Somebody I Used To Know

By David J. Bell

ISBN: 9780451474209

Author Website: http://www.davidbellnovels.com

 

Brought to you by OBS Reviewer jerjen

Synopsis:

When Nick Hansen sees the young woman at the grocery store, his heart stops. She is the spitting image of his college girlfriend, Marissa Minor, who died in a campus house fire twenty years earlier. But when Nick tries to speak to her, she acts skittish and rushes off.

The next morning the police arrive at Nick’s house and show him a photo of the woman from the store. She’s been found dead, murdered in a local motel, with Nick’s name and address on a piece of paper in her pocket.

Convinced there’s a connection between the two women, Nick enlists the help of his college friend Laurel Davidson to investigate the events leading up to the night of Marissa’s death. But the young woman’s murder is only the beginning…and the truths Nick uncovers may make him wish he never doubted the lies. (Goodreads)

 

Review:

While grocery shopping one day, Nick Hansen looks up and cannot believe his eyes.  He sees a woman who could be the twin of his old college girlfriend, Marissa Minor.  But he knows that the woman he sees cannot be her because she died in fire almost twenty years ago.  He wonders if the woman he sees may somehow be related to Marissa, so he tries to talk to her.  But that does not work out too well because she runs off before he can get any answers to his questions.  He wishes he knew who she was or how to find her again, but realizes he has no idea how to go about doing just that.  Little does he know that he will soon be hearing from the police about her.  The woman he saw in the store has been found murdered and she had his name and address in her motel room.  Now he is thrust into a murder investigation of the girl from the store and realizes he needs to further investigate the death of Marissa.  He has the feeling that the incidents are related but he has no idea how or how to find the answers he needs.

The characters are well developed and well rounded.  Nick is a character that you can sympathize with and I found myself caring what would happen to him.  You can tell that he is a man who loves with all his heart and he never got over losing Marissa all those years ago.   Many people remember their first love but I think he takes it a step further.  I enjoyed reading about his relationship with Laura Davidson, a college friend of his.  She is now with the police and she is more than willing to help Nick out in his search for the truth and the answers to his questions.  We all need friends like her, even though we do not all need to solve murder cases.

The writing style flows smoothly and the book is an easy read.  The author is very talented creating suspense and tension with the written word.  There are so many twists and turns that at times I felt that my head would swivel right off my body trying to keep up with all of them.  Just when I thought I had it figured out and what was going to happen, the author took the book in a different direction and my theories went right out the window.  I really enjoy when that happens.

The mystery, suspense and tension are carried on throughout the entire book.   At times I could not swipe the pages fast enough, wanting to see what would happen next.  This is one of those books that I would say “I’ll just read a couple more pages” and then I would find that I read a couple more chapters.   That to me is the sign of a good author and a good book.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a well written, well plotted mystery suspense.  I have not read any other books by this author but I plan to get more of his books to read.