Review: Don't Let Him In by Lisa Jewell

 

Publication Date: June 2025

Source: Borrowed from library

Blurb:       [ Goodreads ]

Three women are connected by one man in this kaleidoscopic thriller. He’s the perfect man. It’s a perfect lie.

Nina Swann is intrigued when she received a condolence card from Nick Radcliffe, an old friend of her late husband, who is looking to connect after her husband’s unexpected death. Nick is a man of substance and good taste. He has a smile that could melt the coldest heart and a knack for putting others at ease. But to Nina’s adult daughter, Ash, Nick seems too slick, too polished, too good to be true. Without telling her mother, Ash begins digging into Nick’s past. What she finds is more than unsettling…

Martha is a florist living in a neighboring town with her infant daughter and her devoted husband, Alistair. But lately, Alistair has been traveling more and more frequently for work, disappearing for days at a time. When Martha questions him about his frequent absences, he always has a legitimate explanation, but Martha can’t share the feeling that something isn’t right.

Nina, Martha, and Ash are on a collision course with a shocking truth that is far darker than anyone could have imagined. And all three are about to wish they had heeded the same warning: Don’t let him in. But the past won’t stay buried forever.

It's no secret - I'm a huge Lisa Jewell fan. So if you were awaiting a negative review - keep scrolling. 

This book was more of Lisa Jewell's amazingly twisted mind conjuring up pulse-quickening excitement that I couldn't eat up fast enough. Full of twists, untrustworthy characters and craziness. If you are a fan of true crime documentary's this is a book you would really enjoy. 

I loved the multiple POV's as we got to see inside the mind of the antagonist and his victims. Reading from the mind of the villain, imagining his motives, reading his internal monologue full of evil, narcissism and misogyny was just so maddening. I could almost feel my hairs stand on end as he became more and more twisted. As he sought out women and manipulated them constantly, it made me feel real fear for the people who encounter this in real life. 

I really enjoyed the Ash point of view chapters, the daughter of one of his victims and her desperate mission to try and protect her mum from this man's evil plans. 

The book was such a fast paced read, once you pick it up you won't be able to stop.