There was a lot happening in this book, but also not much at the same time. Confusing? So was the story.

I had a hard time staying focused on this one. I felt no connection to the characters which I think made it difficult for me to stay invested. And I also think that not having a connection to the characters was because the start of the story was an overload of present and past stories combined and it was hard to keep it straight.

I think the idea of this book was good, it sounded really intriguing. I just think the execution was not great. I don’t know if there were too many characters or if it was just because I didn’t have a connection with any of them that I found myself trying to recall which character was which and what their story was.

I found the book to be less of a thriller, because honestly, there was not a single moment where I thought “oh no what is going to happen” or “I need to keep reading and find out what is going on.” I don’t know what I would classify it as, maybe a family drama? But even that seems inaccurate.

I found the ending to be lackluster. Again, maybe because I didn’t have a connection to the people, but it just didn’t grab me and feel complete.

There were some interesting aspects of this book and I do think it had a lot of potential to be really good. I just think that the story got too lost in the confusion of characters and building a backstory than focusing on the present story.

This book was okay, just confusing. I’d give it 3 stars, and suggest you read for yourself. Maybe there was something I missed that someone else will appreciate and they will really enjoy this book.

I really didn’t enjoy this book that much. The shifts between two different timelines were difficult to follow and I didn’t connect with the characters.

This book was a treat! I have been a fan of Cooney’s books all my life. Her Emerrgency Room was weirdly my favorite book for a good portion of my childhood. And of course, Janey’s story and her milk carton face is ingrained in the minds of all older millennials. But this was different! This was adult and nuanced and had a really unique cast of characters and most of them were elderly, which was fascinating. I loved the twists and turns and the inability to predict the ending (I read a lot of YA, and while I love them, often the mysteries are heavily telegraphed for adult readers). I truly didn’t call it and I’m really glad I didn’t. There was a large chunk towards the end with a lot of “he went here then she went there and cars were exchanged etc” that was hard to follow and not really helpful to the plot, but other than that we had a fantastic mystery with a great secret-filled main character that rivaled the development of the MC in the Hearts Invisible Furies (also amazing).

You might think that Before She Was Helen by Caroline B. Cooney, which takes place in a retirement community , is a cozy mystery but cozy it is not. This is the story of the two lives of one woman. Helen lives in a villa in Sun City in South Carolina. She has made a life for herself, enjoying the lifestyle and making new friends. She has left her past behind because it was a horrible past. The novel alternates between Helen’s life in the present and her life fifty years ago. When her past threatens to ruin her quiet retirement, she finds herself trying to avoid the unsavoury people who persistently stand in the way of her anonymity. There is a diverse and interesting cast of characters and the plot contains numerous mysteries and these will keep the reader guessing. This is a well-written mystery with plenty of suspense throughout. I look forward to reading more books by Caroline B. Cooney. Highly recommended. Thank you to Poisoned Pen Press, NetGalley and the author for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Mysterious, suspenseful, and full of laughable moments - this book did not disappoint! Caroline B Cooney was the author who first got me REALLY into reading - as a kid, my goal was to read every single book she wrote that my library had. My young mind never put together that she was still writing and publishing more books so imagine my excitement when I came across a couple of her new books offered on NetGalley! I hit request faster than you can imagine.

This book did not disappoint! The story was complex with several characters leading mysterious second lives and odd twists you will not expect. I loved how you got a glimpse into every character's mind at some point from the protagnoist Helen/Clemmie to the 'villain' Borobasq and even minor characters (I hear you Johnny!). The way this was written, it was sometimes confusing whose perspective you were reading as it switched mid chapter. The same goes for the time period - there were tons of flashbacks to moments from Clemmie's childhood or earlier years or even a few days earlier mixed along with the present throughout each chapter. A few times I had to dig around to figure out whose perspective I was getting or what time period or place I was reading about. However, this added to the suspense and the intrigue as more and more information trickled in.

If you love a book with a great mix of suspense, whodunnit, and humor, I recommend grabbing up this one and giving it a try!

When we first meet Helen, she is a little, old lady living in a retirement village...and she has two names. And two cell phones, one for each name. So, what's up with Helen? Or is it Clemmie? Then, she goes to check on a neighbor and finds there is a secret door going from his garage to the unit next door (definitely not approved by the HOA) and when she goes through the door, the last unit looks like no one has lived there.

But there is a glass sculpture that she can only describe as a tree dragon, so she snaps a picture and sends it to her grand-nephew and grand-niece. Bentley (the nephew) recognizes the sculpture (which is really a bong) and that the artist who created it had put out on the internet that it had been stolen. And then a badly decomposed body is found in the golf cart in the garage of the first neighbor, and it hadn't been there when Helen first checked.

So what starts out as a little story about who Helen/Clemmie is and why she is living under an assumed name, becomes a book involving drugs and money and two murders, one a 50-year-old cold case that is being reopened. What the what, Helen?!

I feel the need to issue a trigger warning. There is a stalker and rapist in this story and some of the scenes with him may be a lot for people. I don't think you'd have to be a little, old lady to be shaken by some of the events and the way they were handled.

My thanks to Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

BEFORE SHE WAS HELEN
Caroline B. Cooney
This turned out different but better than expected. I was glued to the pages. The back & forth between past to present adds interest. I adored Clemmie; she was really fascinating. I recommend this book!

The story unfolds at a retirement commmunity in North Carolina and Helen is our main character. Helen is not her real name so you will read about "Clemmie" and realize Helen is an assumed identity, one she has had for decades. Hence the title Before She Was Helen.

Something tramatic happened to Clemmie years ago and she went into hidiing, hoping her past will remain hidden. There are some sad stories in this narrative and while I love a mystery, this one was a bit too much on the cozy mystery genre. It's a good storyline and if you have patience with the over 55 community and the geriatric issues of physical health and conversations, you may like this mystery.
Publication date was May 4, 2021 by Random House - Ballentine. Genre: General Fiction, Mystery, Thrillers.

Thank you to Netgalley for the advanced reader's copy of this book. I was not compensated for the review, all opinions are mine.

Clemmie is an incredibly likable character. My review would have been higher, but I was taken aback by some of the darker turns the book took which I wasn't expecting. However, I did really enjoy the storyline itself. I just wish I had a better idea of what I was getting into before I started. There were a few things that were easy enough to figure out early on, but there were still some mysteries that I didn't solve until the end. It was overall an enjoyable book.

3.75 stars

A surprisingly deceptive cozy. This appears at the beginning to be a senior mystery, not my favorite genre. But -- as time progresses we discover that there is much more than you would think going on.

Clemmie is a never-married mostly retired Latin teacher who lives at a retirement village in the Carolinas. The narrative calls her Clemmie but she is known as Helen by her neighbors. The whole adventure begins when she does a daily check in with a curmudgeonly neighbor and he doesn't respond. She takes the key he's given her and goes to check on him.

He's not there, but she notices an extra door in his garage that leads to a neighboring unit. When she goes inside, driven entirely by nosiness, there is a gorgeous glass sculpture in the condo -- and nothing else. Nothing to indicate anyone ever lives there. Clemmie sneaks a cell phone picture of the glass and texts it to her grand nephew. This sets in motion a quite bizarre chain of events, which includes a drug dealer showing up at her door and some associated violence.

And as the narrative unspools, we find out that Clemmie aka Helen has been living under an assumed name for decades. We learn she has some traumatic incidents in her past which culminated in a death and she has been hiding out for years. This is nicely paced -- the author feeds us a bit of the backstory at a time.

The author describes the 1950s and the cultural atmosphere, which some reviewers were bored with. But I looked at it differently. This whole book is an indictment of the narrow minded, conservative, hypocritical and uncommunicative times then and I thought that's what was being singled out.

This was something different and quite enjoyable. Thanks to the publisher and to Net Galley for providing me with an ARC in return for my honest review.

Clemmie is a woman in her 70's who lives a pretty average life in Sun City, a retirement community in the North/South Carolina area. Yet her life is anything but average - and why does everyone think her name is Helen?
She goes to check on her grumpy neighbor Dom one day and finds more than she bargained for - a door that leads to Clemmie snapping a picture. This picture causes Clemmie to become involved in life changing events - and Clemmie....er, Helen, has a few secrets she wishes to keep hidden. Readers will discover that nothing in Sun City is as it seems, and everyone is keeping secrets.
This book was fantastic! It was not at all what I expected. I seem to be one of the few readers that did not have the pleasure of reading the author's previous YA books, but it looks like my TBR list just got a little longer. As for this story, I loved Clemmie/Helen and the way the author blended the two timelines together. I would definitely recommend this book!
Thanks to Caroline B. Cooney, Poisoned Pen Press and NetGallley for the ARC.

Clemmie has a secret identity that is about to be revealed due to her own oops kind of behavior. She posted a picture of an item and it turns out to have been stolen. from a drug runner no less. Her 55 and over neighborhood has never seen activity like this before!

Cute story that touches upon some serious issues and how time tends to treat those issues very differently.

Thank you NetGalley for an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest opinion.

I received an advance copy of, Before She Was Helen, by Caroline B. Cooney. This book was very interesting. A lot of secrets in this town.

A great who done it mystery with older characters which I love the story was slow at first but picks up. Enjoyed the characters and story.

I thought it was an interesting, complex, twisty and addictive mystery/thriller.
It had an interesting setting and great character development.!
This one pulled me in just as much and I couldn’t put it down to see how it unfolded. I really enjoyed the different settings.

This tells the story of Helen, an older woman who resides in a retirement community and her younger self when people (other than her family) call her Clemmie. The story was told between past and present to ensure that we will get to know both characters and what pushes her to do what she did. I am very heartbroken for Clemmie and the awful things she went through and admired her for being strong. The grown-up her, which is Helen, is also strong and funny. Her actions are practical and innovative. There are so much mystery and suspense going on, and at one point, I was like wth?! I truly enjoyed reading this book—multifaceted characters, enthralling plot, and a fast-paced read.. ⁣

to read this book thanks to NetGalley. I am a huge fan of this author and was thrilled to be approved for this title. It did not disappoint and I loved it. I was fascinated by the characters in this one and couldn’t wait to find out what would happen next. The writing is impeccable. It was fast paced and exciting and it kept me guessing until the end! This one is a must read! I will always be a fan and can’t wait for her next book which I hope comes very soon. Thanks again to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

Hhhhmmmm. This book was good and unusual and well written. I felt it was worth the read. It just didn’t set my world alight and I so wanted to love it.

Fun little mystery with some depth based on a crime discovered at a senior retirement community by Helen /Clemmie our protagonist with a past! Present day Helen does a little sleuthing into her neighbors that ends up in a mess that could threaten to reveal her true identity. The story is revealed in both present day and jumps back to the 1950s as two why this sweet retiree has two phones and two names.

I always enjoy Caroline’s writing. I read her books when I was younger and this allowed me to feel the same way I did when I read her other books. Suspension and good descriptions cause this book to be hard to put down.