Before She Was Helen

Caroline B. Cooney

Sep 2020 · Sourcebooks, Inc.

About this ebook

EDGAR AWARD NOMINEE FOR BEST NOVEL

"As Before She Was Helen opens, readers are drawn into what appears to be a light, retirement-community caper. But author Caroline B. Cooney quickly flips expectations upside-down in this deceptively dark mystery. Between old crimes and fresh murders, septuagenarian protagonist Clemmie faces an unspeakable fear that will keep readers hooked in this twisty whodunit."—Julie Hyzy, New York Times bestselling author

From the critically acclaimed, international bestselling author Caroline B. Cooney comes a domestic thriller perfect for fans of mystery books by Laura Lippman and Alice Feeney.

Her life didn't turn out the way she expected—so she made herself a new one

When Clemmie goes next door to check on her difficult and unlikeable neighbor Dom, he isn't there. But something else is. Something stunning, beautiful and inexplicable. Clemmie photographs the wondrous object on her cell phone and makes the irrevocable error of forwarding it. As the picture swirls over the internet, Clemmie tries desperately to keep a grip on her own personal network of secrets. Can fifty years of careful hiding under names not her own be ruined by one careless picture?

And although what Clemmie finds is a work of art, what the police find is a body. . . and she was the last person at the crime scene, where she left her fingerprints. Suddenly thrown into the heart of a twisted investigation, Clemmie finds herself the uncomfortable subject of intense scrutiny. And the bland, quiet life Clemmie has built for herself in her sleepy South Carolina retirement community comes crashing down as her dark past surges into the present.

From international bestselling author of The Face on the Milk Carton Caroline B. Cooney comes Before She Was Helen, an absorbing mystery that brings decades-old secrets to life and explores what happens when the lie you've been living falls apart and you're forced to confront the truth.

Ratings and reviews

Clemmie made a huge mistake ... and now she's the prime suspect in the death of ner neighbor. The quiet life she has led for the past 50 years is in danger as her dark past merges into her present. She was the last person to see her neighbor alive ... and her fingerprints are present. What will they find when the police start investigating all her aliases she has lived under. Although a little slow paced, the plot slips from the 50s to present day in Clemmie's life. What has she been hiding from all this time? Character development is solid, although I would have liked to learn a little more about her neighbors, friends, acqaintances. It's a calm mystery with a bit of suspense from start to finish. Many thanks to the author / Poisoned Pen Press / Netgalley for the digital copy of this crime fiction. Read and reviewed voluntarily, opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.

About the author

CAROLINE B. COONEY is the bestselling author of teen suspense, mystery, and romance novels that have sold over 15 million copies worldwide, including The Face on the Milk Carton.