What Rose Forgot by Nevada Barr is a 2019 Minotaur Books publication.

Wildly entertaining, darkly humorous, with best unreliable narrator ever!

Rose Dennis, a widow in her sixties, awakens in a hospital gown unsure of what has happened to her. Her memory is murky, to say the least. Yet, she soon discovers she has been admitted to a nursing home and is being housed in the Alzheimer’s ward. Overhearing an ominous conversation suggesting she might not make it through the week, Rose realizes her life is in danger and not because she has dementia! She begins planning her escape, although she has a few lingering doubts about the sharpness of her mind. However, her suspicions that someone is out to get her are confirmed when she catches someone breaking into her home.

With the help of her reclusive sister and her granddaughter, Mel, Rose sets out to discover who wants her dead and why…

I have been meaning to check out Nevada Barr's long running Anna Pigeon mystery series for a long time. I still intend to do that, but when I saw this was a stand-alone novel, my interest was instantly piqued.

I had no idea what to expect, but the story grabbed me right away- and Rose!! OMG! She’s a real hoot! The plot is a unique one because the reader has no idea how stable Rose really is. Her memory may not be reliable, but it does begin to return in fits and starts as the story progresses. The reader has no more of a clue than Rose what is going on, but her investigative methods are unconventional to say the least, and her inner dialogue is hysterical. She has the uncanny ability to think fast and lie hard, which also really funny, and adds another quirky element to the story. The secondary characters complement the atmosphere and play off of Rose’s antics perfectly.

This story is, at the end of the day, a standard whodunit, but the presentation is certainly outside of the box, which sets it apart from the standard traditional mystery. The author’s execution is pitch perfect, making this one of the most entertaining mysteries I’ve read in a long time. I loved the dark humor, the witty dialogue, and the occasion moment of poignancy in the midst of the screwball action and suspense.

Overall, it’s nice to have stumbled across a pure mystery that is fresh and inventive, and keeps the reader off guard, and thoroughly entertained, at the same time!

I love Rose, and Mel, and Marion. I loved all of the endearing, zany characters in What Rose Forgot. This is a story of Rose, who finds herself locked up in a home, diagnosed with Alzheimer's. She realizes something is wrong and that she has to get out. And then the fun begins.

I can't believe the predicaments that Rose finds herself in. I totally admire her resourcefulness and spunk as she gets the better of her would-be murderer and learns the truth behind all of her troubles. She counts on her quirky sister and her independent granddaughter to help her figure out who's behind all of this. I laughed at Rose's antics while also feeling her stress and pain as she worked through the mess of her life.

I absolutely loved What Rose Forgot and love this other side of Nevada Barr's writing. I've been a huge fan of her Anna Pigeon series and this one is a complete departure from those books. I would love it if this became a series because I'm not ready to let Rose and her family go just yet.

Rose is of an advances age. She finds herself outside in a world she can't remember. Is she just getting forgetful or is it something more. Next Rose finds herself in a nursing home, but she is unwilling to believe she has dementia. The lengths Rose goes to to prove she is still a well functioning senior are quite extreme.
This story really makes you think if u have an older family member. Thanks to netgalley.

This is my first book by Nevada Barr, and it did not work for me. It just felt too familiar and too by numbers.

Nevada Barr is well known for her series of novels featuring Park Ranger Anna Pigeon. What Rose Forgot is not an Anna book but a standalone. It involves the reader in the story of Rose, a woman in her late 60s.

When the story begins, Rose wakes up in the woods in a confused state. It takes her time to return to some version of reality when she then meets up with two young boys. They kindly arrange to contact the dementia care center where Rose has been living. She does not feel that she belongs there though and the book is about how she got there and why. Along the way, readers meet those who help Rose to understand and solve the mystery of what has happened to her.

This book has gotten excellent editorial reviews. To me, it was an okay read. I could not quite become immersed in the story. Still, you may enjoy it, especially if you have read other books by the author.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this book in exchange for an honest review.

Entertaining and almost comical. Rose is a spitfire and determined to find out who wants her dead ... even if it means that she dies trying. Great Novel , Nevada Barr doesn't disappoint

This was a good story line, but I didn't love it. I guess I couldn't connect with the characters on a meaningful level because of the age differences and things. But it was well written and I'm still a huge Nevada Barr fan!

Baby boomers like Anna Pigeon are sure to take this book to heart: Rose has to fight her way out of a memory care unit and battle the people trying to keep her there after being shanghaied with drugs. Rose is every bit as spunky and self-sufficient as the park ranger Nevada Barr has written about for several years. In this standalone, a step-granddaughter proves to be a savvy partner. Please! Can we read about Rose again?

So glad I am done with this unbelievable tale - it tried so hard to be funny, but ended up too long and convoluted to be anything but tedious.
The only reason I finished it was because I was stuck on a long bus ride and had to write a review.

The story started out promisingly - an elderly women, know to be eccentric, has escaped from the memory care unit of a hospital and realizes that someone is drugging otherwise same elderly people, herself included, worth a lot of money.
If the author had played it straight, instead of awkwardly trying to make it humorous and go over the top with action, it might have been readable. I didn't hate the characters, just found the storyline ridiculous.

What Rose Forgot is a wild and crazy ride. Rose Dennis, born in 1952, would undoubtedly appreciate the appropriation of Steve Martin’s signature phrase. Not that there’s anything funny about Dennis’s predicament. She’s on the lam from somewhere—she’s not sure where—clad in a hospital gown and she’s dehydrated and delirious. Perhaps she’s dreaming: “I’ve fallen asleep meditating, she thinks.”

Rose has had many dreams where she knows she is dreaming. So many, she has devised a surefire test. When Rose is dreaming, she can fly. Letting go of the tree, she raises skeletal mottled arms to the sky.



Rose cannot fly.



She’s back on her knees, sticks and leaves pricking her bare legs.

Two men in white coats “burst out from an arch of trees a hundred yards away,” and chivvy Rose back from whence she came.

A discreet sign bolted to the brick reads LONGWOOD MEMORY CARE UNIT.



Two uninformed men and four women, one in pale green scrubs, are standing on the sidewalk as if waiting for the delivery of Rose.

What a dehumanizing way to describe a person. It’s fascinating to eavesdrop on Rose’s mental machinations: she overhears her captors talking and realizes they want her incapacitated. It was a bout of flu that cleaned her system of mind-altering meds. “I am confused and disoriented,” Rose whispers,” to herself. She’ll need her wits around her to escape from her locked psycho ward upscale memory care unit.

Right intention: Get out.



Rose had gotten out. Now she is back in.

She’s done it once and she can do it again. Taking pills impairs Rose’s ability to be coherent, so she hoards her pills and formulates an exit strategy: from The Great Escape to The Shawshank Redemption, a clever escape plot never goes out of style. Rose steals an entry keycard from an attendant, pieces together a disguise, doctors the night nurse’s can of cola with the contents of her pill stash and off she goes: “her prison door hisses open.”

It’s hard to navigate the suburbs of Charlotte in the dark but although her physical strength is waning, Rose makes her way to her granddaughter’s backyard playhouse. Miraculously, Melanie (Mel) appears. Rose’s immediate need is for water, then safety, lest she be dragged back to Longwood.

“Grasshopper,” she says wearily, “this isn’t fair to you, I know that, and if it is too hard, don’t do it—I’ll understand—but I’d like some time to get myself together while I can still find the pieces. Could this be our secret, at least for a day or two?”

Mel is cautious but willing to extend a little rope to her beloved grandmother. She tells Rose she’ll call her an Uber to take her home. Now Rose is worried that Mel will have to lie on her behalf.

“Oh, I won’t mind lying to the police,” Mel says.



Rose groans. She is such a horrible grandmother.



“I probably won’t have to,” Melanie says kindly. “I just won’t be available. Nobody much cares what a thirteen-year-old thinks anyway. Ageism, hello!



“Tell me about it.” Rose sighs. “Thank you.”



“You’ll owe me big-time,” Melanie says, and grins impishly.

Rose is damn impressive when it comes to thinking on her feet. How refreshing that a sixty-eighty-year-old woman is her own savior. Although she’s no Rambo: Rose knows she needs help. Mel has her back but who else? Back at home, Rose spots her iPod and iPad. She sees pictures of two little girls on her device and remembers she has a sister. Her beloved sister Marion.

Rose calls Marion and they talk for hours. Marion suggests that Rose smarten herself up and return on her own recognizance to the Longwood facility (in order to prove that she’s not bonkers, nor suffering from early-onset Alzheimer’s). Marion is a recluse but from within her sanctuary, surrounded by cats, she is a formidable computer hacker.

Marion doesn’t travel. She lives alone with seventeen cats, four computers, two laptops, an iPad, and security cameras in every room. Rose knows she will not leave her home.

Even from a distance, Marion’s cautious, helpful advice, bolsters Rose’s nerves. Until Rose hears someone break into her house. It’s no ordinary burglar: the man is trying to kill her! He’s a “great, lumpish, ape-like creature.”

His gut is a beer belly. He oofs as he bends over to get his head outside the window. On his feet are deck shoes. They offend Rose. A man ought not to set about murdering a person while wearing deck shoes. It is as if he doesn’t take killing her seriously.

If disdain is a weapon, Rose has that in spades. She’s weak though: “before the proverbial hit the fan, she remembers, she did three sets of ten men’s push-ups every night after yoga,” but now she’s operating on nerves and determination. She knows that “Longwood knows that without the red capsules, her mind has returned.”

Would she rather die than face going back into the control of people who have an interest in maintaining her dementia?



Darn tootin’ she would.

The porcine assassin and Rose are mano a mano on the deck. He has a knife clenched in his teeth. “Folding down over the ridgeline in an extreme Child’s Pose that would impress her yoga instructor, Rose reaches out, grabs the haft, and jerks.” Never discount muscle memory!

So much for Marion’s plan: if someone wants her dead, Rose is not going to show up at Longwood, or at least not in her current feeble, frail incarnation. She doesn’t know who is trying to kill her nor who she can trust.

Nevada Barr shatters clichés in What Rose Forgot. Society overlooks old women and teenage girls, and heaps scorn on acrophobic spinsters and their cats. But Rose, Mel, and Marion are the A-Team, working collaboratively to figure out why Rose Dennis has a target on her back. It’s a page-turning, race-against-time thriller, unusual in many ways and the more enjoyable because of that.

Rose Dennis wakes up in a hospital gown, her brain in a fog, only to discover that she's been committed to an Alzheimer's Unit in a nursing home. With no memory of how she ended up in this position, Rose is sure that something is very wrong.
With the help of her computer hacker/recluse sister Marion, thirteen-year old granddaughter Mel, and Mel's friend Royal, Rose begins to gather her strength and fight back—to find out who is after her and take back control of her own life. But someone out there is still determined to kill Rose, and they're holding all the cards.

When I started this book I was totally confused. But once the author pulled herself out of all her alliterations and imagery, it became clear why. A terrorized mind is indeed a terrible thing. And Rose is indeed terrorized. One woman must break her bonds of mental instability with the help of her granddaughter and her sister, even though they aren’t sure she isn’t really suffering from some kind of dementia. Are they humoring her or helping her? At this point the book evolves into a funny at times good old fashioned mystery as Rose regains herself. Her true personality emerges and you really like her and root for her, no matter where things take her. Then the book evolves once more into the topic of elder abuse and the truth behind that issue, which is truly sad. Once I got to know Rose, I knew nothing would stop her from succeeding. Just read it already!

Rose is in the middle of one of her yoga/meditation sessions when she realizes something’s not…quite…right. And when she opens her eyes to find she’s sitting outside by herself, dressed in nothing but a hospital johnny, it doesn’t take long to realize that nothing is quite right! When she’s “recaptured” by her “jailers,” we come to find out that Rose has managed to skip out of the Memory Care Unit at the local old folks’ home. But is Rose really demented? With all of the medication the nurses continue to give her, it’s hard for her to figure out what is really going on. What to do? Hide those meds, of course, and then…escape. I have to say, this is the first book I’ve ever read by this author, and I’m not even sure what drew me to it in the beginning, since reading about an older woman with dementia just doesn’t sound like my usual book selection. BUT – what a wonderful ride it turned out to be! Full of suspense, humor, and wonderful characters, this one is going to be one of my top recommendations to come. Don’t be afraid of this one---I’m personally hoping Barr will find a way to make this into a series!

NOTE: Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read the advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

An elderly woman discovers she’s being held against her will in an assisted living facility. She decides to find out the truth behind her circumstances, all the while dodging assassins and the pitfalls of technology. Author Nevada Barr balances the realities of aging with a plot that, more or less, does its job in the fairly likeable novel What Rose Forgot.

All the world’s a haze for Rose Dennis; it seems like the days seep into one another in a dense fog. Then one day she has a moment of clarity and realizes she isn’t at home. In fact, she’s surrounded by people she doesn’t recognize who keep talking about her as if she isn’t right there in the bed next to them.

As she fights through the fuzziness induced by drugs, she pieces together the truth. She’s a resident of the Memory Care Unit in Longwood, an assisted living facility in Charlotte, North Carolina. But Rose doesn’t remember checking herself in to this place, and she definitely doesn’t remember anyone else doing it. How did she get here? Why is she here at all? And how can she go home?

That last question bothers her more than anything else, and with some ingenuity she manages to escape Longwood. Bits of her life return to her, and she goes to her stepson’s home. There she reconnects with Melanie, her teenage granddaughter and biggest fan in the world. Shocked to see her Gigi out of Longwood, Mel joins Rose’s quest to figure out what happened. Because the more Rose remembers, the more she realizes something is definitely wrong about her entire situation. The fact is confirmed by the arrival of a man hired to kill Rose; when he fails, Rose knows her days are numbered if she doesn’t figure out the situation soon.

With the help of Mel, Mel’s best friend, Royal, and Rose’s big sister, Marion (a computer whiz in California who refuses to travel but offers moral, and tech, support in every way,) Rose begins to make sense of her admittance to Longwood. The four discover a disturbing fact, and their mission becomes larger with the aim to expose the guilty parties. Along the way, Rose realizes that her age may slow her down but she still has plenty of fight left.

Author Nevada Barr gives senior citizens a prominent voice through Rose’s character. Rose feels every bit of her age, and she’s slowed down by it time and time again. Her sheer grit to get to the bottom of the matter, though, propels her forward every single time she gets knocked down—and she gets knocked down several times.

Therein lies part of the book’s weakness. In different parts of the novel, Rose is hurt—when she’s running away from Longwood, for example, or when she fights the hitman hired to kill her. The overtly physical interactions described would knock down people in the prime of their lives, yet Rose stops to sleep and bandage herself and stands to fight another day. The fact that Rose can do so after her accumulation of injuries borders on the incredulous.

On the plus side, Barr builds well-developed characters in Rose and Mel. Mel questions her grandmother but never insults her insistence that she doesn’t belong in Longwood, a testament to the bond between grandparents and grandchildren. Royal, as Mel’s sidekick, is funny and kind and shows up when needed. Marion, despite only appearing via phone, email, and text, also is three-dimensional with her sharp wit and her declaration that she’s “not a hacker” even as she helps Rose break into technology at key moments.

The rest of the characters, by sharp contrast, don’t feel as substantial. Readers would not be faulted for mixing up some of the secondary characters, which makes some of the important turns in the plot feel less plausible. The premise Barr puts forth makes sense; the way the secondary characters participate in that premise may not always be as clear-cut.

Some of the dialogue will make readers laugh out loud, though, and one element of the story comes through loud and clear: even in this progressive culture, the elderly still fight against the stereotypes of age and how society expects them to be. Those wanting a deeply personal look at some of the challenges of aging might want to check this one out. I recommend that readers Borrow What Rose Forgot.

This is my first experience with Barr's writing - but it certainly won't be my last! I am really looking forward to reading more from her! I really enjoyed this fast-paced thriller. It reminded me. a little bit of another one of my other favorite titles, Trust No One, which shares something of a similar premise.

Rose, not even 70, comes to in a field wearing a hospital gown. She's missing memories and when she's forcibly put back into a Memory Carey Unit, she feels threatened for her very life. With mantras, meditations and a surprising amount of action considering the age of the heroine, and along with the help of her plucky granddaughter, Rose begins putting together the pieces of her life and uncovering a plot against her. There are a few genuinely funny moments here and this book was a pure joy to read. I really loved it! Had life not intervened, this would certainly have been a one-sitting read! I am excited to read more from from Barr in the future!

I was on the fence if I wanted to read What Rose Forgot. The blurb didn’t give me any insight into the book. What made up my mind was reading other reviews. Either people loved it, or they didn’t. I am glad that I read What Rose Forgot. It was an exciting, action-packed book.

What Rose Forgot plotline was fast. There were a couple of times where the book did lag. The author was able to get the book back on track after the first time it lagged. The second time, though, it didn’t. Weirdly enough, the lag came at almost the very end of the book.

I loved Rose!! I did wonder, for the first half of the book, if she was having issues with her memory. I did think to myself, “Does she have Alzheimer’s?” My question was answered in the second half of the book. I will say that Rose is a tough cookie, too. She took several beatings during the book that would have broken a lesser woman.

I loved Rose’s relationship with Mel. Their exchanges made me smile and added some much-needed humor into the book. I liked that Rose treated Mel with respect. She listened to what she had to say and, most importantly, she didn’t treat her like a kid. She treated her like an equal, and I loved it!!

I was saddened by how her stepsons treated Rose. Unfortunately, it is an accurate reflection of how our elderly get treated today. Put in nursing homes and forgotten about by their family.

The mystery angle of the book was wonderfully written. I thought I had everything worked out, only to have my theory thrown out the window. I wasn’t shocked at who was behind everything, though. There were some significant clues dropped throughout the book. It was the other half of what happened that surprised me.

I wasn’t a fan of the ending of What Rose Forgot. It seemed rushed to me. I can’t get into much without spoiling the ending. So, I will leave it at that.

I really loved this well-written mystery and I'm so glad I got a copy on netgalley. I am new to Nevada Barr's work, and since this was a stand-alone, it was a good place to start. I'll certainly be checking out her other books.

This book starts out with a confused Rose having run away from her care facility. Since we are seeing things from her point of view - it is a jumble, and everything is frightening. As Rose attempts to determine what is happening, an interesting mystery unfolds. I'm always worried about revealing too much - so I won't comment much on the mystery. I do want to say as a side comment, that I really liked some of Rose's wry comments. And I really loved her fiesty nature, and her relationship with her granddaughter.

“What Rose Forgot” by Nevada Barr is a stand-alone book; it is a departure from her Anna Pigeon series. Readers have not had a new book from Barr in a while, and this new book is a reminder of her incredible writing skill and her ability to create a compelling plot with interesting new characters.
The story takes place in North Carolina, starting out in an unusual place, the Memory Care Unit of a nursing home; not a place where readers would expect to find a charming and funny character such as 68 year-old, wealthy widow Rose, but charming and funny she is. She practices Yoga and has a unique outlook on life. Rose also finds herself in quite a dilemma, knows neither how she got into this place nor how she will get out. But get out she does, and along Roses’s journey readers encounter a variety of other interesting characters and family members including one sure to be a reader favorite, her endearing thirteen-year old granddaughter, Mel.
In rose, Barr created a character that readers love as she tackles thought-provoking topics that no one loves, including ageism and complicated family relationships. Rose may at times feel like she has “been trampled by a herd of gnus,” her journey is captivating, riveting, touching, insightful, gutsy and memorable. The story is well written and fast paced, although some events stray from reality just a bit.
“What Rose Forgot” is a book with edge-of-the-seat suspense and humor on every page. The suspense and drama gain momentum until the almost emotionally exhausting end. I received a review copy of “What Rose forgot” from Nevada Barr, St Martin’s Press, and Minotaur Books. It is enjoyable, entertaining, and compelling. When I picked up a signed hard copy at a recent book signing, Barr shared that while this book will not develop into an ongoing series, there may be just one more book hovering on the horizon for Rose and friends. I cannot wait.

Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin's Press. This is my first Nevada Barr book. I liked the writing style and thought the story was well paced. Rose wakes up in a nursing home and has to convince people she does not have Alzheimer's. I thought this was a solid read and the characters were well developed. 3.5 stars rounded up.

3.5 i wasn't sure while reading this stand alone by Barr, whether I needed to suspend belief or to wish that in my mid sixties I would be as fit and while as Rose. I decided to just go with the flow, the story as it was presented, because it was a fun read. Plus, I adored the character of Rose, loved her relationship with her granddaughter and her friend Royce.

The plight of the elderly is often not a smooth one, as it shows here. Beyond the storyline there is a seriousness of how vulnerable many are, often no longer masters of their own fate. Easy to take advantage of, sometimes no longer believes. Greed, one of the seven deadly sins is at the heart of this book. This is when we could definitely use a Rose, a woman who refuses to be a victim.

Their is plenty of action, the plot zips along, with plenty of both amusement and disbelief along the way. The ending, alas, I though was somewhat of an over kill. Still, it was a fun journey, with a gutsy heroine.

ARC from Netgalley.