As The Break-In starts, we get a brief introduction to our main character as she tries to remember the details of the tragic event that’s just taken place in her home through fractured memories that she can’t quite piece together. A newspaper report makes things clearer and informs us that Alice Rathbone, 42, has been arrested after an 18 year old man, Ezra Jones, was killed in her kitchen. The report goes on to explain that Ezra had broken into Alice’s home while she hosted a ‘play-date’ with other Mums, and was behaving erratically, as if under the influence of drugs or booze. At some point he’d grabbed a knife and headed towards the room where the children were playing and Alice, taking matters into her own hands, tried to stop him by hitting him on the head with a metal stool. Unfortunately Alice is now under arrest and facing a potential murder charge, and the comments below the article are less than favourable – as you’d expect when the ‘crime’ has been committed by a woman with a seemingly privileged life.

Alice is let out on bail and goes home to try and piece together the events that led to Ezra’s death, and work out how she went from having an almost perfect life with her job as a respected art restorer, her charity executive husband Jamie, and her sweet little daughter Martha to being a suspected murderer, and social pariah overnight. There are quite a lot of characters in this book, each with their own complex story and it’s fascinating to get a glimpse inside Alice’s head as the truth of the story starts to unfurl. The events are told through different perspectives, which helps to keep the different threads moving, however you do have to concentrate because there is a lot to keep track of. It has to be said that I had to suspend my disbelief on several occasions because it just didn’t seem likely that she, or several of the other characters would do what they did, but then, we know people do strange things, especially in the wake of trauma. That aside, the threads come together well, the characters are well written, and even if some of the twists were predictable, it’s still a thoroughly enjoyable and engaging read.

Katherine Faulkner is fast becoming a mistress of domestic noir, and with a very topical theme – a privileged woman being demonised and pull aed apart online after acting in self-defence against a dangerous aggressor, she has ensured that this book will be everywhere this summer! Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher and author for letting me read an advance copy – this is my honest review.

4/5 stars

The Break-In is scheduled for release on August 26, 2025 by Gallery/Scout Press

About the author: Katherine Faulkner (from Goodreads)

Katherine is a London-based author and journalist. She studied History at Cambridge University, graduating with a First, then completed a Postgraduate Diploma in Newspaper Journalism. Since then she has been working as an investigative reporter and latterly an editor. Her work has been published in many national papers, and she most recently worked at The Times, where she was the joint Head of News.

While working as an undercover reporter, Katherine won the Cudlipp Award for public interest journalism and was nominated for a string of others. She was also commended by a committee of MPs for ‘the highest standards of ethical investigative reporting.’