The Woman He Used To Know

Old friends. Old flames. Murder. Nick Ryan, a homicide detective, has caught another murder.  As Nick starts his investigation, he realizes the house he’s searching belongs to Elizabeth and Oliver Harper—best friends from his past. He has known Elizabeth and Oliver since fifth grade but doesn’t talk to them anymore, a fact he chooses to not tell a soul until he has to. Nick tries to keep Elizabeth at arm’s length, since she is the wife and a suspect in her husband’s murder. Nick finds it increasingly difficult to keep away from Elizabeth and to prove her innocence. Once word gets out and Nick gets suspended, he’s left on his own to find out who murdered Oliver. As Nick gets closer to the truth, he also gets closer to Elizabeth.

“Suspicion is heavy armor and with its weight it impedes more than it protects.”' With this quote, Helen Starbuck starts off with a bang, bringing the reader along for an emotional and pleasurable voyage. Twists and turns will leave the reader wondering who killed Oliver and their motive until the last page is turned. Some readers may feel the novel drags in places, while other readers will be fascinated by the in-depth look into Nick Ryan's brain as he works the clues and his feelings for Elizabeth grow. The relationship the author has written between Elizabeth and Nick is filled with depth and an intensity that will lead the reader to feel the magnitude of their feelings for each other, both good and bad. Readers will come to understand that the weight of suspicion doesn’t protect, but does impede.

Heather Kroll