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.

Im a big fan of Peter Swanson and am so glad to say that Before She Knew Him did not dissappoint. If you are a psychological thriller fan and haven't read this one yet be sure to get your hands on a copy as its out now!

This book is told from multiple POV which i enjoy in a book. It was so unpredictable with several twists and turns that kept me wanting more. Once i was in the book i couldn't put it down because i needed to keep going to find out what was going on. The character development was amazing Swanson knows how to build intriguing characters with lots of layers thst add to the plot. Sawson then completely blew my mind with an ending i didn't see coming. Which in my opinion is the best kind of thriller. 


I would like to thank Faber & Faber and Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review 



You can also find my review on Instagram as of Thursday may 30th www.instagram.com/teatime_with_a_book  and my goodreads

The story drew me in from beginning to end, keeping me entertained and guessing throughout. The twists didn't feel forced, the story flowed nicely and the characters were intriguing.

This man is one of the most brilliant authors. 
This is one of the few books that I want to read over and over again. 
It has the most amazing twist in the later stages of the book which comes as a complete surprise. 
Excellent book

I did enjoy this book - I found the story intriguing (the premise is different and refreshing) and overall it was a fun read. 

However, earlier on in the book the writing style seemed a bit stilted - for example, in 1 paragraph, the word “Hen” was used 6 times which felt repetitive and annoying. Later on in the book the writing was a bit tighter though, and I found it a more enjoyable read as I went along. 

The characters were interesting, particularly Matthew, and I looked forward to continuing the book in order to find out what happened next. Unfortunately, I did figure out what the big twist would be pretty early on in the book, so it was somewhat predictable but that actually didn’t diminish my enjoyment when it came to the “big reveal”. 

I’d recommend this book - a definite page turner.

As always with Peter Swanson, we have another thrilling and fast paced book. He is great at making you think one thing is happening and that you know the outcome and then bam out of no where... plot twist after plot twist. Did not see this ending coming at all and was truly happy with the ending which isn’t always the case with thrillers but he comes back with another great book again!!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advance ARC in return for an honest review.

Hen (short for Henrietta) and Lloyd move to the suburbs and meet their neighbours Matthew and Mira.  On the tour of the house Hen notices an object (a fencing trophy) belonging to a young man who was killed two years ago.  Hen appears to have a fascination for unsolved murders and her mind goes into overdrive.  What is her neighbour Matthew hiding?

The novel does not take the usual Psycho Killer approach though, as Matthew certainly doesn’t hide the fact from Hen that he is a psychopathic murderer.  He is comfortable in the knowledge that Hen can do little about it, especially due to a history of mental illness, and false accusations.  This makes a very fast plot line told from both Matthews and Hens point of view.

Matthews brother comes on the scene, and he is as psychopathic as Matthew, and the pair of them go rampaging through the town.  

Though not together. 

With Hen helpless to do anything about it.  This aspect I loved, Hen is terrified, and isolated in her knowledge of what exactly goes on in Matthews mind.  Matthew on the other hand is attractive and charismatic which makes him very believable as the “man next door”.

Then the book goes over the edge with Matthew’s psychopathic mind and goes hurtling to the end.  Leaving Hen to pause for reflection in her studio with an ending that sent chills up my spine, and my hackles on edge.

This for me was a hidden gem that I definitely recommend.  The only thing for me though is the title – I don’t know if it’s before Hen knew Matthew, or before Mira knew Matthew, or before Hen knew her husband Lloyd, or if it was someone else completely.