What the Nanny Saw, a review by Joanna

Cecelia lives in luxury in Malibu, but is struggling emotionally – she adores her infant daughter Peyton, but her previously attentive partner Evan is now too busy at work to help, and his interfering opinionated mother Marian is no use either. When kind, dowdy Lizzie, the nanny from next door, is willing to step in, it seems the perfect solution, and the two women quickly become friends. But everything is not what it seems, both are hiding secrets, and only one can hold on to the dream life Cecelia fought so hard to achieve.

Kaira Rouda has produced a suite of domestic/psychological suspense thrillers featuring obnoxious wealthy characters and their toxic relationships. I enjoy them like fast food – they’re a guilty pleasure but you don’t feel good afterwards. I thought Best Day Ever was brilliant, mainly because Paul Strom was so delightfully awful, but the following books haven’t quite lived up to my expectations, with plots that are too far fetched and unbelievable behaviour from the protagonists. Paul barely features here, although his legacy haunts the narrative – it does feel like his story is incomplete, so hopefully he will appear in another book. This did do a good job of showing what Postnatal depression can do to even the uber-privileged, and probably does explain how Cecelia can be so blind to what’s been going on. I didn’t predict how it would all turn out, and was satisfied enough with the ending, assuming there is going to be another book. 3.5 rounded up. Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for the ARC.