The Bad Nanny

Abigail is struggling with a new baby. Her husband is out at work all day, the child takes everything she has, and she decides that a little help would let her be a better mother and return to paid work.

She hires Haley, a nanny who is competent, warm and very good with the baby. For a while the arrangement works exactly as she hoped.

Then Abigail begins to lose time. The gaps run to hours, not minutes. She cannot recall conversations other people describe to her, and their account of her day does not match her own memory.

The book is a psychological thriller told in close focus on Abigail. Her hold on events loosens as the reader's suspicion of Haley sharpens, which makes the pace tense and the mood uneasy, set almost entirely inside her home.

The question the story turns on is how much of her house, and her life, Abigail has already handed over by the time she grasps what is happening.