Close to the Cradle

by Nova Lee Maier

INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER NOVA LEE MAIER DELIVERS ANOTHER GRIPPING THRILLER ABOUT THE DARKNESS THAT LIES IN WAIT IN UNEXPECTED PLACES.

Deeply vulnerable after a traumatic birth, new mother Didi Vos is depending on her maternity nurse to help her heal. But despite her uniform, Hennequin Smith is no nurse, and healing couldn't be further from her mind.

Though beautiful on the outside, Hennequin harbors ugly motives; slowly and subtly, she sets about her plan to gain Didi's trust and then ruin her life. And when Miriam de Moor - a police investigator who suspects Hennequin played a role in her brother's sudden death six months earlier - unearths horrifying secrets about Hennequin's past, the destinies of the three women become chillingly linked and will come to a head in a thrilling, unforgettable climax.

©2014 Esther Verhoef (P)2019 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved. Translation © 2019 by Alexander Smith

Genres: Thriller, Audiobook, Mystery Thriller, Mystery

268 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 12, 2019

About the author

Nova lee Maier is a pseudonym of Esther Verhoef, Dutch best seller author of psychological thrillers, action thrillers, novels and short stories.
Her thrillers alone have sold over 2.5 million copies in the Netherlands. Every thriller she wrote has been nominated for one or more prizes. She has won, among others, the NS Publieksprijs (NS Audience Award), the Hebban Crimezone Award, the Diamanten Kogel (Diamond Bullet) and the prestigious Gouden Strop (Golden Noose).

Verhoefs work has been translated into numerous languages.

Reviews

[Lisa Jenkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you @Netgalley and @Amazoncrossing for the ARC of close to the cradle. This book was so creepy. I cant think of anything more scary then being a brand new mom and hiring a nurse to help and she has creepy and scary motives. This book had me biting my nails. Really good with the suspense. Definitely recommend for all you thriller lovers.

[OjoAusana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, so i dont often read books that are actually scary but parts of this book are just so easily real its terrifying!!! 😳 Im from the US so like, we dont have medical help like that from the government but still! Fing frightening!

[Megan L (Iwanttoreadallthebooks) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Creepy, thrilling and full of moments that shocked me, Close to the Cradle was quite a suspenseful quick read. While it might make some uncomfortable at certain points, I thought the villain was incredibly well crafted and just the right amount of crazy. Overall, a thrilling fast-paced read.

4 stars!

[Beb ✨ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Era da un po' che non leggevo un thriller di questa portata. Ci ho messo un po' a entrare nella storia, a comprendere bene i personaggi. Appena ho compiuto il passo è stato un susseguirsi di colpi di scena ed emozioni che non mi hanno fatto togliere gli occhi di dosso dal libro. Appoggiarlo era diventato davvero difficile.

Leggi la recensione completa

[Lucy Gardiner (luc_lostinbooks) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Close to the cradle is a Dutch book translated to English. I’d describe it as a psychological thriller.

We meet three different women from different backgrounds that are all tied together:
Hennequin- a derranged midwife
Didi Vos - new mother
Miriam - police officer

POV changes quickly wasn’t with a character for long enough to get a feel for their personality at the start of the book. I can appreciate this added to the sense of danger during the book but would have liked longer to get to know each personality to begin with.

A very tense read, I was on the edge of my seat desperate to know if Didi and her baby were going to be okay. I don’t normally like thrillers, this was a good read apart from my issues mentioned. I read it very quickly.

3.5 out of 5 stars.

[Tommasina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un thriller che parte in sordina, la storia di tre donne che si alterna e si intreccia nella narrazione fino alla fine!

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

I finished this early this morning and must say I was confused as to why what was going on was going on .... The story just kinda starts randomly when a young couple have just brought their newborn home and the maternity nurse is creepy and your left clueless as to WTF is actually going on. It does get better but still confusing ... Kind of a creepy story

-I wanna know why the US doesnt have this kind of after home care for new mothers???

[Denice Langley · Rating 4 out of 5]

While the story line sounds familiar, the writing really ups the game in this thriller. Three women, all with a piece of the story, keep the tension and suspense moving quickly while setting the scenes for the final confrontations. Nova Lee Maier has developed an excellent cast of characters and then pitted them against each other to add a wicked twist to the usual good vs evil story.

[Kiki Brosnan (Bookworm_KikiB) · Rating 4 out of 5]

You will like this book if: you like creepy suspense and a classic thriller ending.

Plot: Hennequin Smith is posing as a maternity nurse for the Vos family after Didi Vos has a complicated pregnancy and birth. Hannequin is beautiful and resides in a gorgeous penthouse, likely from the money she received after her husband’s, aka police detective’s Miriam de Moor’s brother’s, death. Miriam de Moor doesn’t trust that her brother died by falling down a flight of stairs and risks her career and safety to get to the bottom of who Hennequin Smith truly is. All storylines come to a head in a truly exhilarating ending that unearths all of Hennequin’s secrets.

Characters: Didi Vos is married to an awful husband, and their marriage is only made worse by Didi’s pelvic fragility and inability to reach into her newborn’s crib for feedings. For reasons unknown until the end, Hennequin seems to prey on the Vos family’s vulnerability, committing truly awful acts while posing as a maternity nurse. Miriam de Moor is climbing the professional ladder as a police detective, but can’t shake the gut feeling that something is off about Hannequin. She is drawn to solve this mystery like a moth is drawn to a flame. Such dynamic characters!

Setting: Whether each scene was set in the Vos home, on Miriam’s patrol, or in the wilderness, this book is fairly descriptive. Despite the fact that I have no clue about the actual cities or region it is set in, I could mostly understand where things were in relation to each other.

Conflict/Resolution: The suspense build-up from creepy to horrifying is beautifully executed. The pacing of this novel is incredible and all of the loose threads are tied into a nice little bow, which I always love.

Writing: The writing flowed easily and I was able to read at a medium speed despite my notoriously slow reading speed. There was a balance of description, character emotion, and plot points.

Overall/Other notes: I received a copy through a Goodreads giveaway.

[Jenea · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one those frightening type reads. A nanny that has an evil side to her, wanting to cause harm to the mother and baby and anyone who gets in the way. All while looking like the dutiful caring nanny. That is what Hennequin Smith is. She asserts herself into Didi Vos’ life as the new baby nurse. It isn’t long before things start to become strange with the actions of Hennequin but in the state of mind that Didi is in after the awful pregnancy and birth, she just blew it off, till she could’t any longer. She find herself face to face with an evil woman and has to fight to save herself and her baby before it is too late. And that she did too.

The story is told from alternating POV’s, Didi the new mother, Hennequin, the new nanny and Miriam, the detective who has been investigating Hennequin. It was such a fantastic way to lay out the entire story from their points of view. Let me tell you, Henniquine is one evil B**ch and people seem to up and disappear when she is comes into their lives. Then there was Didi. I couldn’t imagine having a pregnancy like the one she went through. It was awful. But she find some impressive strength when she needed to, I got to give her that. You don’t mess with a Momma and her baby! Lastly, the detective Miriam and Hennequin are connected by Miriam’s brother who happened to meet an unlikely death while married to Hennequin. She is on a mission to find out what really happened to her brother and while she is investigating Hennequin she learns about her new job and knows that Didi and her baby are in danger. She was one strong and determined woman!

I won’t give to much more away but to say that it is one those reads that keep you on the edge of your seat with suspense with twists and turns that you don’t see coming. And the ending was fantastic! Definitely a good one for fans of domestic thrillers.

[Dipti S · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have to say, I really liked it. It was super fast paced and a real page turner. The author did not waste much time describing the unnecessary elements and got right to it.

It was definitely creepy and a refreshing change from all the romanticised views that people portray of new motherhood. It sucks that you wont be able to know how someone REALLY feels about childbirth since they would feel too guilty to admit it to another person (even their partner!). The story showed how messed up these people are and how creepy this lady is very well, great writing all in all.

I didn't mind the long chapters which spanned a whole day of their lives because there were several POVs in one chapter and they had their own riveting cliffhangers before switching to another POV.

I did wish there was more depth to the character of Hennequin, there wasn't much explained about her behaviour except that "she was always different" or "she has always been a weird child". And why she was after Didi Vos. We never really got a full fledged explanation for why she acted the way she did and SPOILER why did we never get an explanation for why she killed her ex-husbands and roommate by pushing them over the stairs, if she wasn't responsible for the death of her step-sister? What made her this way?

The ending delivered 70% and 30% fell a bit flat to me because I didn't have the answers to why Hennequin behaved the way that she did.

Also, fun game idea - take a shot every time Hennequin says "I'll make you a cup of tea"; you will be hungover by the time this book ends.
I also found it hilarious how Hennequin had these stupid names for the people like "shrimp" and "ginger troll".

[Elena · Rating 4 out of 5]

So I normally have a hard time getting scared when I read book but with this one I was definitely scared. This book was so realistic you can't stop wondering what if this happened to me. I liked that the book was super realistic so it was easy to get into and you didn't have to waste time setting the scene since it could happen in real-life. I truly enjoyed this book and thank you to Nova Lee Maier for the few sleepless nights that I endured during and after reading this book.

[Melanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a first read for me by Nova Lee Maier and I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised at this book! I loved the suspense and the way that Nova Lee Maier set everything in place. Very well done and a suspense read for sure.

There are a few main characters that we follow along this read. Hennequin is the nurse maid that is taking care of Didi Vos after she delivered her sweet baby girl, Ivy. While Didi was pregnant she developed a condition to where she could hardly walk and ended up in a wheelchair toward the end of her pregnancy. Her body is supposed to go back to normal on it's own, but there is no certain timeline on that. Hennequin has been "assigned" to help with Ivy and to help Didi and Oscar when they need it. Oscar goes back to work after a week and Hennequin stays with Didi to help her out. When Didi's mother shows up, she tends to ruin all of Hennequin's plans that she has laid out. Oscar comes up "missing" and Didi worries herself sick over him.

Miriam is a police officer and is trying to figure out if Hennequin, her used to be sister in law, is as bad as she thinks she is. Miriam's brother came up dead after having a fall down the stairs and Miriam is highly suspicious of Hennequin. When Miriam suggests to her colleges that they really should investigate Hennequin, they blow her off and offer her some time off to deal with her brother's death. That is not what Miriam wants at all. Miriam decides to do a little investigating of her own if no one will listen to her.

This story sort of alternates between all these characters and gives you a good feel for what is going on and then throws you into the story line full force. With all the back and forth, I never got confused or felt lost, everything was very smooth and kept you wanting to know what was going to happen with all the characters.

I highly recommend this one if you like suspense and thrillers. Nova Lee Maier has done a great job with this one and I can't wait for more from her.

I voluntarily read and reviewed this book and all the opinions are my own. Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for an advanced copy of this book. I enjoyed it very much!

[Rita · Rating 4 out of 5]

L'ARLECCHINO

Ammetto che la mia prima impressione non è stata esattamente positiva, mi turbava il fatto che la "cattiva" di questo romanzo avesse già un'identità ben definita. Nonostante ciò, "La balia" riserva ugualmente innumerevoli sorprese, specialmente nel finale: è stata la parte che ho preferito, in quanto non solo mi ha tenuta col fiato sospeso, ma è stata persino capace di smuovermi qualcosa dentro. Alla luce della tragica conclusione, infatti, il personaggio di Hennequin conferma la complessità della sua psiche, preannunciata in diversi punti della trama e, soprattutto, nel passaggio (da brividi) in cui viene chiarita l'origine del suo pseudonimo:

"Hennequin, un emissario del demonio, comandava una schiera di demoni che uscivano di notte con cavalli e cani da caccia alla ricerca di anime perdute e malvagie da spedire all'inferno. Il nome Hennequin o Hellequin è ancora usato in quella regione della Francia per indicare un enfant désagréable, un figlio sgradevole, cattivo. Intorno al 1300, il suo nome comparve anche in Italia [...]. L'arlecchino è diventato un classico personaggio della famosa commedia dell'arte. [...] non è un clown. Un arlecchino è molto più complesso e anche molto più intelligente. Un personaggio con più facce, spesso con una storia tragica e di solito mascherato."

Avevo già capito, comunque, l'alto valore di questo thriller grazie al ritmo serrato che caratterizza l'indagine, la quale assume i contorni di una vera e propria caccia. Ed è in tal modo che determina un coinvolgimento fuori dal comune, quello che rende impossibile andare a letto prima di aver voltato l'ultima pagina.

[Lina Birškytė/sonciuke · Rating 4 out of 5]

🇱🇹🇬🇧
Perskaičiau per 2 dienas. Įtraukė nuo pat pirmųjų puslapių ir skaitėsi tikrai greitai. Pati istorija nebuvo ištempta, įvykiai klostėsi pakankamai greitai ir viskas buvo atskleidžiama detalė po detalės. Kol galiausiai viskas susidėlioti į vietas ir tapo aišku kaip gimdyvės padėjėja iš tikro yra susijusi su šeima kurioje ji dirba. Ir pati istorijos kulminacija buvo gana netikėta. Mačiau keletą atsiliepimų kad šita istorija sukėlė skaitytojams pyktį. Ypač tos vietos kur padėjėja kenkia vaikeliui. Man asmeniškai tokių itin stiprių emocijų nesukėlė, nors ir esu mama. Knygą tikrai rekomenduoju trilerių mėgėjams.
.
Finished the book in 2 days. It sucked me in from the first few pages and was a really quick read. The actual story wasn't dragged out, everything was happening pretty quickly and everything was revealed piece by piece. Until finally everything fell into places and it was clear how the maternity nurse are actually related with the family that she works for. And the culmination of the story was unexpected. I've seen few reviews were saying that this story made readers angry. Especially the parts where the maternity nurse is trying to hurt the baby. For me personally it didn't bring any such strong emotions, even though I'm a mum myself. I definitely recommend the book for the thriller lovers.

[Denise Satin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my second book I have read by this author. The first was Mother Dear which was fantastic. In this book, Close to the Cradle, the author delivers another page turning, full of suspense and thrilling ride. If you read the blurb, then you know the basics and the characters involved. But the big mystery is why Hennequin Smith has decided to be a baby nurse to a brand new mother when she is very well off and being a maternity nurse is the last thing on her mind. Then there is Miriam, a police officer whose brother was married to Hennequin and was very wealthy and died under mysterious circumstances. So Miriam finds out that she is a baby nurse and goes on her own to figure out why she is a baby nurse and to prove that she is a killer. I read this book in a day and a half it was so good. I couldn't wait to see how it would all turn out and what motivated Hennequin to be a maternity nurse to this young couple. The end was awesome and I would highly recommend this book to anyone who loves intense mysteries and a roller coaster of a ride. I received this book as an ARC from net galley for an honest review. Read this book if you like this genre and her first book also, Mother Dear. Thank you Net galley for this ARC.

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This starts out with Didi and Oscar brining home their new born baby. Didi had a very hard pregnancy and is still in a lot of pain and is really not able to care for the baby. Her husband Oscar is quite a jerk. Very self-centered, not your typical happy new dad. There are some holes in the story about how Hennequin became a nurse, but nothing I couldn't overlook. She is very creepy right for the beginning but Didi does not see it. Didi is very insecure and worried about being a new Mom, and Hennequin does not help easy her mind. Another hole in the story was Didi's Mom. She was no where to be found for the first few weeks. The reason she didn't arrive until later didn't really make sense to me.

Then there is Miriam . Her brother was married to Hennequin until he died from an accidental fall down the stairs in his home. Miriam is very suspicious of how her brother died and is investigating Henequin. I liked this part, liked Miriam a lot.

The end was great! I didn't suspect what really happened until almost the very end.

This was the first book I have read by the author. I will for sure look for others.

[Federica Rampi · Rating 4 out of 5]

La donna che aveva cancellato il suo passato

Un buon thriller psicologico che vedrei bene come adattamento per un film o miniserie su qualche piattaforma streaming
Scandito al ritmo delle giornate e raccontato da tre punti di vista ( Didi la madre, Miriam la poliziotta e Hennequin, cognato di quest’ultima e infermiera di maternità) rende scorrevole la narrazione che man mano svela i lati oscuri del carattere della misteriosa balia
Ogni volta che inizio questo tipo di letture mi aspetto di capire quanto la trama sia prevedibile, ma devo dire che da metà in poi ho trovato più di una sorpresa e al di là degli inevitabili cliché, il ruolo dei legami familiari è stata la parte più interessante del romanzo.
Personaggi descritti bene, molti anche quelli secondari che bene si integrano nel contesto e ciascuno di loro è destinato a tribolare parecchio nel corso della storia
Oltre al mistero, che è il punto di partenza, c’è un buon equilibrio tra le fragilità personali la ricerca della verità e il senso di rivalsa
Un classico page turner tutto al femminile che regala diversi colpi di scena

[Hannelore Cheney · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you NetGalley and AmazonCrossing for the eARC.
Being from Holland originally, I was excited to find a book translated from the Dutch. It was a good read.
However, it made me deeply uncomfortable at times because the story involves a psychopathic woman posing as home help for families with newborns. Didi, the young mother, and her newborn, Indy, have just come home from the hospital and Hennequin is the home help, ready to assist Didi, who is incapacitated with severe pain, barely able to move. Oscar, her husband, is staying home from work for a week to help out as well.
We also meet Miriam, a policewoman who is hunting Hennequin as she believes Hennequin killed her brother, inheriting most of his fortune.
Without giving away more of the story, I can say this is a very tense read, hard to put down. Constantly worrying about the tiny baby and her helpless mother made me tear through the book really fast, but as I said, it was not a comfortable read!

[Secret Girls · Rating 4 out of 5]

Io amo i thriller, ne leggo tanti, mi piace giocare al detective, seguire le tracce, e spesso non riesco a riconoscere il killer se non quando è lo stesso romanzo a darmi la soluzione, ma questo insolito thriller tiene il lettore incollato alle pagine, chi legge è affamato di sapere cosa spinge una persona ad essere così distaccata, fredda, calcolatrice, così razionalmente cattiva ed inquietante, fin quando non si giunge al punto in cui tutto ebbe inizio, ed è lì che tutto prende forma e poi? beh, poi c'è solo un punto fermo che segna la fine della storia ma che lascia il lettore atterrito da quanto scoperto.

Recensione Completa ---> http://themydiarysecret.blogspot.com/...

[Paolo Ricciardi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Buon thriller

Mi ha tenuto abbastanza preso.
La tensione c’è, si sente pagina dopo pagina. Mi è piaciuto molto il parallelismo tra le due protagoniste: seguire i loro punti di vista mi ha fatto entrare bene nella storia e capire le loro paure.
Il finale funziona, chiude tutto in modo pulito.
Devo dire però che in alcuni punti la lettura diventa un po’ farraginosa. Alcune scene sembrano già viste, un po’ scontate, e avrebbero avuto bisogno di più cura. Nulla che rovini il libro, ma si sente.
Nel complesso per me è un buon thriller psicologico. Tiene la tensione, ha una bella idea di base, ma poteva essere costruito meglio in alcuni passaggi.

[Doris Vandruff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Miriam is a police officer. She has suspicions that her sister in law murdered her brother. They had only been married 18 months when he fell down the stairs and died.
When she looks into Hennequin's history, she finds that her suspicions are closer to truth than fiction.
Hennequin had pushed a girl over a stairwell when she was 16. She was in youth detention for a year.
Now people have a habit of disappearing anytime she's around.
The truth of the matter is things and people aren't always how they appear. But, sometimes they are.
Incredible story! An excellent ending!

[Betty · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars rounded up to 5 courtesy of the writing and the character development.

I went into this book with very few expectations other than that it had appealed to me enough to add it to my Kindle. What a creepy and suspenseful surprise. Thoroughly enjoyable. With the exception of Miriam, the motivations of the other principal characters remained a mystery right up to the final chapter. And Maier actually managed to deliver one final twist that I didn't see coming (well, to be fair, I did see something close to it coming, but she twisted the twist).

[Seton Rae · Rating 4 out of 5]

Confined to bed after a difficult pregnancy, new mother Didi considers her visiting nurse a godsend. Meanwhile, police detective Miriam looks for answers in the wake of her brother’s sudden death. The connection between these two women turns deadly in Nova Lee Maier’s “Close to the Cradle,” a tightly written thriller by a master of Dutch psychological horror. “The Hand That Rocks the Cradle” meets “The Bad Seed” in a fast paced tale full of high-stakes plot twists.

[Angie Rose, Nomad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Close to the Cradle was a fast-paced, tension-filled thriller that gripped me from the very beginning. We are following the story of three very different women: a new mother, a police officer with a hunch, and a mysterious woman with a secret. While I did enjoy this book, I felt that we did not stay with the characters long enough to get invested with their individual stories.

Book provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Padders · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gave me a 'hand that rocks the cradle vibe' although for a rather short book it was a little sluggish and took a while to get things going, your thrown in to the story and constantly being passed through 3 different voices which could be a little confusing at times and because sometimes it was a quick change found it hard keep up or understand some of the voices in terms of their character and motives.

But it was a quick psychological thriller, decent enough read for what it was.

[J. A. Lewis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once again, Nova Lee has written a thriller that keeps you on the edge of your seat. One can relate to all the characters from the police officer who has suffered the loss of her brother to the new mother who is dealing with physical traumas from her pregnancy along with a less than attentive husband. Twists and turns along the way make this a fun, edgy read. Hope she has more mysteries up her sleeve.

[Gemini · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars

She-Devil

This book reminded me of the 90s movie, The Hand That Rocks the Cradle. It was known from the beginning that Hennequin had a sinister plan. What kept my interest was finding out why. She just seemed evil for no reason. She was able to infiltrate Didi’s household so easily. I enjoyed the way Miriam’s investigation unfolded. At times, the storyline felt corny. The plot twist at the very end improved the overall rating for me.

[Melanie Jo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow!! This book was freaking amazing. Talk about a thrill ride. I couldn't put this book down once I started. I enjoyed the characters and all the twists and turns in this story made it a really great book. I'll definitely be reading more from this author after this book.

Thank you Netgalley, the author and publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Jill Burgin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Translated from the original Dutch novel, this story revolves around three women, - a new mother, a midwife and a detective and is told from their different points of view. Grabs you right away and the reader is only given enough information to keep you riveted u til the end. Good psychological thriller.