The Night Before by Wendy Walker

 

Laura never thought she would be living back in her hometown.  The place where she grew up with her sister Rose and her husband, Joe and their best friend, Gabe.  The place where she was notorious.  The place where everyone suspected that she might have killed her high school boyfriend.

But after a brutal breakup with the man she thought would be her forever love, Laura fell apart and Rose came to get her and take her home.  Laura had received a text that said he didn't love her and was going back to his wife and she never heard from him again although she tried to text and call.  

Now after a summer of getting herself back together, Laura is finally ready to start dating again, or at least she thinks so.  She goes on a dating site and soon is talking with a man who is in finance as Laura was.  He's the right age and seems nice so they set up a first date.  Laura is driving to meet him.  But when she doesn't return that night or the next day, Rose, Joe and Gabe are frantic.  Who did she meet?  What happened the night before?

Wendy Walker is known for her psychological thrillers and this one doesn't disappoint.  Before writing, she worked as a lawyer and a financial analyst so her background information is always on target.  Laura has never recovered from the night her high school boyfriend was killed in front of her and the suspicion she encountered afterwards.  She has drifted from one bad relationship to another and her family is afraid that this time she won't recover from a bad decision.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.