Don't Let Him In
- Judith D Collins
- Jul 8
- 5 min read
Updated: Jul 21
By: Lisa Jewell
Narrators: Richard Armitage, Joanne Froggatt, Tamaryn Payne, Gemma Whelan, Louise Brealey, Patience Tomlinson
ISBN: 978-1668033876
Publisher: Atria Books
Publication Date: 06/24/2025
Format: Other
My Rating: 5 Stars (ARC)
From #1 New York Times bestseller Lisa Jewell, an author “at the very top of her game” (Lucy Foley)—three women are connected by one man in this kaleidoscopic thriller.
Restauranteur Paddy Swann was the life of the party until the day a man pushed him in the path of an oncoming train, leaving his twenty-something daughter Ash and wife Nina devastated. Shortly after Paddy’s funeral, the two women receive a surprise in the mail: a note and package from Nick Radcliffe, an old friend of Paddy’s, and a nondescript lighter that once belonged to him decades ago. This unexpected gift draws Nick and Nina closer together—much to Ash’s dismay.
Martha is a small-town florist with dreams of expansion. She lives with her second husband Al, her baby, and two sons from her prior marriage. But they never seem to have any money, and with his constant traveling for work, she feels like a single parent—especially when an emergency makes her realize something needs to change.
But Nick and Al may not be who they say they are, leading these three women on a shocking collision course, wishing they had heeded a warning: Don’t let him in.
My Review
Lisa Jewell, a long-time favorite author, returns with a gripping domestic suspense novel, DON’T LET HIM IN. (one of her best)! This intense thriller weaves together the lives of three women, all connected by one man, in a story that is as captivating as it is twisty.
About...
Paddy Swann, a highly successful restaurateur, meets a tragic end when he is pushed into the path of an oncoming train by a schizophrenic man. He leaves behind a family in turmoil-his wife, Nina, his daughter, Ash, who has returned home after a psychological breakdown, and his son, Arlo.
Nina Swann receives a condolence card from Nick Radcliffe (a silver fox), an old friend of her late husband, who is looking to connect after her husband’s unexpected death.
Nick is charming. But to Nina’s adult daughter, Ash, does not like him nor trust him and she begins digging into his past. What she discovers makes her more concerned. She must keep her mother away from him who seems to be smitten.
Martha is a busy hectic florist owner living in a neighboring town with her infant daughter and her devoted husband, Alistair. She has two teen sons from a previous marriage and their baby. She is (47) so an older mom with a lot on her plate. Her husband travels a lot and seldom there to help out. Alistair has been traveling for work and disappears for days. He always has an excuse but Martha does not believe him.
How do Nina, Martha, and Ash’s stories intertwine? What dark secrets unite them? What is Nick concealing? Who is the perpetrator? These threads of connection will keep you engrossed in this intricate web of suspense.
My thoughts...
Holy Cannoli!
Lisa Jewell, a seasoned bestselling author, continues to outdo herself with each book. DON'T LET HIM IN is a sizzling, twisty, and engrossing page-turner that grabs your attention from the first page and doesn't let go until the explosive conclusion.
From past to present, DON'T LET HIM IN is a heart-pounding journey filled with suspense, dark secrets, plenty of twists and some devilish spine-chilling villains. It's a wickedly delicious game of cat and mouse whodunit that will keep you on the edge of your seat.
Jewell fans - this is a must-read for your summer beach bag.
Recs...
DON'T LET HIM IN is for fans of the author and those who enjoy twisty domestic thrillers and authors, Mary Kubica, BA Paris, Alice Feeney, and Freida McFadden.
Special thanks to Atria Books for a gifted advanced review copy via NetGalley in exchange for my honest thoughts.
@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks
Pub Date: June 24, 2025
My Rating: 5 Stars
Praise
“Jewell is on a hot streak, with one brilliant thriller after another....As tantalizingly labyrinthine as her stories are, it’s the way she anchors them in a recognizably real world, and populates them with abundantly human characters, that makes them so successful. In a genre full of top-flight authors, she ranks very near the absolute top.”
—Booklist (starred review)
“Jewell effortlessly toggles back and forth in time…setting up a wicket and satisfying cat and mouse game .... Readers who like their psychological suspense on the dark side will be delighted with the results."
—Publishers Weekly
“Don't Let Him In masterfully blurs the lines between truth and deception. The tension builds from page one, gripping you until the shocking conclusion!”
—Freida McFadden, #1 New York Times bestselling author
“Don’t Let Him In is creepy, twisty, and compulsively readable. It hooked me from the first page and never let me go.”
—Emily Henry, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Funny Story
“This is a dark house of a thriller, full of trapdoors and hidden rooms and steps that lead you where you least expect and rugs that get whipped out from beneath you. Nobody – nobody – does this better than Jewell. Don’t Let Him In is the best book of Lisa Jewell’s career – the pages practically shiver.”
—A.J. Finn, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Woman in the Window
“Don’t Let Him In is a masterclass in suspense. A dream romance spirals into a nightmare as Lisa Jewell expertly draws together the strands of deceit with increasing menace, presenting us with one of the most chilling, unsettling villains I’ve encountered in a long time.”
—Alex Michaelides, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Silent Patient
“Reading a Lisa Jewell is like putting yourself inside a pressure cooker—one that you don’t really want to get out of. Nobody creates characters like she does—and in Nick she has created one of her darkest, twistiest yet.”
—JoJo Moyes, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Someone Else’s Shoes
“A thrilling, chilling, work of genius. Don’t Let Him In is Lisa Jewell at her mesmeric best.”
—Chris Whitaker, New York Times bestselling author of All the Colors of the Dark
“Cancel all plans, this is a read-in-one-sitting book. A gripping psychological thriller that is compulsive and clever and completely brilliant. I couldn’t put it down.”
—Alice Feeney, New York Times bestselling author of Beautiful Ugly
"A twisting, mosaic of a novel, packed full of neon-vivid characters you root for, and a hero so evocative he could be my neighbor (if that wasn't my worst nightmare). I loved it!"
—Gillian McAllister, New York Times bestselling author of Wrong Place Wrong Time
"Utterly brilliant. Impossibly, she gets better and better."
—Mark Edwards, author of The Psychopath Next Door
“I read Lisa Jewell’s newest last night in one straight sitting, completely glued!!! I loved it so much!!! The only sad thing is now I have no more new Jewells to look forward to.”
—Emma Torzs, author of Ink Blood Sister Scribe
About the Author
Photograph (c) Andrew
Lisa Jewell is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of twenty-three novels, including None of This Is True, The Family Upstairs, and Then She Was Gone, as well as Invisible Girl and Watching You. Her novels have sold over ten million copies internationally, and her work has also been translated into twenty-nine languages. Connect with her on X @LisaJewellUK, on Instagram @LisaJewellUK, and on Facebook @LisaJewellOfficial.
