I had never read a Mary Kay McComas book before and I was delightfully surprised at what a good story What Happened to Hannah turned out to be. Twenty years ago, Hannah Benson, at the tender of 17, left her home in the small Virginia town of Clearfield and ended up in Baltimore, Maryland where she’s been living ever since unbeknownst to the people of Clearfield who think she’s dead. The people of Clearfield believe that the night Hannah ran away she was really killed by her abusive father. The same night her mother finally had enough and killed Hannah’s father. Now, 20 years later, Hannah gets a call from her high school boyfriend, Grady, who is now the sheriff in Clearfield. Her mother and sister have both died, leaving behind her niece, Anna (short for Hannah), who is only 15 and in need of a guardian.
Hannah must return to Clearfield, face all the people who knew her and her family 20 years ago, knew about the abuse she, her mother and sister were subjected to at the hands of her father and did nothing about, and meet a niece she didn’t even know existed. Returning to her childhood home brings Hannah’s demons to the surface all over again. Grady had never forgotten his high school girlfriend Hannah, who had so many secrets. Can he and Hannah overcome the past and build a new future for themselves and Anna together? Suspenseful and with some violence, What Happened to Hannah by Mary Kay McComas is a good choice for those who like Catherine Coulter, Nora Roberts, and Luanne Rice.