Before She Knew Him
By Peter Swanson
William Morrow Paperbacks, 9780062838162, February 2020, 320pp.
The Short of It:
Smart, clever, and hard to put down.
The Rest of It:
I don’t know where I’ve been or why I haven’t read Peter Swanson before but I am so very glad that Before She Knew Him made it into my hands.
Hen and Lloyd move to very nice, suburban neighborhood. Their neighbors, Mira and Matthew invite them over to dinner so they can get to know one another and while there, Hen can’t help but notice a fencing trophy on the mantle. Upon closer inspection, she’s almost positive it once belonged to a young man named Dustin. A young man who was murdered not long ago. Why would this couple have it in their house?
Before She Knew Him was a great read. Smartly written with well-developed characters and a story that includes a surprise or two and enough mystery to keep you guessing. This book could easily have been titled “Neighbors with Secrets” because both of these couples have something to hide and it makes for really good reading.
I highly recommend this one. Swanson uses all of the characters to tell this story and it’s so very good.
Source: Review copy provided by the publisher.
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Book Chatter 
I like his books a lot! Patty knew Swanson’s mother or aunt somehow – I think they worked together – so I always think of her when I see one of his books.
It’s funny that you mentioned Patty because when I posted the review on Goodreads I saw her review of it there. She loved books like this one. I want to read all his stuff now.
Oh this sounds good. I love the idea of someone else’s trophy being the thing that sparks the story. I always wonder what happened to all Sophia’s trophies that we discarded.
This was a really good story and I was so interested in all of the characters which is rare. I know, I wonder where all my trophies are now.
Was a great read. really enjoyed it.
It was an interesting read for sure. I found myself feeling empathy for many of the characters.
I think I’ll add this to my list. I want to know what’s going on.
I like this author a lot; this was good! There was another by him st in Boston that was great as well(title escapes me).
I’ve seen his books around but for whatever reason I never picked them up. I want to read them now.
This sounds like a book my mom would love
Sounds like a page-turner! I need to try a Swanson book … !