When Sloane was five years old her mother, Clara, left – or so she was told. Sloan had heard her parents arguing and then a loud thump. Her father was very aggressive and domineering so Sloane had always doubted the "She walked out on us" version from her father Ed. Her older brother Randy was with a friend overnight so he could neither assuage nor corroborate the fears and suspicions of Sloan.
Sloane left her Texas hometown the day after she graduated high school and became a highly successful model. She had broken off all contact with her father, the powerful and influential town mayor, who was not above blackmailing constituents to get his way. Sloane also assiduously avoided communications with her brother who was obsequious to their father to a fault, and even with Micah, her high school love who is now on the police force. Upon the death of her kindly, platonic mentor, Clyde, who had been instrumental in developing and growing her modeling career, she gives in to her obsession with returning to her home town and laying to rest her suspicions about the disappearance of her mother. Sloane is fairly well-off due to a bequest from Clyde in his will and so she can fund investigating. Sloane's father Ed is very wealthy due to an abrupt inheritance from his father, mother, and brother upon their sudden death due to a robbery/break-in gone wrong. Sloane wonders if her father could have been involved in that crime but he seems to have an alibi. What information can she possibly glean twenty years later that can prove or disprove foul play in the disappearance of her mother? Who can she trust?
Sloane's father Ed is despicable, her brother Randy is a wimp, and her mother Clara is multi-faceted. Micah is a strong, principled character who plays a key role in the story. Many scenes added tension to the read – especially a scuba diving episode. All the underwater sequence needed was the theme song from the shark movie Jaws playing the background to make it more spine-tingling. Because of its plot twists and strong characters, I thoroughly enjoyed Before We Were Strangers and rate it five stars. Amazon readers gave it a 4.6/5 overall rating with 73% of those readers opting for five stars.
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