The Turn of the Key

Preview

Failed to add items

Sorry, we are unable to add the item because your shopping cart is already at capacity.

Add to basket failed.

Please try again later

Add to wishlist failed.

Please try again later

Remove from wishlist failed.

Please try again later

Adding to library failed

Please try again

Follow podcast failed

Unfollow podcast failed

£0.00 for first 30 days

LIMITED TIME OFFER

Get 3 months for £0.99/mo

Get this deal

Try Premium Plus free

Offer ends 29 January 2026 at 11:59PM GMT.

Prime members: New to Audible? Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.

Just £0.99/mo for your first 3 months of Audible.

1 bestseller or new release per month—yours to keep.

Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, podcasts, and Originals.

Auto-renews at £8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly.

Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.

Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.

Access exclusive sales and deals.

£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically.

The Turn of the Key

By: Ruth Ware

Narrated by: Imogen Church

Get this deal

Try Premium Plus free

£8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly. Offer ends 29 January 2026 at 11:59PM GMT.

£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £12.99

LIMITED TIME OFFER | £0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Premium Plus auto-renews at £8.99/mo after 3 months. Terms apply.

About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

I know you don’t know me but you have to help me. I didn’t kill anyone.

When Rowan stumbles across the advert, it seems like too good an opportunity to miss: a live-in nanny position, with a staggeringly generous salary. And when she arrives at Heatherbrae House, she is smitten by the luxurious ‘smart’ home fitted out with all modern conveniences, by the beautiful Scottish Highlands, and by this picture-perfect family.

What she doesn’t know is that she’s stepping into a nightmare – one that will end with a child dead and her in a cell awaiting trial for murder.

She knows she’s made mistakes. But she’s not guilty – at least not of murder. Which means someone else is…

'Will hold you captive until the brilliant ending' SHARI LAPENA, author of The Couple Next Door

‘So clever and original . . . Pure suspense, from the first gripping page to the last shocking twist’ ERIN KELLY, author of He Said/She Said

'Creepy, engrossing, and oh-so-hard to put down' JP DELANEY, author of The Girl Before

Full of spellbinding menace, The Turn of the Key is a gripping modern-day haunted house novel.

The addictive psychological thriller from Sunday Times bestselling author Ruth Ware.

Praise for Ruth Ware:

‘Powerfully atmospheric, unguessably twisty…I devoured it’ Louise Candlish, bestselling author of Our House

‘Dark and dramatic...part murder mystery, part family drama, altogether riveting’ A.J. Finn, author of The Woman in the Window

‘One of the best thriller writers around’ Independent

‘Agatha Christie meets The Girl on the Train’ The Sun

‘Dark, unsettling, brilliant’ HEAT

‘Deliciously dark and spooky’ Sunday Mirror

© Ruth Ware 2019 (P) Penguin Audio 2019

Crime Thrillers

Gothic

Horror

Psychological

Suspense

Thriller & Suspense

Scary

Highlander

Crime

Fiction

Exciting

Murder

Listeners also enjoyed...

Critic reviews

So clever and original . . . Pure suspense, from the first gripping page to the last shocking twist (Erin Kelly)

Ware tells a cracking tale and, as in her breakout novel In a Dark, Dark Wood, the house itself plays a hugely menacing part in proceedings.

An ingenious suspense narrative...Ware pulls out a stunner on the penultimate page that radically alters how we interpret everything that’s come before. I daresay even Henry James would be impressed.

A ghost story for the twenty-first century, a propulsive gothic thriller with characters you’ll really care about. With this book, Ruth Ware proves she’s the true heir to Wilkie Collins. Creepy, engrossing, and oh-so-hard to put down (JP Delaney)

Ruth Ware just gets better and better. The Turn of the Key is her most compelling and addictive to date; I read this in a two sitting frenzy, barely able to turn the pages fast enough.

Diabolically clever. Twisty and creepy, THE TURN OF THE KEY is Ruth Ware's best book yet. Read with a blanket nearby, because you will get shivers up your spine

The Turn of the Key is a brilliantly crafted, chilling suspense thriller. Clues are seeded through the tale like poisonous plants that you only recognise when it's far too late. Trust no one in this novel except Ruth Ware – she has come up with a totally compelling tale once again (Jane Casey)

A masterclass in tension! (Sarah Pinborough)

The Turn of the Key is a delicious read — a sympathetic but fallible narrator is accused of a terrible crime. The clever unfolding of her story will hold you captive till the brilliant ending. Vintage Ruth Ware (Shari Lapena)

Ware is an accomplished storyteller...compelling... assured neo-Gothic chiller

Most relevant

This is everything you'd look for in an audio book. The plot is well constructed, not overly complex but has its really great moments. The characters all stand out for us and are well defined. The narration is excellent. The narrator has taken the time to read the book, got to know the book and puts in a great performance on every line.

The only one slightly irritating thing is a slight overdose of the upper middle classes. We have many uses of the word "supper" not dinner. For some reason, for me this word smacks of people who've never done a proper day's work in their lives.

Anyway, I digress. This book is great. If you want to listen in large doses then you won't be able to stop. For a short bedtime listen then you won't find it a problem to follow the story over a period of several weeks or months.

This really is as close to a perfect audio book as I've ever found. I really like the other Ruth Ware stories as well.