The baby is dead. This is the opening line of The Perfect Nanny by Leila Slimani, translated from the French. After having two young children, the mother decides to return to work and looks for a nanny for her kids. After seeing so many candidates that won’t do, the seemingly perfect nanny arrives at their doorstep.

However, with an opening like that, the reader knows something terrible is going to happen and it is Slimani’s writing and pacing that keeps us in thrall throughout the book. Well written, but also sad and disturbing; a portrait of what can happen when mental illness goes untreated and there is no one there to notice until it’s too late. I wouldn’t consider this a great novel or a great psychological thriller, it is just ok. However, it is one I won’t soon forget.