Twenty years ago, Nick Hansen was in love with Marissa Minor. They were college kids, together for a couple of years, his one true love, or so Nick thought. One day, she told him he needed to be done with her. No friends, no anything. She was leaving school and him. Two days after that, she died in a fire at her college dorm. SOMEBODY I USED TO KNOW fast forwards to twenty years later and Nick is just getting by. He has never gotten over Marissa. He thinks of her all the time and then one day he sees a girl in the grocery store that looks just like Marissa.

Emily could be Marissa's twin. Of course, Nick tries to talk to her and she runs away. A few days later she is found strangled to death. She has no identification, no cell phone, no wallet, no anything. The only thing the police find on her is a piece of paper with Nick's name and address on it. Nick quickly becomes a person of interest not just because of the piece of paper but because he was the last one seen with her. SOMEBODY I USED TO KNOW is filled with hate, relationships, secrets and lies. What connects these two women to Nick and is he the reason why they are both dead? What is the truth behind Emily's startling resemblance to his ex- girlfriend? And more importantly, what really happened to Marissa?

Here begins Nick's journey into the past as he tries to figure out who this young woman was and why she looks just like his ex. We're they related? Could she possibly be Nick' s daughter? The timing isn't right for that as Emily was born a few months after The fire. Why did Marissa break up with him right before she died and why did her family suddenly pack up and leave town after that? Was it simply too painful to remain or was there something else going on? SOMEBODY I USED TO KNOW will keep you guessing with every page you turn. Will Nick ever be able to let go of Marissa and move on with his life? Will he get the answers he has been looking for, for the last twenty years?

SOMEBODY I USED TO KNOW is filled with twists and turns that will have you forgetting everything you are supposed to do until you reach the very last page. I read it in one sitting and found myself saying "no way" over and over again as each clue is revealed. I love when an author can do that to me and David Bell sure knows how to rope the reader in. I've never read David Bell before but now I'm going to read all his previous books as well. If you love a suspenseful read you will really enjoy SOMEBODY I USED TO KNOW.

Book Summary

The breakout author of The Forgotten Girl and Cemetery Girl, “one of the brightest and best crime fiction writers of our time” (Suspense Magazine) delivers a new novel about a man who is haunted by a face from his past....

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.