Before We Met

Whitehouse (The Bed I Made) takes a familiar premise—a woman with doubts about her new husband—and spins it into an intriguing thriller that avoids romantic-suspense clichés. Hannah, an ad executive in her early 30s living in New York City, falls in love with fellow Brit Mark Reilly, marries him, and moves into his palatial London home. Several months later, he fails to return from a business trip to New York and calls her with implausible excuses. After learning that he told coworkers he was going to Rome and that he hasn’t checked into his usual hotel, Hannah suspects an affair. As she struggles with her trust issues, she must consider whether Mark is trying to protect her. Initial flashbacks slow the narrative, but it soon picks up speed and builds to a tense, unexpected climax. Hannah is a strong and likable heroine, although readers looking for character depth and development may be unsatisfied by the superficial treatment of her marriage and troubled family. Agent: Claire Conrad, Janklow & Nesbit. (Jan.)