Don't Let Me In by Phil Kurthausen

Don't Let Me In Released: Oct 22, 2018
Publisher: Bloodhound Books
Kiwi Rated It:
View Title On: Goodreads
Get A Copy: Amazon or Barnes & Noble

From behind the locked door of her home, Sarah broadcasts her popular podcast. When she starts to seek the truth about the murder of a teenage girl 12 years earlier, she soon finds herself the centre of unwanted attention.

While trying to manage her agoraphobia, as well as the online trolls and her family life, Sarah begins to uncover some uncomfortable facts relating to the cold case.

As she edges closer to accusing someone of the murder, the online threats soon become physical and as the outside world draws closer and closer to her front door threatening her home, her family and her life, Sarah must decide between fight or flight…

Sarah Kelly was a respected TV journalist, until an attack in her own home left her housebound, crippled by agoraphobia and fear. A year later, she’s trying to cope as best she knows how and is the thick of her podcast series, investigating the arrest and imprisonment of a young Muslim man for the murder of his girlfriend, twelve years earlier.

Told in the first person, Don’t Let Me In intersperses Sarah’s experiences with the podcast itself. Because of this, it was pretty well paced and a good first standalone novel from Phil Kurthausen, the author of the popular Erasmus Jones series.

Sarah tries to juggle her investigation, the podcast and the online trolls that come along with it while trying to work around her agoraphobia, her marriage, and motherhood. While she makes it clear she’s only theorizing, she provides an alternative suspect, a misogynistic hedge-fund manager who tries to shut her down and then forces his way into her life. Soon, it becomes obvious that her most prolific troll, constantly sending death threats, rape threats, and even photographs of her son and home, isn’t the young man the police thought. So is it the man who she’s touted as a likely murderer, or is it someone else?

We’re not actually given too many different suspects. Because Sarah’s life is so insular, her circle is small, and few of those are allowed into her fortress. While you might have an inkling of what’s going to happen, it isn’t exactly as you’d expect. And then there’s a twist that will blow your mind and, if you’re like me, want to throw your device across the room because ... well, because.

Don’t Let Me In lost half a star for me because there were the odd niggly little continuity errors interspersed throughout that caught my attention. Don’t let that stop you though! While Sarah isn’t the most likable character, it is really an enjoyable read and the ending is truly a shocker!

  Phil Kurthausen

  Don't Let Me In was provided free by Bloodhound Books (via NetGalley) in return for my honest opinion.


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