The diagnosis of dementia is horrific in itself, but imagine you are also dealing with the guilt of your late wife's murder, hallucinations, adverse drug effects, and perhaps said murdered come to keep you quiet. Overall it was an interesting story, and I appreciated the aspect of an elderly MC and the unreliable narrator trope via a unique dementia perspective. I felt like I was reading a book that was refreshingly and novel. I did want a little more character development, the why behind the original crime, and a clearer ending.

3.5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and Brigids Gate Press for the opportunity to review this ARC.

This book was shocking in a very unexpected way. It tells a sad and depressing story mainly about loss: an old man not only loosing his wife due to a brutal murder, but slowly loosing his memories and sense of reality to progresive dementia as well. Right until the end, you never know what's real, if the appearance of the dead wife demanding the old man to take revenge on her murderer is some supernatural ghost thing or just the disturbing imagination of a frail mind. Experiencing the effects of dementia by sharing the old man's confusion, anger and shame really was very unsettling, and I can't event closely imagine what it must be like to suffer from dementia or be close to a demented person.

This was a cleverly crafted plot and I loved Arthur.
Many thanks to Brigid Gate Press and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

His wife was killed and he is facing a horrible diagnosis of dementia. But his wife won't leave him alone, insisting from both beyond the grave and alongside him that he find the 'other' killer.
She continues to advise him as both he and she lose bits of themselves.
Its a sad story and its clear the author has some experience with this.
There is a resolution, not sure how satisfying it it.

A Man in Winter is a small book length wise that packs a big punch.

The author dives right into the thick of the plot from page one and within the first few pages we can feel the fear and uncertainty that Arthur feels as a result of his dementia diagnosis while trying to put up a brave front for his family.

The visits by the ghost of Arthur's late wife Molly and the description of her ghostly body's gradual decay in front of him hints at the gradual deterioration of his own faculties. By the end of the book I was questioning whether Arthur was really visited by his late wife's ghost or was it all a figment of his imagination as a result of his diagnosis. I guess it is upto the readers to decide.

The cover picture and the title are both so hauntingly apt to the story being told!

My thanks to NetGalley, the publisher Brigids Gate Press LLC and the author Katie Marie for the e-Arc of the book.

A quick and easy read that still has impact. It is not just a horror mystery story with a ghost needing resolution of a crime to move on, it's also a psychological story about a man, grieving his deceased wife and feeling guilty about not being there to help her when she needed him, now diagnosed with dementia and feeling his mind slip away little by little. I really liked how these two aspects play off of each other through the not so reliable narrator and how the ending is very ambiguous, leaving the reader free to either believe that Arthur really helped the ghost of his wife to move on or that everything was a symptom of the dementia.

Arthur has dementia and he lost his wife one year ago, she died during a house invasion, and this book is told by him how he sees things and interprets them, since he has dementia, maybe what he sees and thinks are not the full truth, so he is not a reliable narrator.

The story keeps you interested in knowing more, actually this book reminded me of the movie “the father” with Olivia Coleman, it gets really sad and we can see the confusion on Arthur, without spoilers I can say, if you’re like me and you like to me submerged in your books not fully understanding what is going on, or better thinking that you do, then realize that maybe you didn’t, but written in a very nice way, you will like Arthur, and really, if you’re like me, I think, you will like all the characters.

Actually I got a bit lost on my ARC-TBR shelf and I kind of left this one behind, if I knew I would like this book this much I would have tackled this before.

Thank you NetGalley for the free ARC and this is my honest opinion.

Arthur, whose life was devastated by the brutal murder of his wife, must come to terms with his diagnosis of dementia. He moves into a new home at a retirement community, and shortly after, has his life turned upside down again when his wife’s ghost visits him and sends him on a quest to find her killer so her spirit can move on. With his family and his doctor concerned that his dementia is advancing, will he be able to solve the murder before his independence is permanently restricted? A beautifully written and moving story. Clever, thought-provoking, evocative. A touching and beautiful novel.

I loved this book. Arthur is the man in the winter of his life. Alone since the passing of his wife, and facing the very real horror of dementia, he makes for an extremely likable but very unreliable narrator. Katie Marie does a fabulous job of giving the reader enough background to make him seem the hero, without slowing the pace of the story. With every turn of the page, I felt that Arthur was that much closer to the end of his mind, but would he be able to solve the mystery of his wife’s death in time.

Although I short in length (I read it in two sittings) this novella told the whole story. It is a fantastic tale that tugs at your heart strings and gives you a few frights along the way.

I would recommend this to fans of the style of A Man Called Ove , the content of Gillian Flynn, and the pacing of Laura Lippman. Very well done indeed!

This is an excellent book. It is written from the perspective of a man whose wife was murdered. She comes to him as a ghost and begs him to find her murderer. I like how the book shows you how love endures. The husband is in a race against Time. He’s determined to solve her murder before h

Art’s wife was killed in a horrific manner while he was in the hospital and she was alone. His grief and guilt for not being there is overwhelming. Not to mention the dementia that is taking hold of his body. When he begins to see her spirit begging him to find the other person who was not arrested for her murder, he takes matters into his own hands to help her spirit finally rest. This book was a quick read. It kept my attention and it was very quick moving and interesting but the super long chapters about did me in. I did love the fast pace of it and I really like old Art. But I do feel I was left with questions at the end!

Arthur, whose life was devastated by the brutal murder of his wife, must come to terms with his diagnosis of dementia. He moves into a new home at a retirement community, and shortly after, has his life turned upside down again when his wife’s ghost visits him and sends him on a quest to find her killer so her spirit can move on. With his family and his doctor concerned that his dementia is advancing, will he be able to solve the murder before his independence is permanently restricted?
A Man in Winter examines the horrors of isolation, dementia, loss, and the ghosts that come back to haunt us.
Really enjoyable read totally recommend
Thank You NetGalley and Brigids Gate Press, LLC
I just reviewed A Man in Winter by Katie Marie. #AManinWinter #NetGalley

Is it a ghost story? Is it a love story? Is it both?
You will question it, as the author blends the 2 worlds.
Strong and emotional at times. I think it gets lost on the memories every now and then.
But it's one you get invested with the characters and really get emotionally attached.
Recommended.

Sometimes a book that is supposed to be a horror/mystery novel ends up being much more. Arthur, who has lost his wife to murder, is coping with dementia. After he moves to senior living he sees his wife's ghost who comes to him to ask him to find her murderer. This book was a joy to read. The horror of losing who you are is greater than the thought of ghosts. Great book with a great storyline. Not at all what I expected, in a good way.

This story was told from the perspective of a man with dementia after he loses his wife to a brutal murder.
This was a great example of a horror story without gore, monsters, and bloodbaths. Sometimes the thing to fear the most is your own mind as you lose control of it. Dementia is a scary and cruel disease for both the person suffering with it, and their loved ones left standing on the sidelines.
The writing style is smooth and concise. The author doesn’t ramble on in the descriptive passages.
What I liked the most was the ambiguity of the story - what was real vs what was not.

While this was not my normal style of book, I am glad that I picked it up to read. The authors writing style is smooth and almost relaxing at times, with no use of unnecessarily long and complicated words, and no flowery descriptions of everything. And while you may not think it to be a conventional horror, there is something quite horrific for the main character who is sliding into his dementia, and is not sure what is real and what is not.

What I liked most was how I felt at the end of the book, left unsure of the actions of the main character, and not sure what was real and what was not. A clever piece of story telling on a subject that should scare us all.

I actually read this novella immediately after another book by Brigids Gate Press just to see if it would offset its predecessor. And lo and behold, I’m the first one to rate and review it for GR. Nice. Ok, let’s do this…
Dementia is a scary, scary thing. The author of this story puts the reader in a mind of a man with dementia. A recent widower who begins to see visions of his dead wife. Increasingly unsettling apparitions who insist on being avenged.
You kind of get the idea of where the story’s going fairly straight away, but it’s well done enough and engaging enough to not mind that so much. The journey into madness is harrowing and the nicer the characters (and the characters here are very nice), the tougher it is for the readers.
Overall, a decent enough of a quick read. Thanks Netgalley.

4.5
Wow this one was deep and emotional. Honestly very scary in a real way I suppose.
This was a good slow burn horror/thriller.