The Night Before by Wendy Walker

Trouble follows Laura. Her past is so haunted, she has to change her last name. She second-guesses everything about her life, everything except for her lifelong friendships with her sister, her sister's husband, and their other close friend, Gabe.

Rosie, Laura's sister, is nothing like her. She has a stable life, a good marriage, and a young son she dotes on. But Rosie is very worried about Laura. Laura's about to go out on a date after a fresh start, and while it should be innocuous, Rosie is afraid that it won't be. Laura's relationships have a tendency to end in bloodshed ...

This is an exciting, twisty thriller shifting between Laura's POV during the date itself, and Rosie in the aftermath. It's almost immediately clear that something terrible has happened, but the readers are left to scramble for clues with Rosie, while Laura plumbs the depth of her past. There are shockers at the very end of the book, ones I had no idea were coming!

My only problem with this book is that there is too much going on. I don't want to spoil the plot for anyone, but there is an explanation for why a character is acting a certain (suspicious) way, and that explanation could easily provide material for a whole new book. It's a BIG deal. But here, it's thrown in as fodder, just another distraction.

I also wanted to feel more of a connection to the characters, especially the supporting ones. More importantly, I wanted to see how Laura and her band of friends behave around each other in non-traumatic times. There's a lot about everyone running around, trying to unravel the mystery of what has happened, but I think the real gems would be revealed in everyday interactions with each other.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for an arc.