What would you think of a book that is set up in a retirement village and features a heroine who is well past her prime? Meet Clemmie or Helen who will dispense all your preconceived notions about who can do what and at what age. Helen had a tragic past and to escape it she changes everything about herself and her life. She chooses to become Clementine and we meet her at a retirement village called Sun City where she is now living in her old age. She has keys to the house of her next door neighbour Dom- for emergencies. Not having seen him for a day or so,Clemmie goes to investigate about his welfare. She finds the villa almost as if no one has ever lived in there and also finds a glass dragon whose picture she clicks on her phone and shares with her nephew.

And like they say all hell breaks loose. The glass piece apparently belongs to a drug dealer who will go to any length to get it back. As he arrives in Sun City, we begin too know more about Clemmie's past- how she was raped and stalked by a man in the 50s, who was later found dead. Why she chose to become Clemmie from being Helen. We also are told about her teenage pregnancy and the fact that she had to give-up the child for adoption.

The book tries to do just too much at times juggling the past, present and the characters inhabiting these spaces. Interesting in places and somewhat slow in some, pick up Before she was Helen for the story of the woman who reinvents herself an her life to escape a horrible past.

A septuagenarian heroine....I would have never even thought that it was possible to weave a whodunnit with a heroine this special. Thanks NetGalley for the copy.

I was very happy to see that the author of THE FACE ON THE MILK CARTON had written this new book. When I started it, I was a little confused about the name of the protagonist since she called herself Clemmie but her friends at the retirement village called her Helen. One storyline is what happened in her life to make her change her identity. There was also the storyline of Clemmie having a baby and giving Billy up for adoption. The third storyline was about a strange object d’art that Clemmie finds in her neighbor’s condo. When she sends the photo to her grandniece and grandnephew, danger seems to come quickly into her life. The final storyline is about this strange glass object and the murder that occurs next door. There are LOTS of characters in this book, including most of Clemmie’s friends in the retirement village plus the people from her past. The story is told in the present and in the past, so that is something else that I had to get used to. I enjoyed the story, but I’m not sure how to classify it. It’s part thriller, part mystery and also could be read and enjoyed equally by adults and young adults. This is a fast-paced book with a lot to remember as you read it, seeming somehow disjointed at times, but it comes all together at the end.
Disclaimer
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255, “Guides Concerning the Use of Testimonials and Endorsements in Advertising.”

While this book wasn't categorized as a "cozy mystery" it read like one. I generally try to avoid the genre, but Before She Was Helen was a delightful romp through a retirement community, stereotyped in its cookie cutter homes and its cast of residents who spent their days playing pickle ball and card games.

But Helen just has to go check on the old guy next door, and what she finds puts her in a whole lot of hot water over the remainder of the book, which moves along slower than I would have liked.

It seems no one in Sun City is who they appear. Least of all Helen. Throw in a few clueless relatives, one nasty drug dealer, a local sheriff, and the mystery begins!

When I saw that Caroline B. Cooney had written a new book, I requested to read it immediately as I had grown up on her Face on the Milk Carton series and absolutely adored the books and the movies. It still is one of my favorites to this day and I watch the movie once every now and again. Before she was Helen was a book that I wasn't sure what it would be about and I went in blind. I have to admit it was an odd sort of reading and it had a thriller aspect to it but not at the same time which is why I've put it under women's fiction as a category as it was hard to explain. The book starts off with a lady we know as Clementine living in a retirement village yet the women there called her Helen which I have to admit I found confusing as at first, I thought it might have been her middle name - but then it wasn't. Clem's neighbor Dom didn't text her this morning as he normally does and she gets worried he is dead, she heads next door and there is no sign of him. The strange thing though as she goes into the garage is that there is a door built there that connects Dom's and the Corgan's houses together. Clem peeks in and sees a strange vase sitting on the table and takes a photo to send to her grand-nephew and niece. Turns out the vase is actually a weed rig and was stolen from a drug dealer who will do anything to get it back. So we have that storyline beginning, then Clem is sent an article about an old murder case re-opening. The guy who was murdered is why Clementine changed her name and we are taken back in the past to the first time she met Mr. Creek at High School to the present time. We also catch glimpses of how Clementine became Helen and about the son she gave up for adoption - Billy Boone and his family to present times. Before She was Helen was quite a jam-packed novel and had so many different storylines running through and lots of characters and I felt the latter part of the book became a bit too busy for my liking as it was confusing trying to keep up with everyone involved in the book. Before She was Helen is one of those reads that if you haven't got anything else to read, then pick this book up otherwise you may want to move along unless you enjoy busy novels and can keep up with what's happening unlike myself. Before She was Helen by Caroline B. Cooney is coming soon - May 2020.

Trigger warning, rape.

This book can truly be a blockbuster hit. You will yell, curse, laugh, cry and sigh. Clemmie's story can be anyone's story. How does one hide in plain sight and how can they continue to hide when there is a murder right next door? I do not want to give anything away but will say you will not regret reading this book just beware of triggers.

As a pre-teen/teenager in the 90s, I read everything written by Caroline B. Cooney. Part of my request for this book was because of this nostalgia. I was optimistic about her new adult book because obviously, this was for my generation-those of us who grew up with her YA books. I'm so sorry to say that this one did not work for me. It read more as YA even though it was not marketed as such and I think it should be. I really think that pre-teen/teenage Lauren would've loved this. I liked the setting of the South Carolina retirement community. I thought the main character's issues with technology were pretty accurate to the generation she represents- but the problem was that this just was not very compelling as an adult novel and I also had a hard time connecting with the characters. and I just was not fully invested in the stories- both past and present. Again, I think a different reader and audience may disagree with me and I know Cooney can write because she kept me entertained for many years. I really wanted to love this and I wish I had, but if she writes another one I will probably still give her a shot. Ms. Cooney, if you read this- your loyal readers are grown now and we can think for ourselves and figure things out, so you can unleash your stories on us. I feel like you have them in there and you have watered them down. Don't. Thank you for the ARC. Please keep them coming!

I had read this author’s YA books many years ago and enjoyed them. I was intrigued to try this one.
This book just didn’t grab me. Gritty at times in terms of subject matter.

When this book starts, you could be forgiven for thinking that it's a light-hearted and somewhat fluffy mystery story. You would be wrong. There is a mystery here, in fact, more than one, there's also a cast of interesting characters who all live in some sort of sheltered housing. But that's not all that's going on.
I have to admit that the story of Clemmie's life, of what happened to her before she became Helen is really quite sad. In much the same way that the retirement village gives the impression that all is nice and happy but that there's much more below the surface, the same can be said for her past. While everyone in the 50's was giving the illusion that all was safe and happy, for some, such as Clemmie, it was far from the case.
I really enjoyed this book, both the story of what had been before and what was going on now for Clemmie. It was left so that there could well be a follow on, there's plenty for her still to answer, but whether that will be addressed in a future book or we just assume that it was all forgotten about and swept under the carpet once more, I don't know.
Like many reviewers, I had read some of Caroline B. Cooney's books in my early teens. I think that was one of the reasons that I decided to read this one, but I don't know if you should necessarily go into it expecting similar, this is very much for an older reader. Either way, I really enjoyed it.
I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Just OK but fun book; a bunch of retired folks with way too much time on their hands so they start to do silly/illegal things. Hope I'll never be like that.

You had to admire Clemmie/Helen since she had a raw deal from the very start and she made the most of it. The other characters, not so much.

Thanks to Net Galley and to Goodreads for allowing me an early read on Kindle in exchange for an honest review.

Solid four stars out of five. Warning: there is discussion of rape and a serial rapist, although not graphic.

Clemmie - or, as her neighbors know her, Helen - lives in a sleepy, sort-of retirement community called Sun City. Her next door neighbor Dom texts her every morning to let her know he's ok. Except today: no text.

Clemmie has a key to Dom's place - in case of emergency, and something her friends and neighbors do not know. She heads next door into Dom's place, calling out for him. She doesn't find him, but she does find a door in the garage that leads to the other attached villa, presumably owned by neighbors who are rarely seen.

Telling herself that she's just checking for Dom, she enters the third (very empty, almost unlived-in) villa and sees a glass dragon sculpture that she thinks is so beautiful that she takes a picture and texts it to her nephew.

So begins Before She Was Helen, a character-driven mystery set in a limited community area.

Her text puts into a motion a grand mystery: the creator of the dragon is hunting for money stolen from him and tracks down Clemmie/Helen, Dom is missing, no one knows much of anything about the ghost neighbors, Clemmie's friend Joyce is kicking out her boyfriend (who has been taking money from her checking account in bits and pieces), and all the other neighbors join in the fun when a body is found in Dom's golf cart, in his garage.

There's another story as well: Clemmie's life before she became Helen, as the title suggests, in the 50s. It involves Clemmie being stalked and raped repeatedly by a man, her becoming pregnant tanks to her rapist, and giving up the child to an adoptive couple. When she moves from place to place, trying to escape him, he always finds where she is living and shows up. At one point, he rapes her roommate when he turns up but doesn't find Clemmie. The rapist is later found dead. The case went cold in the past, and in the present, Clemmie's nephew texts her that the case is being reopened, adding another worry to her pile.

The book moves fairly seamlessly between the present and the past, both eras containing complex mysteries to be solved: in the present, who among Clemmie's neighbors are involved in drugs/dealing, and who killed the young man found in Dom's garage? In the past, how did Clemmie finally escape, and who killed the stalker/rapist?

While none of the characters are very deeply presented beyond Clemmie, I still found it an enjoyable read and was wondering how all the pieces would be tied together, or indeed, if they could be. Answer: yes, they could be, and were.

As noted, this is a character-driven novel: there are no big action sequences or gory scenes beyond some blood in a knife fight that involves the artist and one of Clemmie's neighbors. If you are looking or gunfights and foot (or golf cart) chases, you won't find that here. But if you're looking for a good read of how one woman reinvented herself and how she manages to get through the webs small town communities can weave, this is the book for you.

I received an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher. I was immediately intrigued that Caroline Cooney had written a mystery for adults. Having been a high school librarian, I had all her titles in the library.

If you thought life in a retirement community was all cards, dominoes and pickleball, you’re in for a big surprise. The main character Clementine/Helen was leading a double life and almost had her secrets revealed by a murder.

At times the book was hard to follow and I didn’t like how the characters either acted befuddled or were a bunch of busy bodies. It was an OK read.

This book caused me to be rude to my family! 😆 I went out of town for Christmas and kept being anti-social and ignoring family because I simply could not put my Kindle down. In fact, after everyone else was settled in bed, dreaming of Santa, I was still reading. How I love finding something that keeps me so engrossed! Read it and find out who Helen used to be and why she no longer is. It's a pretty convoluted story, but that makes it all the more fun!

Caroline Cooney never disappoints. Before She Was Helen is a well crafted tale of a woman who has been living in secret for many years whose secret threatened to be revealed by a recent crime. The novel takes two tracks - detailing why Helen is in hiding and solving the recent crime. It's a great read.

Like so many others, I remember reading Caroline B. Cooney as a tween - I was intrigued to see what she came up with as an adult book, and the blurb and cover caught my eye. Unfortunately, those turned out to be the most compelling things about this one for me... I never connected with the characters. The plot felt beyond contrived. The characters' personalities were a bizarre mish-mash of childish and granny-ish. It just didn't work for me on any level and I never finished it as a result...

A resident in a South Carolina retirement community, who is already dealing with leading a double (this is not a spoiler; it becomes apparent very early), inadvertently finds herself embroiled in a mysterious neighbor’s drug-dealing operation. The best thing about the book was the character of Clemmie/Helen. 3.5 stars rounded down to 3. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC.

Very engaging plot set in in an unexpected community. You cannot look at ‘old people’ the same way again. Who knows what secrets are hidden away? I think the author, without false sanitizing describes both the characters’ present existence with all its foibles but lets us into the minds of the older characters with love, hate, despair, and the privacy of past years. The ‘way things were’ was a great device to help us understand how the world worked in the past and how the foundation was laid for Clemmie/Helen’s life choices. I enjoyed reading this book.

I loved Caroline B Cooney books when I was a kid and was excited to try out this adult book of hers. I was a little disappointed. I think the author must be older so these issues probably weigh on her but I was a little disappointed the main character was an older woman. I've read other books with elderly women as the main character but this one didn't seem to be elderly so much as out of touch with the modern world. It seemed jarring and a bit unrealistic. I liked the murder and the neighborhood setting but this one was hard for me to get into--I put it down many times--and I didn't love it the way I hoped.

When I started reading this quirky book, set in a retirement community, I thought it was going to be a cozy mystery and therefore perhaps not my style. As I continued to turn the pages, however, I was pulled further and further into the mystery of Clemmie/Helen and her story and I really wanted to know which one of her neighbors was a killer.

I ended up loving gritty Clemmie and rooting so hard for this little overcomer who gets pulled into the shenanigans against her will, always fearing her story which is revealed to us over time, will be exposed.

The murders were just a bonus!

Thank you to Caroline B. Cooney, Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for giving me this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a fast read for me. I was initially intrigued by it because it's set in a retirement community located about 30 minutes from me. A storyline that centers on secrets and how one little slip can derail the secret quickly. I did enjoyed this book, felt that it dragged a bit in the middle, but finished it being overall happy with the story. I do wish that there had been more locations in this book and that the protagonist wasn't so befuddled by technology.

I would like to thank the author/publisher/Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I would like to thank Netgalley and the publisher for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review. I have always been a fan of Caroline B. Cooney and read all her books when I was young so I wanted to read this book as soon as I saw it on here. I was a bit confused by it though, I figured it would be about someone maybe not a teen but someone my age, who read those books back then, instead it was about someone older who seemed confused about technology, drugs, and many other things. The plot lines didn't seem to meld well for me, there was too much back and forth.