I have been reading Caroline Cooney books for many, many years, and was excited when I saw she had a new book out. The main character Freddy, whose habit of using weed tends to cloud his thought processes, moves into his grandmother's home to care for her. As grandmother's mental and physical health deteriorates, he places her in a nursing home as he can no longer care for her. Freddy makes glass beads for a living, and partly due to his stoner habits, ends up being indebted to someone who does not have his best interests at heart. Through the nursing home he meets Mrs. Maples, who is the guardian for her aunt. They develop a strange sort of relationship, and some of Freddy's actions end up putting Mapes in danger. As murders occur at the nursing home Freddy becomes increasingly concerned for his grandmother. Parts of the book were tedious and slow-going, lots of descriptions of lampworks and Freddy's best works, his bong pipes. While many will read this story because it is Caroline Cooney, it is not her best work.

Take a shiftless stoner of a young man, give him a powerful love of his grandmother, add a unique friendship between the young man and an older woman whose passion is abandoned musical instruments and you have the central characters in Cooney's book, THE GRANDMOTHER PLOT. There is, of course, a murder. It's one of the residents in the memory care center where Kenny's grandmother lives. Who would murder a resident with dementia in a care center and does Kenny have to worry about the same thing happening to his grandmother?

Throughout the book there are glimpses of assisted living type facilities, the residents, the people who work there, the assortment of families and how they cope. Running throughout the book is Freddy's love for his grandmother which is something he thinks about as he makes almost every decision other than when to light up a joint or when he is making glass beads of extraordinary beauty, along with equally exceptional glass drug paraphernalia.

In addition to Freddy and his friend Mrs. Maples with her passion for instruments there are unique characters among the other memory care home residents, the staff, and the criminals from whom Freddy is trying to run. They all mix together in this well-plotted mystery that also takes a look at assisted care living, the staff for those homes, and an exceptional look at people. Can anyone be said to be "all bad" or "all good"? That may be one of the questions you are left with when you finish this book. One extra suggestion, you may find it hard to like Freddy in the beginning but read all the way to the end. There are some enlightening things there as well.

This book was sent to me by Netgalley on Kindle. It is character driven with a convoluted plot which I had difficulty with. I could not get into this book, but fans of this author might. Try it.

If we are being completely honest, the main reason I was interested in this is that The Face on the Milk Carton was one of my all-time favorite, most frequently read books in what I guess would have been my tween years (and is still a bit of a guilty pleasure book that I would gladly re-read again as an adult). In fact, just writing that got me all worked up about the whole situation in the sequel all over again, ha. This book is about a memory unit at a nursing home. Freddy, who somewhat accidentally became part of a money laundering operation and is trying to escape it, visits his grandmother there and is friendly with Mrs. Maple, whose aunt is a resident and who also collects, of all things, pianos. They are slowly losing their relatives to dementia, which seems very realistically written, although I admittedly have no direct experience with dementia. On top of that, one of the care home residents dies suspiciously, leading to a police investigation of the workers, employees, family members. It was more about Freddy and Mrs. Maple and what was going on with them than it was necessarily a "mystery" about just the murder. I enjoyed this. 4 stars.

Freddy's one responsibility in life is the care of his grandmother, who he has placed in a nursing home nearby. He lives in her house, makes glass beads and bongs for a living and is fairly care-free until a woman at the nursing home is murdered and his life and responsibilities spiral out of control. This is a quick, perfect summer read for fans of Belinda Bauer and Richard Osman.

This is the second book by Caroline Cooney I have read. After finishing her previous book, "Before She Was Helen" (which is a must read), I set out to look for another book by her to read. I was lucky to be granted a wish for this book from NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press. This book lived up to my expectations and was an exceptional read.

The main character is Freddy, who has little responsibilities in life but for the care of his beloved grandmother. With his family dispersed, sisters living around the globe, mother is dead, his grandmother care falls to him. With her dementia getting to the point of needing constant care, he is forced to place her in a nursing home. Life has settled down as he and his grandmother have adjusted to this fact. But when one of the other residents in the home is found murdered, Freddy panics and starts to have second thoughts about where he has placed his grandmother.

Freddy makes his money by creating glass beads which he sells at bead shows and also by his bong creations. The bongs introduces us to Freddy's use of marijuana which causes his addled states of mind at times, questioning his character judgements at time, who are friends, who are not. This affects him in his search for the "murderer" and providing adequate protection for his grandmother.

Due to the dementia affecting the grandmother and the setting of the book, we learn about the effects of this disease on the suffering person, their families and those providing the care. It could be depressing and scary to have to see this happening, but the story carries you past this and you start to care for those involved.

The pages kept turning, you want to know what happens next. Highly recommend this book. Give it a read, you will not be disappointed.

There’s just something about Caroline B. Coney that takes me back to my younger days. The grandmother plot was a light mystery. Freddy is in charge of his grandmother who has dementia. I liked that this takes place in Connecticut about 20 minutes from me so I’m familiar with the backdrop of the story. When someone in Freddy’s grandmothers nursing home turns up dead Freddys secrets are going to be exposed. I enjoyed this story a lot

The Grandmother Plot by Caroline B. Cooney showcases the devotion of a grandson to his grandmother who is struggling with memory loss. Freddy is an unlikely and unlucky hero with a heart of gold. Unfortunately, he has had the misfortune to tie his economic success to unscrupulous individuals. He tries to unsuccessfully start over but learns that his past will not be forgotten by those who he wants to escape from.

He gets extremely worried when another resident at his grandmother’s nursing home is murdered. This leads him on a journey to not only protect her but also try to solve the murder. Obstacles make this a challenge for hapless Freddy.

Cooney was a nostalgic author for me, but this was an adult book with entertaining characters and a fun mystery to keep you guessing.

I was provided a free advance reader copy from Poisoned Pen Press in exchange for my honest review on Net Galley. The opinions shared in this review are my own.

This cozy mystery follows two protagonists who are unlikely friends, a fretful, nosy busybody named Laura, and an anxiety-ridden stoner glassmaker named Freddy who is the family caretaker of his primarily assisted-living aged grandmother named Cordelia. Two patients at the assisted-living facility end up dead under mysterious circumstances, but the investigation conducted by the two is ancillary to family politics and caprice, and the book as a whole hardly focuses on the mysteries themselves, rather on the anxieties raised in Freddy’s family, and those who still have residents there. The police casually mention near the end of the book who the responsible party is, which is the extent of solving the mystery. It’s a fine read, just more invested in family politics, the pressures on doing well by the people you care about, and in the end, how family can surprise you with how much they care.

I am a huge Caroline B. Cooney fan and I was THRILLED to get an ARC from NetGalley but unfortunately this one fell flat! I do love main character Freddy, a stoner who cares deeply for his grandma with dementia. My own grandma has dementia and I so relate to his struggle. Unfortunately, this book is driven by accident and coincidence rather than character action, and I found some of the long descriptions to be a bit dull. I'll still certainly read her next book, but this one was not for me.

This book was not what i thought it was going to be. I was expecting a happy adventure with senior citizens, but this story was kind of depressing.

A young man weighed down by the care of his grandmother and in a constant state to prove himself to his dead mother finds himself embroiled in a murder investigation. The initial part takes time to get into with quite a handful of characters. Later on the narrative becomes fluid and captivating. All the characters are well developed. The scenes in the dementia care centre and the inmates daily tasks are very moving. A very good book.

I liked this, but suspect it won't stick with me like other mysteries. Cooney is very prolific, and average reviews of many of her books are average. This one was as well -- good, not great. So it's safe to say that many mystery fans will like this like this but probably not love it.

Thanks very much for the ARC for review!!

Freddie, a glassblower who’s not the brightest bulb in the world loves and visits his grandmother in the dementia care facility. Filled with quirky characters both good and bad, I found it a little hard to keep track of everyone. I I really loved Before She Was Helen, so,I found this book a little disappointing.

Sometimes I end up forgetting the name of the main character after a day or two; not in this book.

Freddy creates glass beads and bongs. And also is the one (the only one) who visits his grandmother who is in a facility for those with failing memories. So we end up learning a lot about druggies and care facilities. Not the usual topic mix for novels.

I've never done drugs ... so I'm not the keenest when it comes to drugs (or alcohol) delusions in novels; but this didn't really bother me.

I was curious enough about the plot to want to see what happened. Probably rounding up to a 4.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher (Poisoned Pen Press) and the author (Caroline Cooney) for the opportunity to review this advance read copy in exchange for an honest review. Publication date is 06 July 2021.

A big thank you to Netgally for the ARC. This author tackles the subject matter of dementia and care facilities, which is dear to my heart.
An ill-prepared Grandson is tasked with looking after Grandma in assisted living, then there's a murder.
I thought the story line and quirky characters were interesting. The capers were fun while addressing the very serious topic of elderly memory loss. Having the grandson get "stuck" with grandma's care was different (usually the female relative). The cover of this book states it's a dark mystery, I found it more a cozy mystery.
A few nitpicky details like (long dangling earrings, unsecured medical records) bothered me. Federal regs. apply.
I grew weary of the elaborate glass-making drug paraphanalia process, which is why I give 3 1/2 stars instead of 4. Also, I figured out one of the "bad" characters early on.
Overall a fun caper, a who-done-it, serious subject would probably be a good book club discussion.

I received an advance copy of, The Grandmother Plot, by Caroline B. Cooney. I have read and loved other book by Caroline, and loved them, but not this one. This book was not for me.

Caroline B. Cooney books take me directly back to my love of reading from when I was a kid. I was delighted when I saw an adult book written by her up for grabs on NetGalley. However, while I really enjoyed the sweet relationship between Freddy and his grandmother, I grew a bit weary of the mundane ins and outs of Freddy's life. It also felt a bit plodding in some areas and I felt some things could have been skimmed over (or left out). Unfortunately this one was just okay to me.

Kindly received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks Netgalley for allowing me to read this book. Freddie had to make the hard decision to bring his grandmother to a nursing home due to her dementia. The visits continue to get harder the more and more she forgets. A patient at the nursing home is found murdered. This book was well written.

I remember reading "The Face on the Milk Carton" when I was young and really enjoyed it. So when I saw Caroline B. Cooney's new novel, my expectations were high; maybe too high.
"The Grandmother Plot" is a murder mystery that was told from the perspectives of two main characters: Freddy, the pothead who makes glass bead/bongs out of his grandma's basement and Laura, an older lady who is the organist of the church and likes to collect all sort of instruments. The common thread is that they both have loved ones with dementia living at the same care home. When one of the residents of the care home died and the police suspected foul play, they teamed up to try to solve this murder mystery. The storyline started off interesting enough, but the story was made up mostly of non-sense internal monologues that just ramble on and on and got nowhere. I was at the 40% mark and I felt like the storyline had not really advanced. So I skipped to the last few chapters to find out what happened and didn't feel like I missed anything in between. Maybe it's just me, It's a really slow burn and I couldn't related to any of the characters and their chaotic thought processes.