Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read the ARC (Advance Reader Copy) of One Puzzling Afternoon by Emily Critchley. This was not a thriller but it was a murder mystery written in a dual timeline (1951 and 2018). It is about a secret that has been kept for 67 years. There is a lot of focus on dementia which made it very realistic. The story was well written and very realistic. It was written with sensitivity and quite an emotional read. I did enjoy the book and gave it a 4 star rating. I do recommend this book to others.

𝐎𝐧𝐞 𝐏𝐮𝐳𝐳𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐀𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐨𝐨𝐧
𝐁𝐲 𝐄𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐂𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐥𝐞𝐲
𝐏𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐫: 𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬
𝐏𝐮𝐛 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞: 𝟏𝟎.𝟑.𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟑 𝒞𝑜𝓂𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒮𝑜𝑜𝓃!

I love elderly protagonists, and eighty-two-year-old Edie Green won me over. The story is told in dual timelines - that we float effortlessly between. I found myself completely captivated by this story.

In 1951, Edie is a lonely schoolgirl who is bullied. Her eccentric mother conducts seances for the community. Surprisingly, Edie makes a friend in the Mayor’s daughter, Lucy. Lucy, a bit of a wild teen - suddenly disappears.

In 2018, Edie, now in her eighties, believes she sees her friend Lucy - appearing still young and vibrant. No one ever discovered what became of Lucy. Edie, who is in the early stages of dementia, is determined to find out what happened to her friend all those years ago. She believes it will prove to her family that she is still capable of remembering things. But Edie is not prepared for what the truth reveals.

Besides an engaging, somewhat heartbreaking story of friendship and coming-of-age in the 1950s, this story involves a mystery whose resolution I think will surprise you. Edie’s character is written beautifully and with sensitivity; you see her innocence as a child, and later you feel her waver between lucidity and unreliability.

I highly recommend this one for lovers of endearing character-driven fiction.

Thank you @bookmarked for this gifted ebook.

Thank you @bookmarked for the #gifted copy of this book!

What it’s about:

Set in 1951, there is a young girl named Edie who feels alone and bored in her current life. Her mother has a new boyfriend who she does not care for and she doesn’t have any friends. One day, she crosses paths with Lucy who is a glittery opposite of herself. Lucy comes from a wealthy family and things come more easily to her. When Lucy befriends Edie, Edie is shocked but cherishes their relationship. Edie stumbles across one of Lucy’s secrets that could ruin her life. Edie is very loyal however and just wants her friend to be ok! A life changing event happens and Edie and Lucy must take matters into their own hands. The Lucy disappears off the face of the earth and no one sees or hears from her ever again.

Sixty years later Edie is much older and struggling with forgetting things. She cannot tell what is real and what is her memory starting to go. She ends up having visions of Lucy and tries desperately to piece together what happened to her friend all those years ago. Will she be able to do it? Will anyone believe her?

Thoughts:
I thought this was a very well done mystery book. It was beautifully written and loved the alternating timelines. This may be kind of sad but one of my favorites parts was the way the author wrote Edie as she was older. Her decent into her forgetful memory seemed so realistic and I felt so frustrated for Edie…even though Edie didn’t remember why she should even be frustrated! 😂 Although it is a sad topic I think the author was very sensitive and realistic. Bravo for accomplishing that! The mystery was laid out in a way where you could see some of the plot points happening but I didn’t guess them all and the ending was satisfying! I would say if you’re a fan of historical mysteries this would be up your alley!

This was quite an interesting read! Told from then and now dual timelines, 84-year-old Edie, who suffers from dementia, believes she sees her friend Lucy from the past. Lucy disappeared in the 1950's and Edie is trying to make sense of the memory of that puzzling afternoon. With her confused and failing mind, she is determined to prove to her family that she is capable of piecing together the details of what happened to her friend 60 years ago. Poignant, heartfelt, and gut-wrenching at times. The character development is beautifully written, and for such a sensitive topic, Critchley did a wonderful job of portraying the emotions. A gorgeous debut. 5 undoubtable stars!

What a touching and tragic tale this novel is. Edie is a character you want to hug and reassure, both in the past and the present. The dual timelines are handled beautifully, especially as Edie's dementia worsens and the two begin bleeding into each other. Plenty of red herrings. I was unprepared for the answer to what happened to Lucy. The characters were my favorite part, with the setting descriptions being my second. I had no trouble visualizing the story in my mind as it played out on the pages. I will warn you, this isn't a happy book or a light read. Questions are answered, but One Puzzling Afternoon left me with a hollow heart for the rest of the day after I read it. I'm happy I did, though. Sometimes, it's good when a book makes you wallow in your emotions.

Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to receive this book for an honest review.

I love this book. It had me hooked from the first page.

This book is about dementia and how it is to grow old .
I found it so interesting and there was even some mystery twisted in there.
I would highly recommend this book to find out the details and enjoy.

What a heartbreaking book! Edie is 84 and suffering from dementia. She sees her friend one afternoon exactly as she looked 60 years ago before she disappeared. What happened to Lucy? This is a dual time line story, one following when Edie and Lucy were young and now with Edie with dementia. I loved Edie and my heart broke for her and her mental challenges. This book did a fantastic job showing how awful this disease is for the person and their family. I received an advanced readers copy and all opinions are my own.

What an absolutely beautiful and heartbreaking book.

The book is written in dual timeliness. In 2018, Edie is an woman in her 80s suffering from dementia. She is at the post office where next door young man advertising a new retro candy store is handing out candy samples. When she receives a roll of Parma Violets her rapidly diminishing mind is trigged by the memory of a friend who went missing over 50 years ago.

1951 Edie accidentally learns Lucy's secret. They become close friends, Lucy promising to never tell what she knows about Lucy.

Without giving anything away, I caln say this book was excellently executed. Flipping back and forth as multiple stories are told you follow the mystery of Lucy's disappearance and watch as current day Edie struggles to discover/remember what really happened to her friend before it's too late.

Reading Edie's perspective as an old woman is heartbreaking and honestly terrifying to read. How dementia takes its toll on not just the sufferer, but their entire family is just cruel.

Just as cruel is the fate of Lucy and events that lead up to her disappearance.

Friendship. Loyalty. Betrayal. Secrets. Regrets. This book runs a gauntlet of emotions. I can't simply not recommend it enough. So absolutely beautifully done.

Enormous thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance copy. This is a story that will stay with me for a very, very long time.

Emily Critchley wrapped up all my favourite genres into one propulsive, moving and intelligent read. One Puzzling Afternoon tells the story of Edie - in 2018 and in 1951 in the small English town of Ludthorpe. In 2018, Edie is dealing with the effects of dementia and is certain the key to lifting her brain fog is figuring out what happened to her friend Lucy when she went missing in 1951. In 1951, Edie is a 16 year old grammar school girl, dealing with a widowed mother whose side hustle are seances, an unpleasant stepfather, and the dramatic life her upper-crust friend Lucy is leading. Chritchley offers all the feels - nostalgia, suspense, empathy. The novel reminded me of a similar novel I adored - Elizabeth is Missing by Emma Healey. Highly recommend. Thank you to Sourcebooks Landmark and NetGalley for the privilege of an advanced read.

I found this book very difficult to get into and ultimately it did not grab me which is not great for a mystery novel. I found the narrative style just did not suit me but that was not due to any inherent flaw in the work but just my general preferences.

I loved this book! I will definitely recommend it. Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Can you go wrong with a murder mystery? Well, I guess you can but this book didn’t. Super twisty, exciting and I loved the dual timelines.

One Puzzling Afternoon by Emily Critchley
Edie has lived with the mystery of her best friend’s disappearance for nearly all of her life. Now at the age of 84 she finds herself in a bit of a muddle. She can’t quite remember nor can she quite forget. Memories and the occasional viewing of her long lost friend Lucy have her disquieted. Does she know what really happened ? Can she get to those cloudy memories before it’s too late?

I loved this book! For me it would have been a 5* read: memorable characters, intriguing storyline, interesting dialogue & setting. And then it happened, the epilogue. In my opinion nearly wrecked the entire reading experience. I finished the book a week ago and I’m still angry.

Thanks Sourcebooks Landmark, NetGalley and the author for an opportunity to read this book.

Poignant and bittersweet, this is a beautifully told story about Edie, a woman in her 80s who is living with dementia and who starts having visions of her friend, Lucy, who went missing over more than 60 years ago and was never found. With the help of her granddaughter, Edie is determined to find out what happened to Lucy.

Told in two timeframes (2018 and early 1950s), we see the story through Edie’s eyes as an old woman who is struggling to piece together what happened to her friend all those years ago and as an awkward, lonely teenager when she and Lucy met and became friends in the time leading up to her disappearance.

Edie is a wonderful, likeable character and the reader is easily pulled into her life. The descriptions of Edie’s state of mind, the moments of confusion and lucidity as the dementia progresses are well done and there is a solid resolution to the mystery of what happened to Lucy.

This will be one of my favourite reads this year. Beautifully done story and a debut to boot! I’ll be looking forward to reading more from this author!

My thanks to Sourcebook Landmark and Netgalley for this complimentary copy. All opinions are my own.

The story of Edie Green and her struggle to figure out what happened to her friend Lucy years ago, was both compelling and satisfying. In 1951 Edie and her friend Lucy planned to run away together, but when Lucy disappeared, Edie ended up staying in the same town the rest of her life. Now at 81, she is fighting with dementia and hoping to put together the pieces of what really happened to Lucy before it is too late. I liked this story a lot. It is told in a dual time line of 1951 and present day 2018. Both are equally interesting and I was invested in both of the story lines. I could feel Edie's emotion as she becomes consumed with working out what happened to Lucy. In the past, we learn about Edie's childhood and eventually the truth. The story is very satisfying in the way it pulls together.

Thank you Sourcebooks Landmark and NetGalley for the advanced reader copy. This is my honest review.

This story is absolutely gorgeous as it unfolds. Feeling the startling and sometimes terrifying effects of early dementia, Edie is given flashes of memories about her childhood best friend. Lucy Theddle disappeared in 1951 and was never heard from again or found. As Edie feels herself slipping away more frequently, her quest to remember and find out what happened to Lucy grows ever stronger.
The story is told in flashbacks between 1951, when Edie was a teenager, and 2018 when she is an elderly woman often finding herself "in a muddle." I've read books whose character had dementia, but this is the first one I've read that really gives the reader a taste of what it's like - the shame of losing common knowledge, the terror of realizing, all of a sudden, that you have no idea where you are.
Critchley does a fantastic job weaving the story of 1951 Edie with 2018 Edie. The resolution of the Lucy mystery was completely unexpected and I was glued to the page.

In 2018, Edie is in her 80s and still living in her childhood village of Ludthorpe. When she thinks she sees her old school friend Lucy, looking exactly the same as when Edie last saw Lucy in 1951, Edie embarks on a quest to find out what happened to Lucy, who disappeared with no explanation sixty-seven years earlier. The novel unfolds in a dual timeline, and I was equally invested in both periods. In 1951, 15-year-old Edie is lonely and bored, tired of living alone with her eccentric mother who conducts seances for a living. When she sees something she shouldn't, she ends up in a new friendship with the pretty and popular Lucy Theddle. In 2018, Edie is fighting through a growing confusion as dementia is setting in, and she is desperate to find answers about Lucy's fate before her son moves her into his new home in another village. The mystery is engaging, the characters are really well-drawn, and Critchley's writing is excellent. Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for a digital review copy.

One Puzzling Afternoon is a sad story about a woman suffering from dementia while trying to find out what happened to her friend who went missing in 1951. This book was not what I expected. It's labeled on Goodreads as thriller and suspense when it is really more women's fiction. It was not the mysterious whodunnit I imagined it to be. When the truth was revealed, it wasn't much of a shock. I found it a little odd that Edie would forget so much of her past. Dementia patients often have no trouble remembering their youth, so it was strange to me that she forgot so much of what happened when she was fifteen. My dad had dementia and it was heart-breaking and horrific. I realize not everyone is the same, but Edie's experience was so different from my dad's that it didn't ring true to me. I'm sorry to say that this book just never drew me in, and I never warmed up to the characters other than Amy. I'm clearly in the minority and I think other readers will love it as long as they know what genre to expect.

Thank you NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for the ARC. Publication date is October 3, 2023.

This book is beautifully tragic. Edie is a stunning character who is fighting a battle with wanting to remember her friend Lucy and time taking her memories as it sometimes does. The narrative of this book is beautifully laid out with things happening both in the past and the present. I just loved everything about this book. Readers are going to be swept away with Edie as she tries to figure out what really happened to her friend Lucy all those years ago. This book is perfect for a book club or a cozy winter read. To keep a secret for so many years to slowly have it slipping away.
Thank you so very much to Sourcebooks Landmark and Netgalley for allowing me to read an advance copy of this book.

Interesting premise and wonderful writing. I found the pace a little slow and repetitive at times, and was anxious to get to the "good stuff". In the end the unraveling of the mystery was scratching an itch, and I was pleased at how it came together.

I would definitely read more from this author. Thank you NetGalley for the advance copy.