The Girl Before by J.P. Delaney

 

The apartment is amazing.  Right in the heart of London yet surprisingly affordable.  It's a miracle of efficiency and smart technology, built on a minimalist plan.  But not just anyone can move in.  In order to rent it, tenants must be approved by the firm that built it and the architect, Edward.  

There are rules that must be agreed upon by those who rent.  Rules about keeping things cleaned and put away.  Rules about no pets or children.  Rules about agreeing to answer questions whenever the technology decides it's time to.  Those who are accepted seem to fit a pattern.  The women all have a tragedy in their backgrounds and are looking for a new start.

Emma had been traumatized in a break in at her former apartment.  She reported to the police that she had been terrorized and raped by the criminals.  Jane has also had a recent tragedy.  Her pregnancy had ended not in a baby to bring home and raise but in a stillbirth.  The two women share another characteristic.  They each fall in love with Edward and are soon under his control.  Jane is curious about her predecessor, Emma.  She knows Emma died in the apartment at the bottom of the stone stairs.  Was it the accident the police wrote it off as?

J.P. Delaney has written an intriguing mystery that has already been sold as a series on BBC One and HBO Max.  The novel is told in the alternating voices of Emma and Jane and the truth slowly emerges.  It has touchpoints in the author's own life and history.  He has also written under the name Jonathan Holt.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.