Author: Emiko Jean
Year published: 2026
Category: Adult fiction (thriller)
Pages: 320
Rating: 3.75 out of 5
Location: (my 2026 Google Reading map): USA (WA, ID), Japan
Summary: A murdered woman. A missing daughter. A truth buried across two continents.
Married, pregnant, and thriving in her career, Detective Chelsey Calhoun’s life finally feels whole, until an explosive new case shatters everything. A mother is dead. Her sixteen-year-old daughter, Naomi, has disappeared. And the search will awaken questions about Chelsey’s own origins—questions she’s spent a lifetime afraid to ask.
The victim called herself Anne Walker. But she was born Rika Takahashi, and her journey from a remote Japanese farm to suburban Seattle conceals decades of deception. Across Tokyo’s shadowed underworld, an isolated Idaho town, and years of carefully constructed lies, Rika reinvented herself at every turn. But she was always running—from someone, or something.
Now, Chelsey must find Naomi before she becomes the next victim. But the deeper she delves into Rika’s hidden life, the more she discovers: some secrets are worth killing for. And the most dangerous truths may be the ones closest to home.
Told in three interwoven voices, Before You Were Anne is a gripping suspense novel about the lies that bind families and the sins that echo across generations.
Review: I read and liked Jean's The Return of Ellie Black (link to my review), so I was looking forward to this one. It was good, but I do feel like I had to work to finish it.
Chelsea is a good main character, and I like that we keep learning more about her personally in this book. Her new partner, Ryan Montoya, is a good guy, and through their conversations we learn about his background as well. It did feel a bit tell, not show.
The mystery feels like an important one: young Japanese women brought to the US where they then disappear. But one of the perpetrators appeared out of nowhere near the end, which didn't feel quite right. The topic of the story is timely, so that felt good.
All in all, a decent storyline and characters, but I wanted more.
Challenges for which this counts:
- Alphabet (Title)--B
- Immigration--Japan to the US
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