Don’t Open the Door
“I’m going to find the truth, Charlie. It’s here, somewhere. I’ll find it and I’ll find Tommy’s killer. And learn what really happened the day Chase was murdered––and why.”
After reading The Sorority Murder (Regan Merritt #1), I was so excited to see Allison Brennan’s follow up. The Sorority Murder was campy while still remaining firmly in the classic mystery/thriller genre, and I so enjoyed Regan, the former US Marshall, as an investigator. I loved the dynamic between her and her dad, and all the classic sorority nonsense. However, this follow up did not follow through.
Summary:
After her son is killed because of her role as a US Marshall, Regan Merritt splits with her husband and leaves Washington, DC to move in with her dad in Arizona, where she quickly becomes involved in a local murder case (The Sorority Murder). Now, nearly a year after her son has died, Regan gets the news that her best friend and former partner, Tommy Granger has been killed by a professional sniper. Determined to find justice, Regan immediately makes her way back to DC, joining forces with another friend and partner, Charlie North.
The thing is, Regan knows Tommy’s death wasn’t a one-off; days before his murder she received a voicemail from Tommy claiming he had more information about her son’s murder. Now back where it all happened, Regan becomes convinced that Chase’s death wasn’t related to her job at all, but her ex-husband’s. Grant Warwick is a partner at a law firm in DC, a firm well-known for representing politicians and wealthy men who need their dalliances covered up.
As Regan and Charlie work backwards from Tommy’s research, more and more evidence points towards Franklin Archer, Grant’s partner, and the bank robbery Regan worked right before Chase’s death. Suddenly, the blame that Grant had been placing on Regan for their son’s death seems to point back towards him and his firm, especially his partner. The more Charlie and Regan uncover, the more complicit Archer and Warwick look, but despite their rocky past, Regan is sure her husband wouldn’t be involved in illegal affairs—right?
Regan wants answers, but with every rock she uncovers, the more danger she and her loved ones are in. And as bodies start appearing, Regan knows she needs to move fast, or she might be next.
Thoughts:
When I saw Brennan’s sequel would have Regan confronting her son’s untimely death, I was hooked. Chase’s death hung over Regan throughout The Sorority Murder, and I was interested to see her get closure. Rather than having the intriguing concept of a serial sorority girl murderer, Don’t Open the Door was a stereotypical thriller that could have been written by James Patterson or Michael Connelly. At no point was I on the edge of my seat, anxiously awaiting the big reveal; in fact, even if you paid me a million dollars, I couldn’t tell you what door shouldn’t be opened.
There were so many names and companies to keep track of in this novel that I couldn’t remember who was good and who was bad. Don’t Open the Door felt like I was reading the script for an episode of Law and Order or NCIS—it was cliche after cliche, with predictable villains, testosterone filled car chases, and reveals that surely were meant to be jaw dropping, but instead left me wracking my brain for context.
I was such a big fan of The Sorority Murder; Regan Merritt was a badass, reluctant detective with a cast of mostly women attempting to solve a murder everyone else had written off. In Don’t Open the Door, Regan is consistently surrounded by men with increasingly similar names, convenient technology, and flashbacks meant to evoke sympathy. Brennan’s writing left me unimpressed, and even the formatting of the ARC was lacking, with odd spacing in dialogue and random sentences in a much larger font than the rest of the book.
Overall:
Despite my love for The Sorority Murder, Don’t Open the Door has turned me off of Allison Brennan. I spent the entire book waiting for a door to appear, and not once could I find a situation that warranted the title. Regan was a mostly unlikable main character, the mystery was underwhelming, and the ending was incredibly lackluster.
For fans of James Patterson, Michael Connelly, or Louise Penny, I’m sure this would be a great read. But for those who enjoy a more nuanced mystery/thriller, I would recommend steering clear.
My Rating: 2/5
Goodreads Average: 3.94/5
Information:
Don’t Open the Door by Allison Brennan (MIRA)
Publication Date: January 24, 2023.
ISBN: 9780778333623