The Babysitter was part memoir, part true crime story about Liza Rodman's summers in Provincetown as a child. She and her sister, Louisa, were often watched after by other adults working at the local motels or other service industry jobs for the summer, and one of those adults was Tony Costa. Liza adored Tony and loved going on rides to the dump with him because he would frequently stop to buy them popsicles or ice cream, and sometimes he would take them out to his secret garden in the woods so that he could check on things. 

Years later, as an adult, Liza learns that Tony was a serial killer, and that the secret garden where he stopped to "check on things" was actually where he was stashing drugs and burying bodies. 

It was an engaging read and well-researched. One thing that I struggled with was that it felt like perhaps her fondness for Tony was played up a bit for the purposes of the novel. I could be wrong, but in the grand scheme of things, she wasn't with him that much. So while I believe that she enjoyed going for rides in the summer, I'm not sure if she really thought about the summer babysitters much during the school year, although I suppose it's possible. 

The end seemed to drag a bit. It wasn't terrible, but once things sort of wrapped up and the story kept going, it became a little more difficult to stay engaged because I wasn't sure where it was going so close to the end. That's minor and might just be a "me" thing. 

TW that there are a lot of graphic details about what Tony Costa did to the bodies and it might be disturbing for some readers. 

All in all, I would recommend this, especially if you are a fan of true crime.