cover image Nanny Dearest

Nanny Dearest

Flora Collins. Mira, $16.99 trade paper (336p) ISBN 978-0-7783-1161-4

At the start of Collins’s well-crafted debut, 25-year-old Sue Keller, who’s been struggling with depression since her father’s death in a car accident the year before, doesn’t recognize Anneliese Whittaker, her childhood nanny, when the two bump into each other on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. At parting, Anneliese says she’d love to see more of Sue. Sue takes comfort in reconnecting with Anneliese, with whom she bonded after her mother died of cancer when she was three. However, as Sue comes to rely on Anneliese, who has two current charges, to pull her out of her depression, she can’t ignore her increasing suspicion about how Anneliese is treating the two children. When Sue at last uncovers genuinely criminal behavior, she returns to her childhood home to discover the truth about Anneliese’s relationship with the Keller family and the circumstances of Anneliese’s abrupt termination. Anneliese follows, and a horrifying confrontation predictably ensues. Much of this is familiar, but Collins does a good job building suspense by shifting between Sue’s present-day narration and Anneliese’s experiences back in 1996. Psychological thrillers fans won’t be disappointed. Agent: Stephen Barbara, InkWell Management. (Nov.)