Before You Were Anne is another immersive crime fiction novel from Emiko Jean that seamlessly weaves the lives of three women together in a complex mystery of family secrets, identity, and fear.

Book 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.

Before You Were Anne Review:

I couldn’t put this one down! I loved the tension between one person’s desire for privacy and a fresh start with another’s intense need to be known. In Before You Were Anne, Emiko Jean brings back beloved detective Chelsey Calhoun from The Return of Ellie Black. This case of a murdered woman in Seattle and her missing teenager brings up Chelsey’s own issues and shortcomings, making this new case that much more personal. 

“The way that man made you feel. It’s not who you are.” 

At the heart of this novel are deep seeded issues of race, class, and human trafficking. It makes a reader’s heart break for the women that find themselves in these situations. Emiko also helps readers to understand the histories and motivations for how they may have become stuck in a situation like this to begin with. The ending twist was shocking and I loved the resolution at the end. Despite the horrors Jean highlights in her books, she always balances them out with hope. 

While Before You Were Ann is not technically a “sequel” and readers can fully enjoy this book without reading The Return of Ellie Black first, I highly recommend it. Not only for potential spoilers, but it truly adds to the narrative here. I devoured his in two sittings over the summer while sitting at the pool. You don’t want to miss this one when it comes out!

Before You Were Ann comes out October 6, 2026 from Simon and Schuster publishing. You can preorder from my Indie bookshop or Amazon.

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