A dual narrative from when Edie was 15 and now when she is 84. Her friend Lucy disappeared when they were 15. Now Edie thinks she has seen Lucy, still as a 15 year old. Her memory isn't as good, but she is determined to find the truth of what happened with her friend.

The writing style here wasn't really for me. That's a super personal preference so others might enjoy it more. I do think the dual timeline worked well here.

One Puzzling Afternoon follows Edie, an elderly woman in the beginning stages of dementia, and her quest to discover the hidden truth behind the disappearance of her best friend Lucy back in 1951. This is told in dual timeline, switching back and forth between their unlikely friendship in 1951 and the present day as Edie believes she sees Lucy. There was a lot to like about this book-the mystery is well done and leaving you guessing until the end. The author does a good job at keeping you invested and bringing the young girls to life. Overall though, I was just left feeling kind of sorry for everyone. Lucy's story is heartbreaking, and Edie's present day life really makes you confront your own mortality. I was just left with a sense of pity-there's no redemption for anyone involved. I did like the ending with Edie and her son but thought the epilogue was pointless.



Thank you NetGalley and Sourcebooks for the eARC.

Not exactly what I thought going in but an enjoyable read all the same. The different time line pov’s were very interesting but I have to say all in all it was a very predictable story in the end. I did love the main character and the confusion written in as her pov with having dementia was very good. Overall I would recommend this book for anyone who loves a good mystery.

I am so very glad to have received a digital ARC from NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark. This review was written without coercion or bias in my very own words. The book is written in two time lines. In 1951 Edie is still in school but planning to move to London in a couple of years to receive her teaching certificate. Edie feels like she is an outcast in both school and out. She is ashamed of her mother's career choice and feels responsible for the death of her father. She has no friends and no outside interests. When she accidentally discovers Lucy's secret, Lucy befriends her. By the time that Lucy disappears I had many likely suspects in her disappearance and could not settle on just one. It was One Puzzling Afternoon for me as I tried to figure it out. The second timeline is set approximately 70 years later. Edie is now 84 years old, living on her own with the onset of dementia. Her family is bringing her into their home and Edie has begun to be obsessed with Lucy's disappearance. Edie feels that she needs to figure out what happened to Lucy before she moves and before the dementia gets worse. The transitions between the timelines is smooth and very easy to follow. The story is well-written. Edie had a very difficult childhood and I was drawn to her and her difficult up-bringing. In the later years, the author shows an intelligent woman and her mind as it would sink in and out of dementia. The author also gives a good picture of the effects of dementia on the family who want to care for her. I totally recommend this book as family, drama, secrets and mystery. Five stars from me.

I truly enjoyed this story. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC. I write this review voluntarily.
One Puzzling Afternoon was very well written. It describes the experiences of someone with dementia in an insightful and compassionate manner. A fog or feeling muddled, an inability to find the right word for everyday objects that can be unsettling for the person with dementia. Also, unsettling for those around them but the person still notices the expressions and gestures which demonstrate frustration of the loved ones. The dual timeline slowly reveals memories that have long been buried to achieve a resolution about what really happened to Lucy. Highly recommend.

What an emotional and thoughtful read this is! Told in dual time line of 1951 and 2018, it's the story of Edie and Lucy, two unlikely friends separated when Lucy goes missing. Now, in 2018, Edie is struggling with dementia but she's determined to figure out what happened to Lucy, not only as salve for her soul but also to prove to her son that she's more with it than he believes. Unfortunately she's not but she's determined. These two came from very different economic circumstances but they bonded and when Lucy had a secret- Edie kept it. I felt for Edie, for her fight against the fog and her commitment to finally outing the truth. This is beautifully written and it did keep me guessing. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A very good read.

I’m not sure why I was expecting something more lighthearted given the premise but found this to be very grim and sad. The dual timelines were a bit jarring and I was disappointed when the central mystery was solved. I don’t think Edie was a very good friend to Lucy.

I enjoyed reading One Puzzling Afternoon, and it was a very quick read. However, this is a very sad book. So, if you don't like sad books this may not be the pick for you.

Edie has become an elderly woman with dementia, and she is on the brink of having to leave her home so she can live with assistance. During this process she has very foggy memories of her friend Lucy who disappeared 50 years earlier while they were in high school. Lucy was never found.

Edie believes that if she can help find Lucy she may be able to prove that she can continue living on her own. Because of this Edie embarks on a journey to improve her memory of that time period, despite her on set of dementia.

Edie's narrative of her foggy memories is extremely compelling and certainly made me very sad for my grandmother who experienced dementia.

Booksellers this would be a great hand sell with books like A Man Called Ove and The Brilliant Life of Eudora Honeysett

trigger warning: child abuse, and inappropriate relationships with children

This review copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Huge thanks to #netgalley and #sourcebooks for my review copy

I didn’t care about the characters. Their personalities didn’t make me root for them. The time jumps were constantly taking me out of the story. I found the end result to be predictable. Overall not a read I would personally recommend.

Thank you to the publisher for the gifted ARC

This is a beautifully written story that is just unfortunately a bit too slow for my reading tastes right now. I have read some of the great reviews and I’m so glad that this book is getting lots of love.

This unique and innovative mystery was a huge hit for me. I loved the dual timeline between Edie’s story in 1951 and 2018, and the author really built the tension between Edie’s involvement with her friend’s disappearance and what she remembers as an elderly woman suffering from dementia. As someone who has had several close family members go through the horrors of Alzheimer’s, I appreciated the perspective of Edie as the memories slip through her fingers. It gave me a better understanding of what my loved ones may have gone through and was very emotional for me. The author does a fantastic job of portraying the family members as well and the seesaw of embarrassment and concern they have for Edie. The mystery was well plotted and suspenseful with Edie’s faulty memory lying at its heart. I highly recommend it for mystery lovers and anyone who has experienced the ravaging effects dementia can take on a person.

What made this book compelling had nothing to do with the mystery itself.

We get present-day Edie, who has been diagnosed with dementia that seems to be progressing very quickly, and flashbacks to Edie in 1951. In the present day, Edie suddenly thinks she's seen a friend, Lucy, who disappeared back in 1951 and sets out to find out what happened to her.

The flashbacks that lead to the truth of the mystery were fine. I found it largely predictable. However, I did very much enjoy the present-day storyline. Watching Edie try to remember, find ways to remind herself of what she's discovered, and overall fight against the constraints that her family has put in place for her safety made for a compelling read.

A huge thank you to the author and the publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.

🧩 One Puzzling Afternoon - Emily Critchley

4.5 ⭐️ - I had to sit with this one for a few days. I really enjoyed this book and was pleasantly surprised by it. I felt so many different emotions while reading this book, it’s hard to describe. You might say I was puzzled. It’s sad, hopefully, mysterious, and unexpected. The fact that this book is a debut, blew me away.

I had grandmothers that suffered from Alzheimer’s disease and it’s very tough emotionally to see our elders lose their memories. I could identify with Amy as a granddaughter and how she felt watching the disease take over. I admired Edie and her drive to prove she remembered important facts and events. The way this story was written to expose the disease without making it scientifically heavy was awesome. You’re able to see how hard it can be on the person experiencing the memory loss AND the loved ones around them. I was sad but also hopeful while reading. I definitely recommend this book as it has so many amazing qualities; heartwarming family storylines, a mystery, and a nice bow at the end. I look forward to what else Emily Critchley writes in the future.

I picked up this book because I was in the mood for a mystery and the description sounded interesting.

Description:
A mystery she can't remember. A friend she can't forget.

I kept your secret Lucy. I've kept it for more than sixty years . . .

It is 1951, and at number six Sycamore Street fifteen-year-old Edie Green is lonely. Living alone with her eccentric mother - who conducts seances for the local Ludthorpe community - she is desperate for something to shake her from her dull, isolated life.

When the popular, pretty Lucy Theddle befriends Edie, she thinks all her troubles are over. But Lucy has a secret, one Edie is not certain she should keep . . .

Then Lucy goes missing.

2018. Edie is eighty-four and still living in Ludthorpe. When one day she glimpses Lucy Theddle, still looking the same as she did at fifteen, her family write it off as one of her many mix ups. There's a lot Edie gets confused about these days. A lot she finds difficult to remember. But what she does know is this: she must find out what happened to Lucy, all those years ago . . .

My Thoughts:
It's funny how when you get older you look back at things that happened in the past and try to make them right. That's what Edie was trying to do as she slipped into losing her memory to dementia. She needed to remember what happened to her friend Lucy and find her. It was sad to see her attempts to start something and then forget what she was doing and why. I lost my husband to Alzheimer's and aspects of Edie's plight hit home. The author treated Edie's affiction with sensitivity while still showing both how Edie was feeling as well as other people's perceptions of her. I liked Edie's character and my heart went out to her. The book is well-written and well plotted.

Thanks to Sourcebooks Landmark through Netgalley for an advance copy. This book will be published on October 3, 2023.

This might be my favourite book of the year so far mostly because I was absolutely surprised by it. I love books with senior protagonists who are sassy and don’t give a damn about what others think. They are usually silly and wild and fast paced. This book was not that…it was better! Edie is losing her memory but remembers that a childhood friend went missing and was never found. By solving the mystery she hopes to prove to the world that she is not “muddled”.

The mystery in the book is intriguing and investigated by interviewing people from the past which leads to memories and flashbacks surfacing for Edie. Her granddaughter helps her investigate as a sidekick.

This book was the best for me because I did not know what I was getting myself into. I thought it would be a cozy mystery but the novel explores deep issues such as mental health, dementia and family life.

The way the book was written really makes you feel what it would be like to start losing your memory. I was pleasantly surprised by what Emily Critchley was able to accomplish by playing with Edie’s perspective.

All in all I would recommend this for lovers of books with senior protagonists, armchair mysteries, and historical fiction.

***Posted to Goodreads

I thoroughly enjoyed this read! I got to read it at the perfect time of year when the seasons were changing from summer to fall, it paired well with this small town mystery. The plot hooked me, but the character development was so well done it made it difficult to put down. I think a wide range of people would love this, those who enjoy thrillers, and those who enjoy the comfort mysteries as well. Would definitely recommend!

This book was absolutely beautifully written.

Over 60 years ago, Edie's friend Lucy went missing when the girls were 15 years old. Edie has now been diagnosed with dementia and is determined to solve the mystery of Lucy's disappearance before it is too late.

The dual timelines were written so well. The story flips between 1951 with the events leading up to Lucy's disappearance and 2018 with Edie trying to piece together her memories before she loses them. The feel for each timeline was so spot on, and I fell in love with all of the main characters and had such strong feelings of hate for some others.

The book explores some deep concepts of friendship and family, both as a teenager and as an elderly woman. When the story finally wraps up, the whole thing is rather heartbreaking.

Overall, I highly recommend this one. I read it in one day because I couldn't put it down.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for the ARC of this book.

This book takes place in 2018 (current day) and 1951. We follow Edie through current day and when she was 15 while trying to piece together what happened to her friend Lucy in 1951. Current day Edie has developed dementia and is starts to get flashes of memories from 1951 involving Lucy. She becomes insistent that she has to find what happened to Lucy even though it's been 67 years since she disappeared. Clues guide Lucy to memories and to the truth and give us a sad yet satisfying ending. A mystery that sucks you in and keeps you there until the end.

Nearly 7 decades after they first became friends, octogenarian Edie Green is excited because she thinks that she may have spotted her old friend Lucy Theddle in her hometown of Ludthorpe.

The problem is, no one can actually be sure that Edie has in fact seen Lucy. Because for one thing, Edie gets confused nowadays. And for another, Lucy went mysteriously missing many decades ago.

When the two first became friends, it meant the world to Edie, stuck in a humdrum existence with an eccentric mother and very little excitement on the horizon. Lucy, lively and popular, changed all that. But all too soon the good times were over, and Lucy was gone.

Yet one thing that Edie knew at the time was that Lucy had a secret. One that she was determined to keep. So even after she disappeared, Edie kept it for her. But should she have done that?

This is a well written story that will linger in the memory. Some aspects are a little heartbreaking, but it is also very moving. Recommended for readers who like stories that make them think and feel deeply.

A good twist on your typical mystery. I really enjoyed the plot, though I was a little bored in the middle. However, it came together in the end and was resolved well. Subject matter made it more than a cozy but not quite a thriller.