Thoughts on : Before She Knew Him by Peter Swanson

Posted by on June 7, 2019 11:58 am in 4.5 stars reads | 2 comments

Before She Knew Him by Peter Swanson
Audio narration : Sophie Amoss, Graham Halstead
Genre : Thriller
Series : Stand alone

About the Book  :

Hen and her husband Lloyd have settled into a quiet life in a new house outside of Boston, Massachusetts. Hen is an illustrator and works out of a studio nearby, and has found the right meds to control her bipolar disorder. Finally, she’s found some stability and peace.

But when they meet the neighbors next door, that calm begins to erode as she spots a familiar object displayed on the husband’s office shelf. The sports trophy looks exactly like one that went missing from the home of a young man who was killed two years ago. Hen knows because she’s long had a fascination with this unsolved murder.

Could her neighbor, Matthew, be a killer? Or is this the beginning of another psychotic episode? The more Hen observes Matthew, the more she suspects he’s planning something truly terrifying. Yet no one will believe her. . .

My Thoughts :

I believe Before She Knew Him is my third Peter Swanson book, and including this latest one, I’m happy to report that I’ve enjoyed everything of his I’ve read. One again, the author created a twisty thriller that was hard to put down (or pause, as I listened to this one!).

I think the most interesting aspect, for me, was that there was no mystery. You know pretty early on that Matthew is a killer, so it’s not about who did it. There’s still plenty to discover though : why, how, did this happen more than once? Will Matthew discover than Hen knows, and what will happen to Hen? The more is revealed, the more the tension builds up.

There’s a trope in mystery novels and thrillers that I usually despise, and I’m not sure what it’s called; it’s when a character has some known mental health disorder (schizophrenia, anxiety, etc.), and the plot basically rests on guessing whether this character is saying the truth or just going insane. I actually liked how the author wrote it here though. While Hen and especially the characters around her do doubt her a little, we, as readers, always know what is going on. To me it didn’t feel as though her mental health was used as a trick, and it was refreshing.

I always enjoy reading from the point of view of killers and criminals, so I really liked the parts that were narrated by Matthew, even though I didn’t like him. There was a constant tension in the narration, no matter who’s chapter it was, and I was so engrossed in the story that I didn’t see the end coming. I feel like I really should have though, but the complete shock I felt was definitely a pleasant surprise!

All in all, I quite liked this one. It’s dark and thrilling, with a well constructed plot and characters that are realistically complex. I still have at least one Peter Swanson novel on my shelves, so I know I’ll be reading more, and I’m already looking forward to it!

2 Comments

  1. I figured out the twist at the end before it happened but that didn’t keep me from enjoying this book. I really like Swanson’s work.

    • I really don’t know how I didn’t see it coming, I usually do but I was just completely absorbed! Glad to know you enjoyed it too. I’m definitely planning on reading the books I haven’t read yet.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

%d bloggers like this: