Review: Don't Open the Door by Allison Brennan

 

Don't Open the Door (Regan Meritt #2) by Allison Brennan

Publication Date: January 24th 2023 by MIRA

Pages: 384

Source: Publisher 

Rating: ★★★★½

Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Goodreads

My Thoughts:

Regan Merritt quit the Marshal service and left town ten months ago after the murder of her son, Chase, and the subsequent unraveling of her marriage.  Her ex, Grant blamed her job for the murder, and the FBI closed the case without satisfying answers.  However, her former partner, Tommy, leaves a message that he’s had some breaks in the case and is close to finding out the truth. Then Regan finds out Tommy’s been murdered right after making the call.

Regan heads back to Virginia determined to find justice for Tommy and her son with the help of the US Marshals office at her back. As Tommy’s laptop and phone were stolen in the assault, Regan has to piece together the clues in other ways. She’s surprised to find out Tommy’s been talking to her ex-husband a lot!  

I love Allison Brennan’s mysteries, so I was excited to get more Regan Merritt, the star of her newer mystery series. In the last book, The Sorority Murder, when we meet Regan, she’s back in her childhood home in Arizona, grieving her son’s death, and she’s drawn into an old cold case. Her personal crisis wasn’t at the forefront of that story, but it is here. Sometimes it’s a gradual process, getting to know a character, becoming invested in their story and I really feel Don’t Open the Door solidified that for me with Regan. More than just a police procedural mystery, which was compelling on its own, I cared about the personal lives of her characters, too!

As Regan pieces together the clues it’s apparent she’s getting closer to the truth as she faces danger at every turn. I was nervous for her and a few characters while reading! Definitely a page turner!

Don’t Open the Door was a riveting police procedural, with perfectly imperfect, complex characters! The mystery is solved and while still painful for Regan, I feel like she had to get through this to open her up to other possibilities in the future. I’m excited to discover what’s next for Regan Merritt!

4.5 Stars

Book Description:

A child is shot while playing video games at home. His mother will stop at nothing to find out who did it—and why.

After their ten-year-old son, Chase, was senselessly murdered, Regan's life unraveled. Her corporate lawyer husband, Grant, blamed the death on Regan’s work as a US marshal. Unable to reconcile their grief, they divorced, and Regan quit her job and moved away.

Now she's back after a voice mail from her former boss Tommy said he had important news to share about Chase’s killing. Regan is stunned to learn Tommy is dead too. When she reaches out to Grant, his panicked reaction raises her suspicions. Then a lawyer with ties to her ex also turns up murdered, and the police make Grant their top suspect.

Unsure of his guilt or innocence, Regan risks everything to find Grant before the police do so she can finally get the answers to all that has haunted her since losing Chase. But the truth is not even close to what she imagines—and now she fears she has no one to trust.