Ezra Jones (18) broke into Alice Rathbone’s house. Grabbing a knife he headed for the children’s room, so Alice killed him – accidentally! She hit him with a stool, a heavy metal stool, as attested to by her two friends, who were with her when he smashed in the kitchen door, and whose children were with Alice’s daughter, Martha (4) in the adjacent room, under the care of Becca, Martha’s nanny. Alice is on bail pending CPS ruling on self-defence versus manslaughter; which is resolved in favour of the former. However, she can’t forgive herself, constantly replaying the incident and eventually focussing on why Ezra broke in and what he meant when he slurred “Whereisshe?” Who is the “she” or possibly ”he”. In an attempt to resolve the mess in her head, she breaks her bail condition by making contact, incognito, with Ezra’s mother, Rose, and sister, Jade. She also recruits her friend Stella, an investigative journalist and one of the other mothers during the break-in. As information slowly seeps in, she comes to realise that there are wheels within wheels here, and that, ultimately, the only person you can trust is yourself.
This story is firmly in the psychological thriller genre, and is a good example in many ways. It is told primarily through the events as seen by the five women named above. This inevitably means repetition of some scenes, which mainly provide new twists or clarification of old twists. It does make the unrolling of the plot slower than some might like, but gives more to play with for those who are trying to solve the mystery. I mostly was a few pages ahead of Alice, but the final big twists caught me out; but then they caught Alice out too! All of which sounds quite positive, but I have concerns with the details, especially the lack of information from the police. This lack is necessary to the plot, but I think it wouldn’t happen IRL. A similar concern applies to the press, who would easily have found out certain facts, which they don’t. This really stretched my suspension of disbelief, so I’m knocking off a star.
I would like to thank NetGalley, the publishers and the author for providing me with a draft proof copy for the purpose of this review.

Just brilliant a real page turner, a good paced read which builds and builds
You just know who and why yet why.
When you kill someone without killing them them you cannot rely on anyone.

Will definitely look out for more by Katherine Faulkner

Alice is having drinks in the kitchen with her friends, their children are in the other room watching a film with the nanny. A face appears at the window and suddenly a stranger is in the house clutching a knife and looking towards the room the children are in! How far would you go to protect your child? Alice means to stop him but ends up killing him! Obviously there's an investigation and Alice is cleared, but she can't help but feel there's more to it than just some random stranger entering her house..... As she tries to investigate further just who can she trust and how Many more secrets will she begin to.uncover? With her life falling apart and unable to leave it alone, just how much is she willing to risk to find the truth?

Many thanks to the publishers and netgalley for letting me read this novel, highly recommend.

On 17 July 2023 Alice Rathbone, 42, married with one child, art restorer, killed someone. It was an intruder armed with a knife who invaded her home and, terrified, she killed him with a kitchen stool. Now she has to face the aftermath with criminal charges hanging over her head. She has begun receiving anonymous calls and her little girl, Martha, asks her why she doesn’t smile anymore. And at the dead of night a black clad person is seen throwing a phone into a nearby canal. Are they connected?
Then Alice makes a decision that will change her life again and not for the better. She decides to visit the burglar’s family home as she is convinced by something he said on the fateful night that it wasn’t a random attack. This will have unforeseen repercussions as her life begins to fall apart still further and she will no longer know who to trust. And the past slowly begins to engulf the present determined to destroy all before it.
The book is 3 parts: after the breakin, the day it happened, then back to the present time so the reader sees the whole sequence of events as it is told from multiple viewpoints. Alice’ feelings always seem to be discounted by those around her as she needs ‘to get over it’. I didn’t feel that several of the characters were likable apart from Linda, the burglar Ezra’s, mother as her family is destroyed by illness and murder.
This was such a serpentine twisty plot which held me gripped right until the very end. Alice is a woman who has lived a fairly privileged life and the burglar brings another world of have nots with into it. Alice’s decisions seem confused in the aftershock of the burglary and the author depicts her confused state of mind very convincingly. Especially when possessions appear to go missing and are found where they shouldn’t be as she is led down a rabbithole. She becomes more and more involved with the burglar’s family as het truth about that night is slowly revealed and how it intertwines with her own.
Stelle, a friend and journalist, whom Alice knows through their mutual children seems to want to help her but she may have her own reasons and not necessarily in Alices’ own interests. I thought that the book was especially good on how women are portrayed in the media. When the papers report on the break-in and the murder it’s followed by a stream of comments from complete strangers who make unwanted judgements on Alice.
Alice was a sympathetic character who knew that she was getting in too deep but could not see a way out and ultimately face betrayal from the one person she thought that she could trust and another from someone she thought of as a friend. This was a real rollercoaster of a thriller which kept me guessing up to the end. I loved the author’s first book, ‘Greenwich Park’, and this was easily as good as that one. A really terrific read and I will seek out the author’s second book, ‘the Other Mothers’.
My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for an ARC.

Alice is having drinks with friends in her kitchen. Their children are playing in another room. Then a face appears at the window and a man is suddenly inside with a knife. Alice picks up a chair and hits him with it and he falls down dead.
She is arrested but eventually released with no charge.
But something niggles with her about the day and she cant let it to.
This will threaten everything she holds dear and secrets and lies will be revealed before the final twist.

This is the first book I’ve read by Katherine Faulkner and it definitely won’t be my last. I was hooked from the very beginning and never would’ve guessed what was happening. Really well written and keeps you in suspense throughout.
Very enjoyable read.

The Break In by Katharine Faulkner ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Thoroughly enjoyed this thriller. It twists and turns, it’s very cleverly plotted. Great characters. Alice & Jamie live a happy life, until a break in at their home turns their lives upside down. Publication date 19 June 2025. Thank you to netgalley & the publisher for this ARC.

Solid domestic thriller with good twists, but the pacing lags in places and some characters feel underdeveloped.

This was an enjoyable read and at times I thought I was reading a Lauren North novel. There was a lot of mystery in this book and the main character, Alice is as much in the dark as we are. I found myself being unable to put this book down. The mystery grew with each page turn.

Alice is hosting a play date when she ends up killing an intruder. As she is cleared of murder she begins to ask questions as to why he was really in her house that day.

It appeared everyone was keeping something from Alice and she was unable to move past the fact she killed a young man. This meant she made errors in judgement throughout the book and at times I was frustrated with her. That being said I couldn’t stop turning the pages to see what would happen next.

This is a well written and thought out book and would have been a 5 star rating but the ending was a little flat after the big dramatic lead up and everything was polished off nicely, and when does that ever happen in real life?

The various twists and turns really make this story an excellent read. While initially, it looks like someone breaking into a house and being killed by the homeowner is a straightforward investigation for the police, there is so much more going on, has gone on and will go on in the future, that you shouldn't place all your eggs in one basket by making a decision at an early stage. The neighbours are not always who they say they are and this adds to the confusion, but helps the reader enjoy turning the pages, wondering what will happen next. I found the pace of this book perfectly acceptable because I didn't know which way any of the characters would turn as they introduce their part of the story. This novel does show you that you may not know the person that you think you know completely and when the clues start to add up there's a lot more going on in the past, the present and probably, the future. There's so much lying involved in this book that it becomes almost standard language by several of the characters. Some you will believe to be baddies become goodies and vice versa. Through the excellent writing the reader really gets to know each of the characters in great detail and it becomes easy to take sides, when perhaps you shouldn't, pending the outcomes.

I've never read this writer before, but I will certainly look out for her in the future.

This is a bit of a slow burner, told from a few points of view. Alice, the main character, has a break in at her home and a man is killed. The effect on Alice is quite devastating for her and her family. I quite liked her character, although she did make some unusual decisions which confused me at times. There are quite a few twists, with plenty of suspense and it all got wrapped up neatly at the end. It's a good, steady read which fans of domestic thrillers will enjoy. Thanks to Net Galley for my ARC.

This turned in to a really good thriller. It was a bit slow at the beginning but did get much better (I feel the blurb was a bit misleading with the format of the book) and had me thinking that I’d worked out the twist but there were more to be revealed. A surprisingly fast paced thriller that kept me intrigued to the end.

A quiet family’s sense of safety is shattered after a home invasion, making them doubt everyone around them. The pacing of The Break-In is steady and deliberate, allowing tension to build gradually throughout the story. It balances quieter, introspective moments with bursts of suspense, keeping you engaged without becoming overwhelmed. The characters in the book are well-drawn and relatable, each with their own flaws and secrets that add depth to the story. They are well written and they each show their vulnerabilities, humasing them and making them incredibly relateable.... especially the parents grappling with fear and mistrust. The characters’ realistic emotions and interactions make the tension feel personal and believable, pulling readers into their complicated world. And amazing read thst I ca rate highly enough

The story was extremely slow to take off. It took far to long to get going with the storyline and the "suspense" was drawn out . The overall storyline was a good concept and I definitely liked the ending.

Thank you to NetGalley and Raven for my copy of The Break-In by Katherine Faulkner.
This book swims with intrigue and lies. But who is lying?
Someone has broken into Alice’s house WHY? Who was he, where is the connection but he can’t answer Alice killed him.
A riveting book that you can’t stop reading.

Such a great read! The plot is meticulous, which meant the mystery held right until the end. I changed my mind so many times, the who, the how and the why constantly shifting with every twist.

Alice and Jamie, live a good life, with their young daughter and can afford the luxuries of a nice house, a nanny and a comfortable lifestyle. Until everything changes when a young man, seemingly under the influence of alcohol or drugs, breaks into their home while Alice has friends over for a “play-date” and out of fear for her child, she hits him over the back of the head with a stool, killing him.

Alice’s guilt won’t let her leave things alone and as she gets to know more about the young man and his family, she realises that the break in wasn’t random. There is so much going on in the story and the character development is excellent. Brilliant!

5 ⭐️ Thanks to Netgalley, Katherine Faulkner and Bloomsbury for an ARC of this book.

On my goodness, a break in sounds bad enough - but this particular one has ripples of effect that seem never ending. Alice is an art restorer, extremely successful in her field. Married to Jamie, an executive of a charity, with a little girl.Martha. With her inheritance, she was able to buy their house in a reasonable area of London. Perfect Life.
One incident changes everything. A young man, apparently intoxicated, beams in through the basement door while Alice and a couple of other 'Mummies' are having an evening drink - their children are playing in the next room, cared for by Martha 's nanny Becca. Suddenly the life of Alice becomes a nightmare as she slowly loses her confidence, freedom, job, sanity, husband..............her entire world collapses.

This book is a rollercoaster of a read, there’s so much going on and so many layers to the story that I genuinely didn’t know which characters to trust for most of the book. I loved the multiple POV and flicking between timelines. This book was brilliantly written.

A fantastic read which kept me hooked from start to finish. A fast paced intense thriller with lots of nail biting moments which I just had to keep reading to find out what was going to happen. Twists and turns galore so buckle up tightly and enjoy the ride.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in return for an honest review.

Katherine Faulkner has a knack for crafting intricate thrillers that keep readers second-guessing themselves. This novel follows Alice, a London mother whose life takes a dark turn after she kills an intruder in self-defense. What seems like a straightforward case soon spirals into a web of unsettling secrets, suspicious behaviour from those closest to her, and a mystery that refuses to stay buried.

The pacing is sharp, with tension building steadily as Alice digs deeper into the truth. The author has the ability to weave psychological suspense with domestic drama and this made for a gripping read. The characters, especially Alice, are layered and compelling, making it easy to get invested in their fates.

This is the book to read if you like novels that explore the complexities of relationships and hidden truths.