I won this book from First Reads. I've been a Laura Lippman fan for quite a while now. For a long time, I've preferred her Tess Monaghan series to her stand alones....until now. I really enjoyed "and when she was good." The writing was clear (though this ARC had a few spelling/grammer errors)and flowed very well. The back and forth between Helen's early days and Heloise's present was well done and I didn't have any trouble following the narrative. The only thing that kept me from giving the book 5 stars is that I didn't really like the main character. I appreciate how life's twists and turns brought her to where she was, she's interesting, but she's not someone that I'd want to know.