Book Club Review: Before She Knew Him by Peter Swanson
- Megs
- Nov 7, 2025
- 2 min read
Before She Knew Him
Peter Swanson
Publisher: William Morrow
Published Date: March 5, 2019
Genres: Mystery, Thriller, Suspense, Psychological, Fiction
309 Pages / 10 Hours 15 Minutes
Date Read: October 23, 2025
Format: 📱
Source: Libby
As always, if you prefer a spoiler free review please read my quick review instead of the in depth review below.
About the Book
Hen and Lloyd just moved to a quiet neighborhood outside of Boston for a fresh start. Hen meets the couple next door, Mathew and Mira, who invite them over for dinner. During a walk around the house, Hen spots a trophy in Matthew's office that looks suspiciously like one that is connected to an unsolved murder case that she's been following. Hen begins a dangerous spiral as she tries to convince Lloyd that Matthew is a killer. Is Hen mistaken? Is she paranoid? Or is her own mental health unraveling again?
Quick Review (Spoiler Free)
This is a great suspenseful mystery/thriller read. Peter Swanson is apparently known for his twisty suspense novels and I believe his twists got the best of me with this one. I struggled a bit with the audiobook edition because I really didn’t vibe well with the narrator’s tone. Ultimately, this turned me to rent the ebook edition and I am really glad that I did. I FLEW through the ebook in a few hours. I was so engrossed that I did not see any of the twists coming.
Now, let's get into the details!!
(Note: Some text may appear to be blocked out, just highlight that text to read it.)
I read this after reading The Silent Patient, and there are definitely some similarities in how the women are portrayed. In this book, Hen has a past history of mental health problems which makes her a completely unreliable character. We are left to sort out if she is manic and spiraling or if there is validity to what she thinks she knows.
I was on the edge of my seat with this one just waiting for the other shoe to drop. I couldn't even begin to piece together what was happening with Hen and Matthew as they moved through their dangerous dance. Hen strongly believes that Matthew is the killer. Matthew does have secrets of his own though... and I was not expecting the secrets he did have. Even Matthew and Mira's relationship was not something I expected to play out the way that it did. Every time I thought I had this one figured out, I was proven wrong. And even when I was close to getting it right, the author would throw in a little side detail to completely derail the "why" that I thought I figured out. Such a crazy turn of events in this book.
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