This is twisty, edgy thriller where two people with certain behaviours and abilities meet - Henrietta is an artist with a mental illness and wild claims about possible crime in her past. Matthew is a charismatic teacher - and a killer, says Hen. Of course, nobody believes her statement about how she knows because there is a certain little statue in Matthew and his wife Mira’s home which might belong to a certain murdered young man. Then there is another death, Hen cries wolf and, of course, she has no real proof in the story of she said/he had a perfect alibi.
But Matthew is intrigued and these two enter a “Silence of Lamb” kind of relationship.
Until the darker one enters the scene...

To be honest, I find this novel being overplotted, as if the author had wanted to outsmart the reader for any cost. The cost for me is the interest in the story. There are two big plot twists in the story - as for the first one, while I get where is the author coming from and why this motive is needed to condemn the perpetrator, it also somehow whitewash the previous “version” of killer, who has been given some brownie points for his kind of “ethical” killings. A killer is a killer.
The second plot twist in the last chapter is unnecessary in my opinion.

All in all, the “Silence of the Lambs” kind of story would be much better, psychologically richer plot. At least we would know if Hen’s wild claims about her past might be true and why they might be true, right?

Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

This was a brilliant read. As soon as I started reading this book I just knew I was going to love it. Highly recommended

I loved this book and read it in a day. The plot was very original and I enjoyed guessing one twist ahead of the reveal but being completely blindsided by others. Some characters I thought I liked but ended up really disliking and others who I was slow to warm to soon won my empathy. All in all a good read.

Unfortunately this book was not for me, it was a bit slower than I would like and it just didn't hold my attention. I am sure other people will love it!

Having simply LOVED Peter Swanson's book The Kind Worth Killing I was really excited to get a copy of Before She Knew Him. Twisty, clever and completely addictive.

Thanks to NetGalley and Faber and Faber for the ARC of this book.

I think Peter Swanson is a brilliant crime/thriller writer and I have really enjoyed all his books that I’ve read. I found this one slightly less compelling than his other books. I’m not sure why, possibly because the lead characters have severe mental health issues which can be off-putting as they act unreasonably. This behaviour helps the plot, but makes the characters less empathetic.

There are two major twists in this book, normally when reading a thriller I guess the twists, or at least have some inkling that they are coming, but these twists were a complete surprise to me. In retrospect, I could see the seeds of these twists being sewn and the fact that I didn’t pick up on them suggests I wasn’t engaged enough in the book to question the storyline or think about what was going to happen. I just let it wash over me and found it a good but not excellent read.

The book follows Hen, a manic depressive artist, who suspects her new neighbour is a serial killer. She has a history of false accusations, so no one believes her suspicions, therefore she decides to investigate him herself. The drama escalates and results in several deaths.

I’d highly recommend Peter Swanson’s books, but maybe start with another one.

I'm in the minority with this one but it just didn't grab me. My first by Peter Swanson and I'm reluctant to try another book of his in the future. I prefer not to post on any social media outlets concerning this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Faber & Faber for providing a digital copy in return for an honest, unbiased review.

Fantastic characterisation and lovely pace and plot, love every Peter Swanson book I've read and this was no different.

This one kept me gripped. It's fast paced and tense. Great characters and a really good twist. I'm a big fan of Peter Swanson and this is another great read.

I really appreciated the way mental health was handled, for the first 95% of the book, it didn't feel like a cheap plot device or insensitive. However, I wasn't totally happy with the way it was discussed in the last 5%.

I enjoyed knowing both sides of the story - until the final twist, which didn't feel forced and took me by surprise. It was a sinister read that had me gripped throughout.

I read ‘Before She Knew Him’ by Peter Swanson earlier this week and loved it!
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This is my fourth book from this author and he remains my favourite author! My favourite Peter Swanson book is still ‘The Kind Worth Killing’ but I have really enjoyed all of his books so far, they’re suspenseful and twisted and my favourite kinds of mystery/thrillers! ⁣⁣
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Four stars for this one! It was fast paced and I read it in under a day, the end twist was a bit predictable but didn’t affect my enjoyment too much, as I love Swanson’s writing. ⁣⁣

A thrilling read which kept me turning the pages, characters you care for and just brilliantly written. Great novel!!

I received a copy from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I needed a bit of a change of pace from my usual reading and this novel grabbed my attention. It’s a very fast paced murder mystery presented in an unusual way. The relationship and dynamic between the principal characters is unique and in that the accused killer fully acknowledges his guilt to his accuser however he feels safe in doing so, because no one would ever believe Hen, who has a bit of a spotted past herself. From there it’s a bit of a rollercoaster of motive and the question of whether he will kill again.
I liked it even though I had my suspicions of what was really going on midway through the book. The ending had a neat twist to it as well. I’d check out more books by this author.

Henrietta “Hen” Mazur and her husband move to a new street and are invited over for dinner by their new neighbours. Once there, the evening takes a turn for the worst when Hen sees something she shouldn’t. Unsure whether she’s paranoid or has uncovered a dark secret, Hen finds herself obsessing over her new neighbour, that leads her down a very dangerous path.

My enjoyment of this felt as perversely thrilling as the book's plot. This is a quick, easy read with characters interesting enough to hold readers attention, due to the book’s style of narration.

I don't believe this is written with the intention of pulling of any great big twist. I thought where the story was going, was so obvious, that it's intentionally made obvious for readers to build anticipation toward the big reveal for the characters and how they'll react.

The strongest element of this book, it's narration, is also the story's weakest link. It made the plot highly predictable, which, usually detracts from my enjoyment of stories (when they're easily predictable).
The other strongest part of this plot is its pace. I never felt like the pace or action lightened up, or that any chapters were solely filibusters. I can't commend the pace of this enough.

This isn't a mind blowing mystery/thriller, and I suspect if I were to think about it at any great length, parts of the plot would begin to annoy me, like the closing pages and the shunned and judged protagonist due to their mental health trope. But the truth is, I couldn't put this down beyond 50%. I really enjoyed reading it, and would recommend it to those who like a speed read, don't mind fairly obvious plots and can tolerate the trope of the protagonist being judged by their mental health. I’m now very interested in reading Swanson’s other books, and will keep an eye out for whatever comes next from this author.
And a quick book recommendation - if you liked reading this, there's a good chance you'll like My Lovely Wife by Samantha Downing. The narrations are similar in that the reader gets to read what the bad guy's up to and their mindset.

Thank you kindly to the publishers and Netgalley for approving me to review this book.

Peter Swanson really is a master of domestic thrillers. I have read and loved all of his books, and Before She Knew Him is no exception. This book is a fast-paced, character-driven story, with twists and turns aplenty, and I highly recommend it!

I'm so glad that I got the chance to read an ARC of this book from NetGalley. I didn't really know what I was expecting but it really was a brilliant book. It was a murder mystery/thriller which had me on the edge of my seat the whole time. The first half of the book really reminded me of The Girl On The Train which I really enjoyed but I found that the differences were what made this book so good. I never expected the twist that came near the end but thought it was such a clever way to flip the whole story on its head. It also has you second guessing each character with all the unreliable narration. The use of mental health problems showed how much help needs to be out there. I 'really enjoyed Hen and Matthew and thought they shared a weird type of bond that was intriguing. It did seem like fate brought them together and helped Matthew get rid of his 'demons'.

There's a common theme when it comes to Peter Swanson's writing, and that's that he NEVER disappoints! I continue to find myself completely engaged and unable to get anything accomplished once I've started. Can't put his books down, must find out what happens!

Before She Knew Him got me GOOD!! Us Thriller fans crave those jaw dropping moments and this book definitely had it. What a twist!!

Into exploring the inner workings of a serial killer? You're going to want to read this book.

Huge thank you to NetGalley and Peter Swanson for my review copy!

The basic premise of this book starts with a couple who move into another couple, when they are invited over to their home the lady spots a trophy that she believes was involved in a crime of a young man, questions start running through her mind is her neighbour guilty? Or Is just another trophy?

I'll start of by saying that this is the first time I've read a Peter swanson book from start to finish, I did start the kind worth killing before and although I was enjoying it I got distracted and placed it aside so this is my first real attempt of reading a full novel. I'll say that the characters were annoying me in this book, hen was fine but her husband was stupid from the get go, he didn't believe a single word that his wife said and then there was just some of this book that was uncomfortable to read, I get that it was suppose to be that way but I also felt like how it was written in such an obvious way also made it less of a suspense novel.
The part at the end with the two twist, I didn't see coming so yes they did surprise me but with that being said I still really didn't enjoy this book, however I will be reading more by this author to see if I enjoy any of his other novels.

This is my first book by Peter Swanson and I have mixed feelings about it. It was a little slow to start and all the characters seem to be flawed in one way or another. The author seemed to have a fixation about how the characters fell asleep at night. Then suddenly the pace of the novel speeded up with twists and turns galore. The writing was good and I was definitely hooked. The conclusion was a bit sudden I felt and I knew there would be yet another twist in the tail. I would definitely read more by this author,
Many thanks to Netgalley/Peter Swanson/Faber & Faber for a digital copy of this title. All opinions expressed are my own.