Home Feed
Home
Search
Search
Add Review, Blurb, Quote
Add
Activity
Activity
Profile
Profile
One Puzzling Afternoon
One Puzzling Afternoon: The most compelling debut reading group mystery of 2023 | Emily Critchley
17 posts | 13 read | 9 to read
Readers LOVE One Puzzling Afternoon: 'A little treat of a book. I loved it. I loved it.. I loved it' 'Wow . . . a beautifully and sensitively written novel that I feel sure will be one of my books of the year' 'A beautiful and touching novel that will completely grab you' 'Edie Green is one special character & I think I'll remember her for a long time yet' 'What a beautiful, emotional, intriguing, touching novel' 'I loved this and finished it in one sitting. It truly is glorious' A captivating mystery perfect for fans of Joanna Cannon and Elizabeth is Missing On a suburban street filled with secrets, 84 year old Edie Green must look back into the past to discover what happened to her friend Lucy, who went missing years before . . . 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-two 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 . . . 'A captivating and poignant book, I was completely hooked. You can't help but fall for Edie' Marianne Cronin, author of 100 Years of Lenni and Margot 'This is such a delicate web of a book, a mystery deftly woven with tension and compassion. Edie is a heartbreaking figure, struggling to catch her last memories before they're blown away forever - her quest/plight is absorbing and extremely poignant' Beth Morrey, author of Saving Missy 'Completely captivating. A real page-turner' Louise Hare 'Marvellous . . . a special gem of a book, a perfectly executed double timeline mystery with a twist you don't see coming' Inga Vesper, author of The Long, Long Afternoon 'Beautifully written . . . the perfect book for lovers of Elizabeth Is Missing, but has its own distinct voice and charm' Jo Leevers, author of Tell Me How This Ends 'An uplifting, bittersweet story with a page-turning mystery at its heart . . . I was drawn in to Edie's world from the very first page. Beautifully atmospheric and endearing'' Freya Sampson 'An intriguing, unsettling mystery told over a dual timeframe by one of the most endearing lead characters you'll come across this year. Utterly compelling, darkly unnerving and a joyful masterclass in storytelling, Emily Critchley's debut adult novel hits the mark on so many levels' LoveReading Debut of the Month
Amazon Indiebound Barnes and Noble WorldCat Goodreads LibraryThing
Pick icon
100%
blurb
Roary47
post image

I loved July‘s best book! It‘s in the Semifinals! It was hard decision though with The Only One Left.

review
Roary47
post image
Pickpick

5✨ I got this one from #OUABC and like many of the books from them it‘s one of the most beautiful books I‘ve read. We follow Edie in 2018 as an elderly woman who we discover has trouble with her memory. Certain moments spark her memory of 1951 and her friend Lucy that disappeared. She is more determined than ever to find out what happened to her before it‘s too late. My heart broke for Edie as I rediscovered her past as well as her future.

review
julesG
post image
Pickpick

Edie's school friend Lucy vanished in 1951, 67 years ago. Edie sees her outside the post office. She knows that she needs to find out what happened to Lucy, but it's been so long and her memory isn't what it used to be.

A story about the second sight, dementia, being independent, growing up in the years after WWII and doing what is right even decades later.

60 likes2 stack adds
blurb
julesG
post image

#wondrouswednesday @Eggs

It's difficult choosing one favourite. Here are my favourite British UF characters ?

? - Madeline "Max" Maxwell
? - Peter Grant

Currently reading about octogenarian Edie, who has dementia and maybe the second sight. She sees a girl she went to school with, who vanished in 1951. With the help of her granddaughter Edie wants to find out what happened to the girl.

tpixie Love an octogenarian MC! 9mo
Eggs That sounds good 👌🏼 9mo
44 likes1 stack add2 comments
review
SlytherinBookLady
post image
Pickpick

So I kinda get the name of the book, but I don‘t. It floats between post ww2 1951 and present 2018. The setting is a fictional town somewhere in the UK. Edie can‘t remember what happened to her best friend, and she thinks people will take her more seriously if she can remember. she‘s got dementia. I enjoyed this read. I wouldn‘t call it uplifting though. It‘s more bittersweet but still a good read. If you enjoy mysteries then this is a good one 4U

blurb
DebinHawaii
post image

#NewYearNewBooks

These two books from my shelves involve a #MissingPerson & have main characters with dementia. I read Elizabeth is Missing several years ago & have the tagged book waiting in an #OUABC box. I think I need to be in the right mood to read it.

marleed I read Elizabeth is Missing based on title alone and didn‘t realize the dementia aspect until I was reading it. I thought it was a very good book! 11mo
DebinHawaii @marleed Yes, it was good & I hear good things about the tagged book too. 11mo
Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks Perfect 👍🏻 📚 11mo
Eggs Sounds really good 👍🏼 11mo
40 likes5 comments
review
Bookish_Gal
post image
Pickpick

3.5 ⭐️-was a difficult read. In terms both of Eddie‘s past horrid life and present time dementia. Split timelines are not a favorite, and these mixed chapters showed how Eddie thought she was in both timelines at once. Great job uncovering past secrets as present Eddie remembered. I was confused where we were going, which is part the story, thou I still had trouble following. Felt like an insight to how dementia affects independents.
#ouabc

review
bookandbedandtea
post image
Pickpick

In dual timelines (1951 & 2018) we follow the clues as Edie, now in the early stages of dementia, tries to work out what happened to her best friend all those years ago. Both storylines are well done and Edie is a well developed character in both timelines. Lucy's story in '51 is infuriating due to the various men in her life while Edie's '18 storyline is heartbreaking as she, and her family, suffer through her worsening dementia. ⬇️

bookandbedandtea ⬆️ It's impossible not to compare this to Elizabeth Is Missing but I thought this was equally well done. 11mo
27 likes1 comment
review
suvata
post image
Pickpick

#OUABC Once Upon a Book Club November 2023 Monthly Box (Pieces of the Past)

historical • mystery • emotional • sad • 4.5 Stars

One Puzzling Afternoon is a dual-timeline novel that balances heartfelt tenderness with a suspenseful mystery. Ederly Edie Green attempts to uncover the clues behind her best friend's disappearance in 1951 before the truth is lost in her memory forever.

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

review
Bec_lectic
post image
Pickpick

This was a really enjoyable read with a good mystery woven in. Edie, who is in her late 80s and suffering from dementia, sees her friend Lucy outside the post office one day looking just as she did 60 years ago. But how could that be? Lucy went missing and was never found but Edie knows she can solve the mystery even as her mind begins to fail her. Told in 2 different timelines the truth of Lucy‘s disappearance slowly falls into place.

47 likes1 stack add
review
RedxoHearts
post image
Pickpick

If you like an interesting mystery book I'd recommend this one. It goes between two timelines in the life of Edie. Edie in her 80s with Alzeheimers and 1950s Edie with her friend Lucy. She's held on to many secrets for her friend that went missing and her family for many years. She forgets a lot now but is determined to find what really happened to Lucy. It follows the timelines as she has moments of clarity that help her to put pieces together.

32 likes1 stack add2 comments
review
Mpcacher
post image
Pickpick

This is the story of a woman with dementia who knows she must tell someone the truth about her friend that went missing when she was 15. It is told in two time periods, 2018 and 1951, and is set in the UK. I appreciated the realistic and poignant representation of suffering with dementia, the representation of British life in 1951, and the mystery itself. The story was neither very dark nor humorous, but felt like more of a cozy mystery. 3.75/5

8 likes1 stack add
blurb
BarkingMadRead
post image
Read4life 🍁👻🎃 14mo
31 likes1 comment
blurb
BarkingMadRead
post image

Waiting for my bag so I can get to the Nancy Drew Book Con! Tomorrow we go to Ogunquit and Friday is Salem! 🧙🏻

Mitch Nancy Drew Book Con! Just saying that out loud and knowing such a thing exists has made my day! One day….🤞🏼 14mo
AnnCrystal 😊 WOW ❕

@Mitch pretty much summed up my reaction when I first read your post about a Nancy Drew Book Con.

That's awesome 🧐☺️👍.
(edited) 14mo
50 likes1 stack add2 comments
blurb
BarkingMadRead
post image

Finally figured out my Netgalley issue and now I‘m playing catch up 🤣

Chrissyreadit Checking in- did you receive your Falling For Fall Swap? 14mo
BarkingMadRead @Chrissyreadit I did! I‘m so sorry, I thought I posted when it came! 14mo
Chrissyreadit you may have to be fair and i just didn‘t mark it on the data sheet 🤪 14mo
44 likes3 comments
review
VanessaCW
Pickpick

This is a lovely, poignant and engaging little mystery. It deals with the subject of dementia in a sensitive and subtle way. I really liked Edie, it was quite sad to travel this journey with her in her search for the truth but it gave a great insight into this devastating condition. It‘s beautifully written and a joy to read with some wonderfully drawn characters. Highly recommended. #Pigeonhole

28 likes1 stack add
blurb
VanessaCW