done the unthinkable and confessed to manslaughter in order to be granted parole – her only hope of finding out what really happened to Tilly.

Sara is married to Joe, Claudia’s ex-husband, and they have a young child together. She finally has everything she ever wanted, but Claudia’s release threatens the perfect life she has created.

Anna was the babysitter who let Claudia and Joe down on day their daughter disappeared. Married with a child of her own, Claudia’s reappearance in her quiet cul-de-sac is an unwelcome surprise.

These three women are tied together in more ways than they realize. But only one of them is capable of killing.

*****

Thanks to NetGalley and Corvus for the advanced copy of this title in return for an honest review.

I’ve not read any of Emma’s books before, but this sounded so juicy and inviting that I dove straight in. And now I’ve finished it, I’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for her others.

This is exactly what you want from a good thriller. It’s dark and angry and curious and sad and smart. It had me utterly hooked. It is so well created, multi-layered, truths hidden and lies built upon lies. I really cared about it. I really wanted to discover the truth. That’s the worry with some books, that I just don’t care about the characters, but this couldn’t have been further from that.

There are several threads going through this book, all related to the main story of the missing child in some way or another. That makes it quite a fast, interesting book, as it’s not just taken over by one story. There’s little nuances, it puts everyone in the frame for guilt, and it’s up to you to try and dig your way through.

I had my suspicions throughout, but I was still shocked by the ending. It is full of twists and turns and red herrings and shocks and surprises.

The characters are all delightful. I don’t mean that they are all delightful, perfect people, some are very cruel indeed, but the way they’ve been written, their characteristics, their development, is a delight to read. There are a number of characters, but I’ll just name a few:

Firstly you have the main protagonist of Claudia, who pleads guilty to manslaughter in the hope she will be released from prison to hunt down her child. If I’m honest, I felt really sorry for her. I obviously won’t give it away as to her guilt or innocence, but whatever happened, and for whatever reason, she was struggling, but she was thrown toe the wolves, and she didn’t get the compassion I felt for her.

Joe is Claudia’s ex-husband, now married to Sara. I liked him. And again I felt his emotions were ignored. All the focus was on Claudia’s devastation over the loss of her child, that no-one really paid attention to Joe. He has some darker moments and we do start to question him, but alongside Claudia, he was my favourite character.

Joe’s new wife Sara…I flitted from like to dislike with her. Again, I felt she wasn’t all that she appeared to be, there were definitely some secrets there, but she was an interesting comparison with Joe’s first wife of Claudia, and her character development was perfect.

And then there’s Anna, who has her fingers in all the pies, involving herself in Claudia’s story, and Joe and Sara’s life. She was a bit strange. I felt she was definitely hiding something, and didn’t take no for an answer if she wanted something. She was continuously inventing things, bringing out new disguises, and I felt she was the perfect addition to a thriller.

I’d say it’s a balance between plot and character development. Enough story to keep you interested, but with enough character development that means you are fully invested in the outcome of the story. I think she’s found a great balance here. It is fast paced which is exactly what you want from a thriller, and it makes it all the more exciting to read.

The book on the whole gives you a lot to think about. Can people ever be 100% good or 100% evil? Can you be purely hero or villain? Can you really believe anyone? Do you trust your kin or your friends? Can you trust your own mind and your own memory?