Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for this Advanced Reader’s Copy of The Child Minder by Hayley Smith due to be published September 18, 2024.
A group of five parents take turns watching each other’s children after school. Each one receives a note that scares them – asking what there secret might be. They have five days to tell the truth or there will be consequences. Who is sending the notes? Are they all in danger?
This book was definitely a page turner – I read it in one day. All the parents had secrets – and so did one of their friends. Secrets are revealed, someone ends up dead, and there are many twists as to how all the people are connected. Makes for a good thriller – I will definitely check out other books by Hayley Smith!
#NetGalley #HayleySmith #Bookouture #TheChildMinder

It seemed a good idea for five people to share the after school childcare, therefore removing the need for costly childminding services. Five children, all friends in the same class at school, five parents each taking care of the children one day a week after school. Three of the parents knew each other, and the two newcomers seemed to fit into the group with minimal reservations from the others. The childcare circle appeared to be working well. A weekend break had been organised for the parents and children to go on all together, and everyone was looking forward to it.. Then the letters arrived.
A letter sent to each parent, claiming to know their darkest secrets. And of course, everyone has secrets. But the letters appeared threatening, mentioning the children, and also if the truth is not told in five days, there will be consequences. It could be just a joke, someone with a twisted sense of humour, something to just ignore as, surely, no ones little secrets could be of such importance for anyone else.
This psychological thriller kept me turning the pages, I did not want to stop reading until I had reached the ending. A surprise ending I did not see coming at all. The plot twists and turns, and kept me guessing, I really enjoyed this book. Highly recommended.

Sharing childcare…friends and family…secrets…murder and intrigue. Realistic characters keep this story moving quickly. Do not try to guess the ending too early. It is not easily done. This author has written a page turner. Thanks Netgalley

The Childminder is a fast-paced and compelling read that held my attention from beginning to end.

Five people, Rhiannon, Nina, Stacey, Kim, and Jarvis, form a childcare circle, with each of them being responsible for all of the group's children for one day a week. When an opportunity for a weekend away presents itself, the members of the group decide that it will be the perfect chance to really get to know one another. After all, wouldn't you want to know everything about the person who is sometimes responsible for your child? But things take a deadly turn when secrets begin to surface, and each of the five starts to suspect that the others are not at all what they seem.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for an ARC.

“The Childminder” by Hayley Smith, is a thriller following two timelines - the past and now. There are five main characters (the people going away for a weekend to get to know each other better) and two (or maybe three) supporting characters. This book started slowly - setting up a bit of background and setting up the characters (and which child belonged to which parent). I cannot say that I enjoyed any of the characters - except for one of the supporting ones (Mrs. Coates!) - so that was a bit disappointing. Also, I saw the “twist” at the end coming, which was a bit disappointing too. However, this book, once the pacing picked up, did hold my attention, even though I have to admit that I didn’t like the solution the women came up with at the house. Overall, a good read, but it wasn’t a memorable read. However, that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t read another book by this author - far from it.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy of this book.

5 strangers for a child care circle each looking after the children one night a week after school. Each of the have a secret and when they decide to go away for a group weekend the secrets start to spill.

This is told from the pov of each to the 5 characters and takes place both in the present and in the past. This starts if quite light hearted but there are quickly darker tones to the story. I enjoyed that none of the loose ends are left and everything is tied up, with everyone’s secret revealed. The last chapter contains a cliffhanger I never saw coming.

A bit of a slow start but soon became a gripping read.
Well written, if not particularly likeable characters.
A worthy four star read for me.
My thanks to netgalley and the publisher for my copy.

This is great from Hayley Smith. I was hooked from the start. A real page turner. Lots of people keeping secrets that combine to ultimately make everything worse.

Hayley is a new author for me and I really looked forward to this one. It did not disappoint! Such a great thriller and something many parents use for childcare! I really enjoyed it and didn’t see the twists coming at times! A really solid, well written thriller!

Kim, Rhiannon, Jarvis, Nina, and Stacey form a childcare circle, each watching all of the children one day per week. The girls are suspicious about Jarvis watching their children. They witness Kim doing a few suspicious things, making them think she is not the person she says she is. Nina plans a weekend away for them. The return to a seaside town from their past. Rhiannon, Stacey, and Nina competed in a dance competition when they were younger. For Kim, it was a place in which she lost her brother. Who is really behind the trip? And what is the motive? Things go wrong right away. Secrets come out, Someone ends up dead. Good suspense in this book; good twists on how some of these people were connected and never knew it. Shocking shocking ending for all of these characters!

I could not wait to read this book it was such a unique thriller. I was not disappointed it was extremely well written with such fantastic characters. It was filled with many twists and turns everyone has a secret that they don’t want the others to find out and will go to extreme lengths to keep it hiden. It was a fast paced thriller with a very surprising ending.

A childcare Circle the perfect solution for working parents. When a group of parents organise that each day one of them will take the children so the others can work it seems like a great idea. All is going well that a weekend away is organised for the parents to get to know each other better. But all these parents have secrets who can you trust ?and who have they trusted with there children.

This was a fantastic gripping thriller which I will be recommending to everyone. Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to review this.

I finished this book with an impressed laugh, and an “OMG”. The ending! OMG indeed. A couple of other things I said out loud (to my cats) while reading this are “yeah, you need to just be her friend so you don’t kill yourself” and “she’s going to get herself killed!”.

This centers around people in a childcare circle, where five parents and their children each spend a day taking care of the others, so they don’t have to pay exorbitant childcare costs. Our five parents/children are…

Stacey, daughter Coralie
Nina, son Bobby
Rhiannon, daughter Freya
Kim, daughter Dulcie, and
Jarvis, son Hayden.

The synopsis lays this one out pretty clearly; this group is going to go on a weekend trip together for some fun and bonding. Nina found a seaside house that a friend was willing to let them stay in for free, so off to Kittiwake House they head.

I’d love to say more, but I can’t. Well, I could, but I won’t - there is too much to spoil in this one. The entire book was an entertaining little thriller, but the ending was fantastic. It was starting to wrap up, and I thought “yep, I knew it”, but then the ACTUAL ending floored me with a huge twist I never even considered. Four stars!

(Thank you to Bookouture for inviting me on this book tour. “The Childminder” is slated to be released on September 18, 2024.)

I think it's a very frequently occurring problem for families where both parents have a job or for single parents with a job. Where to find a childminder you can trust and count on?

That's why I find this a very good solution to share the task with 4 other parents, each taking care of the 5 kids during a few hours every day of the working week. This way it gives each of the parents a few hours to take care of certain things around the house or elsewhere and you know your child is taken care of.

What is buried on the inside very often does not show on the outside and if you could have known you would have tried to work out another solution...

This is a story about parents supporting each other...

This is a story about about hidden secrets bound to come to the surface...

This is a story about a silly thing going terribly wrong...

This is a story about life long friends who will always have your back...

The author leads me down a certain path.  The question is did I follow it all the way or was there something niggling my brain? I wonder how you felt about it. :)

I loved this brilliant story. I felt a little heartbroken too. I adored the premise and all the background stories. I loved the whole package. 5 stars

Thank you

The childminder was the latest psychological thriller that I read. It was a great ride. It was filled with lots of twists and turns that kept me guessing until the very end.

To save money, five people share minding each other's children.
They each get an anonymous note - someone claiming to know their secrets.
They go away together with the children for a weekend, but one of them does not return home.

Twisty and twisted. Your past will always come back to haunt you.
Can't say I liked the characters in the book, except the feisty old lady, Mrs Coates. I was more than impressed with her protecting what was hers!
I suspected the ending, and I was right.
The book is engrossing, and quite the page turner.

Thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for the opportunity to read this book.

Slow to start but keep reading and the pace will gradually pick up speed. Perfect for fans of Nicole Trope. Surprise ending but i am not disappointed.