Lena is adjusting to a change in circumstances. Her boyfriend cheated on her and she was forced to find a new home. Things don’t run smoothly and something sinister is going on in her new street with poison pen letters and random acts of vandalism that start when she moves in. Will Lena be the next target or is she to blame?
Don’t Let Her In is a psychological thriller set in the UK.
Goodness, I felt extremes of emotion with this book! Gareth has treated Lena shabbily and her best friend Kate takes her for granted. But Lena allows herself to be treated like a doormat so my sympathy was limited. There are other despicable characters in the book as we meet Lena’s new neighbours.
The book is written from multiple points of view in the first person so we can see emotions and actions clearly. However the majority of the book centres on Lena. I don’t know if the varied first person perspectives were necessary although young Jolyon’s narrative was absolutely heartbreaking as he tries to make sense of his father’s violence.
There are some huge twists and I did guess them as there are some big hints. The plot has several strands to bring together (poison pen letters, Lena’s personal life, a murder, her neighbours’ secrets) and I thought everything resolved although my credulity was stretched considerably.
Don’t Let Her In is an enjoyable psychological thriller about secrets and lies in a small community.
Don’t Let Her In
The letters drop onto every doormat…
Lena just moved to Mandalay Close. She needed a new start, since her boyfriend cheated her out of the home and happy-ever-after she’d believed they were always going to share.
But on the day Lena moves in, letters begin to arrive for all her new neighbours. Letters that promise to expose everyone’s deepest, darkest secrets. Every house has received one – except for Lena’s.
Someone clearly wants to implicate her, to ruin her new life and turn everyone against her. She’s made an enemy, but who, and why? Everyone seems so nice, so trustworthy. So normal.
Except for one. And as bad things begin to happen and her life rapidly spins out of control, Lena finds herself cursing the day she moved to Mandalay Close. She can’t believe this is happening to her, because she’s not a bad person, is she? Even though she does have secrets of her own, secrets that she’s not willing to share with anyone…
A completely jaw-dropping psychological thriller, perfect for fans of K.L. Slater, Lisa Jewell and Sue Watson.
Joanne Ryan is the author of several well-reviewed psychological thrillers. Previously published by Tamarillas Press, she lives in Wiltshire. Her first thriller for Boldwood is Keep Your Friends Close.
