Emma Curtis delivers a gripping and intense thriller in "The Babysitter." With its intertwined secrets and complex characters, this book will keep readers on the edge of their seats.

The story revolves around three women whose lives are entangled in a web of deceit and betrayal. Claudia, convicted of her child's murder, confesses to manslaughter to secure her release and uncover the truth. Sara, married to Claudia's ex-husband, is faced with the unravelling of her seemingly perfect life. Anna, the babysitter who failed Claudia and Joe on the day their daughter vanished, now finds herself confronted with Claudia's return.

Curtis skilfully weaves these characters' perspectives, revealing the connections and tensions between them. Each woman hides her own secrets, making the reader question who is truly capable of murder. The author's ability to build suspense and maintain a sense of intrigue is commendable.

"The Babysitter" thrives on its well-crafted plot twists and the psychological depth of its characters. Curtis explores themes of guilt, redemption, and the consequences of past actions. The book's fast

Thank you to Corvus Books for preapproving me access to this text!

The prologue for this sucker punched me: a strong concept straight off the bat. Imagine handing your child over to your “babysitter” for you to then answer the door to your real babysitter and then never see your child again. Is your mind blown? It should be.
This could have been the perfect nail-biting thriller.
Although I was kept engaged throughout, various things brought the rating down for me. I held on for what I hoped it would be. In my opinion, there was too much fluffy drama and he-said-she-said that took away from the original concept. It was almost like a distraction from the chilling situation that occurred in the prologue. Further to this, the dread initially installed within the reader soon dwindles and it becomes hard to take the story seriously as a thriller; it takes on more of a mystery feel which to me is a wasted opportunity given the premise. I wanted to be thrilled but felt more like I was playing detective, which wasn’t for me.
I found myself having to reread sentences and sections just to grasp what was being delivered It became quite confusing. I couldn’t work out if this was due to how it was written, the language, or simply just me. One thing I can blame for this though, was the character. They merely lacked character. With some fleshing out, this may have been avoided. Perhaps the fact that we had three POVs all from women with little to differentiate between their presentations except the information we’re given about them - there was nothing to set them apart. As a result, the whole thing lacked depth and became hard to follow.
With this being said, I don’t regret reading it and it was an easy enough read - a simple popcorn ?thriller?mystery that may be great for those beginning to dip their toes into the genre.

Ten years ago, 8-month-old Tilly was snatched from her affluent suburban home and her horrified parents. But were they really as devastated as they seemed?

Tilly's mother Claudia was off her medication and in the grip of psychosis at the time. When Tilly's regular babysitter, Anna, dropped out unexpectedly, Claudia had hired a replacement. But police regarded with scepticism Claudia's story that the woman she had inadvertently let into her home - believing her to be the babysitter sent by the agency - turned out to be an imposter who abducted her child.

Convicted of murdering and hiding the corpse of her baby, Claudia served a 10 year sentence before her reluctant admission that she had indeed killed Tilly finally made her eligible for parole. But for Claudia, the only reason to "confess" was in order to get out of prison and find out what had actually happened to Tilly.

In the meantime, Claudia's ex-husband has re-married and has a new baby daughter with his new wife, Sara. And Sara, who has secrets of her own, has no intention of allowing Claudia to distrupt the life that she has so built for herself - a beautiful life that is the result of years of careful planning...

And then there is Anna. Now a mother herself, does she know more about Tilly's disappearance than she has ever admitted? Why does Anna hate Claudia so much? Why would she hold Claudia responsible for the death of Anna's older sister Megan?

This is a very intelligent and well-plotted thriller that draws the reader into the lives of these three women - and the secrets and lies that make up the toxic ties connecting them to each other. The characters have unexpected depth, and will linger in the mind well after the point at which the book is finished. Highly recommended.

Told from the POV of three women, The Babysitter is a fast paced, chilling and gripping thriller. I couldn’t put it down.
Claudia has been released on parole after admitting to murdering her daughter despite being convinced that she didn’t do it. We follow her as she tries to piece together the events that led to her arrest, and find out what really happened to her baby.
I loved seeing how Claudia navigated her way through investigating the disappearance of her child whilst trying to keep herself from being recalled, and the story took some very tense turns as she becomes close to Sara and Anna.
The emotional and mental stability of the characters slowly declined, and I found myself flying through the pages to see who would crack first.
The prejudice that Claudia had to face on her release was so well written and believable, and I found myself feeling sorry for her.
The story was fantastic, and one I would absolutely recommend. My only reason for giving it 4 stars instead of 5 was the formatting of the book which occasionally made reading dialogue difficult as you couldn’t always tell who was talking, but other than that it was a perfect read.

Emma Curtis is one of my favourite authors and this new book certainly didn’t disappoint.
The three main characters are all intriguing and have their own secrets that they are trying to hide.
I was quickly engrossed in this book and the ending blew me away.
I’d recommend to anyone who likes this author or genre. A cracking read!

I love all of Emma Curtis’s books and this one did not let me down. Fantastic thriller which had me glued to my kindle from start to finish.

Told from three different perspectives which keeps the twists coming. Claudia has just been released from prison after being found guilty of killing her daughter. Claudia says she didn’t do it but if she didn’t then who did. Sara is now Claudia’s ex husband’s new wife who doesn’t want Claudia to be realised as she has a young baby to protect. And then Anna who should have been babysitting for Claudia and Joe the day their child was killed. All of them have secrets but only one is a killer.

Fantastic thriller with a jaw dropping ending which will have you hooked highly recommend this to everyone.

The Babysitter is a thrilling, fast paced mystery told from the POV of three women. This had me on the edge of my seat from the very first chapter, I was drawn in by the unique premise and interesting characters, each with their own secrets. I thought this was a great, suspenseful story and the end blew me away. I would highly recommend to any fans of mystery thrillers.