Vendor
	Fritz Agency Christian Dittus
Original language
English

BEFORE SHE WAS HELEN

Caroline B. Cooney

Clementine Lakefield leads a simple life in her retirement community in Sun City, South Carolina. She plays cards with her neighbor Joyce, substitute teaches Latin on occasion, and has even learned to text with her grand-niece and grand-nephew. But when her neighbor goes missing, and when it turns out that his neighbor is harboring a piece of stolen glasswork, Clemmie suddenly finds herself at the center of a dangerous conspiracy, with infamous drug dealer Borobasq convinced that she has something to do with the theft. But the prospect of Borobasq's wrath scares Clemmie much less than the fact that his appearance may force her to truly confront her own past life - and the many secrets she's long since buried.

Available products
Book Published by Poisoned Pen Press

Comments

Perfect for fans of domestic suspense and believable, mature characters, and anybody who likes a solid twisty story. -- Library Journal, starred review

Caroline Cooney's BEFORE SHE WAS HELEN is a clever whodunnit featuring an immensely likable septuagenarian heroine with a tragic past. Cooney is deft at weaving together the mysteries of a fifty-year-old cold case murder and a still-warm body at a retirement community, slowly unveiling a slew of possible motives and suspects for both crimes. Loaded with action, fast-paced, and offering a series of emotional punches, this book will leave mystery lovers wanting more. --- Carter Wilson, USA Today bestselling author of The Dead Girl in 2A and Mister Tender's Girl

A fine mystery from a highly regarded YA author. -- Booklist

Caroline B. Cooney has a genius for skewering culture, crime, and society. As once she demonstrated to the world a pressing level of danger we needed to understand, now she whips millennial angst, recreational drug use, and one feisty, heroic retiree into a thrilling, toxic brew that will leave readers cheering by the end. Retirement villages never seemed so mysterious and exciting! Under Cooney's deft hand, hidden dangers emerge, and the ties that bind us, young and old, just may save us in the end. -- Jenny Milchman, USA Today bestselling author of Cover of Snow and Wicked River

Japan: Hayakawa;

US publisher Sourcebooks created this book trailer. [https://linkprotect.cudasvc.com/url?a=https%3a%2f%2fdrive.google.com%2ffile%2fd%2f190AYhkijS8uFHwWw-LJ9ai4WwiQ75cAN%2fview%3fusp%3ddrive_web&c=E,1,dkjZmP6AsZ9OX7hR0gFfv56tErTh9mdBGYZekhYs61DS8AFYAsKOODZBJiyHFdMp9BFtRYohBT2OML5fvhEuDjoXRHG5GJOs9AybTX9IKVhvYNoZxuoQ&typo=1]

As BEFORE SHE WAS HELEN opens, readers are drawn into what appears to be a light, retirement-community caper. But author Caroline B. Cooney quickly flips expectations upside-down in this deceptively dark mystery. Between old crimes and fresh murders, septuagenarian protagonist Clemmie faces an unspeakable fear that will keep readers hooked in this twisty whodunit. --- Julie Hyzy, New York Times bestselling author

Caroline B. Cooney is a master of taking a small, common moment - seeing a face on a milk carton, posting a harmless photo - and turning that moment into a thrilling story. In this mystery, Cooney gives us Clemmie - a senior citizen living a long deception, who fights back with intelligence and courage against dangerous foes, both present and past. Before She Was Helen is an emotionally rich page-turner about the lives we wantand the lives we make. -- Jeff Abbott, New York Times bestselling author of Never Ask Me