Before She Was Helen by Caroline B. Cooney

How could being a good samaritan and checking on your neighbor turn into a disaster even though Helen was used to being helpful as well as having disasters in her life?

Helen didn't hear from her neighbor Dom which was unusual since he texted her every morning to let her know he was ok.

Today when she checked on him, he wasn't there, but then she found a secret door between his garage and the other neighbor.

Finding that door was a big mistake...it led to finding something she didn't want to be involved in and something she never knew was going on in her quiet retirement community.  

She also should have never mentioned what she found to her nephew who actually got her in a predicament that “blew up” because he posted it on social media.

If that wasn’t enough trouble for her....her neighbor’s nephew was murdered.

BEFORE SHE WAS HELEN pulled me in because of Helen.

I really liked Helen and felt sorry for her especially since her secrets might get out after all of these years and because she had a terrible childhood filled with guilt and bad memories.  

That's why she created another persona in the first place....she used to be Clemmie.  She had to hide her secrets and her past.

The story line flowed beautifully, and this book is filled with regrets, lovable, quirky retired characters, fun, and a murder to solve. It is difficult to figure out who the murderer is because it could be any number of people.

If you need something different as well as enjoyable, BEFORE SHE WAS HELEN should be your next read because you never know what goes on in a retirement community. 5/5

This book was given to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.