For a debut adult novel this was wonderful! I was totally smitten with the character of Edie as you watch over her in 2 time periods in her life - the current timeline where she's struggling with memory issues and keeps returning to a period in her life where she was at school and her friend Lucy disappeared.... what is it that she's supposed to remember, and why has it been locked away in her head for so long?

This really approaches the subject of memory loss/dementia sensitively and compassionately. You really sense the frustration of Edie as she struggles with day to day tasks, and the exasperation of her son who puts things in place to help her but it's not quite that easy for her to accept. Her mind keeps taking her back to her troubled childhood and playing over her home life and school life and it was fascinating to see both timelines be so absorbing.

At school Edie was seen as a bit of an oddball, even by her own mother, so when Lucy wanted to be her friend she was ecstatic. And that led to her keeping secrets and being drawn in to a darker world of loyalty and deception.

With the help of her granddaughter, Edie won't settle until she can try to put to rest the niggling doubts in her head as to what did really happen to her friend all those years ago. I really couldn't put this book down once I'd started reading it as you become really emotionally involved and I can highly recommend to everyone that this is a book well worth reading - I'm thankful for the reviews I read to make me pick this one up!!

One Puzzling Afternoon is an excellent read that deals with a very emotional topic. Edie is in her 80's and has dementia. One day at the post office Edie sees her childhood friend Lucy, the only problem is Lucy disappeared in 1951. . As Edie becomes more disorientated and everything slowly unravels we learn what happened in the 50's and why Edie kept hold of her secret. Emily Critchley handles Edie's story with sensitivity and gives a great insight into living with and coping with early and progressing dementia. A well written mystery and one I'm happy to recommend. Thank you to NetGalley, publisher and author for an advance copy.

I’d like to thank NetGalley and Bonnier Books for approving me for this ARC.

⏳This dual timeline story is filled with mystery and intrigue. Flipping back and forth between Edie’s childhood and the present day gave the story a lot of flow and helped me play detective, even if I was hopeless at guessing the final reveal.

💗My heart broke for Edie so many times. It is clear, quite early on, that Edie has a lot of trouble with her memory and she is determined to prove to her son that she isn’t losing the plot. Emily Critchley did a fantastic job of portraying Edie’s memory loss and all the emotions that went with it.

👧🏻 I also felt for Edie when we returned to her childhood. She was desperate to have a friend and put Lucy on a pedal stool. I often felt that Lucy was using Edie and because she was so grateful, Edie let her. This part of the story showed another side to being someone’s best friend, especially when it appears to be one-sided.

🕵🏻‍♀️The crux of this story is discovering what happened to Lucy and I have to say that I didn’t see that ending coming. I was shocked when the final reveals occurred but when I thought about it, it was the only ending that would have made sense.

If you are a fan of unsolved mysteries, multi generational relationships and buried secrets then this is a book for you!

This is an incredibly emotional book as Edie suffers from dementia. I found it hard to read at times but thought it was beautifully written.

What an emotional read. Oh my God! 84-year-old Edie lives with dementia and the passages where she is struggling to separate the past from the present are heart-breaking. At times she doesn’t recognise her own son Daniel or even her beloved granddaughter Amy.

It’s 2018 and Edie has just seen her friend Lucy, looking the same as she did when they were teenagers. But it can’t be real because Lucy vanished in 1951 and was never seen again. And Edie is determined to find out what happened to her, if only she could remember. For some of my buddy readers, who have personal experience of dementia, this was often hard to read.

The story is written in two timelines – 2018 and 1951. As Edie remembers more snippets of information relating to her friendship with Lucy, what actually happened is revealed bit by bit through the flashbacks. I’m not always a fan of flashbacks, but this is different.

In 1951, Edie lives with her mum, who conducts séances and is a bit of a local celebrity, and her dreadful step-father Reg. What a horrible man! She attends the local school along with Lucy and wants to stay on and study so she can become a teacher. Only that wasn’t the usual path girls from families like hers took – they ended up working at the undergarment factory.

Lucy, on the other hand, comes from a well-off family – her father is the mayor – so why is she friends with Edie? Well, Edie knows Lucy’s secrets, so it’s a bit of a friendship of necessity on Lucy’s part, and flattery on Edie’s.

Such a beautiful, well-written story – I simply adored it.

Many thanks to @Tr4cyF3nt0n for inviting me to be part of the #CompulsiveReaders #blogtour

What a wonderful read! A bit of a mystery and a lot of understanding exists between the covers of this one.

Edie Green has become forgetful. Not all the time, it just comes and goes. Her son and her granddaughter are worried about her. Edie sometimes find it easier to remember things from her younger days than from the here and now. One afternoon, she sees her old schoolfriend Lucy; but how can that be? Lucy went missing and was never found.- but now Edie is absolutely determined to find out what happened to her, before it's too late.

What a beautifully written novel! I loved Edie from the very beginning and the author has gently portrayed the downside of getting old. There are some really tender moments, along with some heart-wrenching ones but altogether this is a wonderful story which I just adored. I thought I had worked it out and while I wasn't quite right, I got close. So enjoyable, and one I am so happy to highly recommend. No doubt about it, this is a sparkling five star read.

My thanks to the publisher for my copy via NetGalley; this is - as always - my honest, original and unbiased review.

One puzzling afternoon is an emotional mystery, told in dual timelines. Edie was a really great character and was hard to read at times when her fight with dementia was taking hold more. The mystery element to the story was good but it didn’t shock but I definitely think this is a writer to watch out for in the future.

Thanks to NetGalley for the chance to read this Arc.

There’s some content in this that some readers might want to be aware of - check out for more information at the end.

The blurb of this one was giving me strong Elizabeth is Missing (by Emma Healey - another cracking read) vibes - until she meets Halim at the library. And then the dynamic changed.

I will admit that the premise of an older person struggling with onset dementia is such a heartbreaking device, especially when their loved ones are struggling to the changes in their personality - equally frustrating (but all in a good way, if that makes sense, as I become invested in the story and their lives). OPA is no different.

There’s the usual dual timelines as Edie’s past literally collided with her present, which rekindled her memories of that past mystery. Critchley does a great job of pulling the reader along as the facts are slowly revealed and I was desperately trying to figure out what happened to Lucy all those years ago - and I didn’t figure it out! What was heartbreaking was the extent of Edie’s dementia is revealed and it’s effect on her and her family.

Thanks to NetGalley, the team at Bonnier Books/Zaffre and the author for the opportunity to read this review copy.

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⚠️Content warning/potential spoilers: reference to assault, domestic abuse, inappropriate relationships, unwanted pregnancy/backstreet abortion ⚠️

You cannot help but compare One Puzzling Afternoon to Elizabeth is Missing.
They both have a similar set up: a woman with dementia who is trying to solve a past mystery where they may have the vital clues if only they can remember.
The narrative jumps between the 1950s in the lead up to Lucy Theddle’s disappearance and 2018 where an increasingly disoriented Edie is trying to solve the mystery before she is moved to Devon by her struggling but caring son.
The characters were well realised and the plot never lagged. I would like to read a story where dementia is treated as just something that people get rather than as a plot device, however.

This was so good I read it in one sitting. It’s an emotional read with the main character Edie Green living with dementia, and determined to find out what happened to her childhood friend Lucy Theddle. Set in dual timeline: 1951 when Lucy and Edie are just 15 years old and 2018, when Evie’s son and family are moving to Devon and taking Edie with them. This was so beautifully written I was completely engrossed.

Briefly, Edie has kept a secret for more than 60 years, but now she wants to find out what happened to her friend Lucy. In 1950 Edie is a bit of an outcast at school, teased because of her mother being a medium who holds seances. But then popular Lucy becomes her best friend. However, Lucy has got a secret, and Edie has promised to keep it for her. In 2018 Edie is now 82 and, when she is convinced she has seen Lucy, still age 15, she makes up her mind to find out what happened to her friend.

I genuinely loved every single line of this book. My mother lived with dementia, and I have so much empathy with Edie, but also with her family. It’s a dreadful, heartbreaking disease, and I think the author handled it really well. As the secrets are revealed throughout the book, they were quite shocking, so many secrets kept for so many years. This was a heartbreaking family drama, beautifully written, constructed with care, immersive and compelling. Brilliant debut adult book.

Edie is an elderly lady, struggling to come to terms with changes to her lifestyle as she gets older and a failing memory. However, there is one memory ftom her past that prevails: the disppearance of her schoolfriend Lucy in 1951.

When Edie starts seing an image of teenage Lucy in random places she is discombobulated as she hasnt thought about her for a long time. She has a feeling that there is something important about Lucy's disappearance that she knows and has kept the secret all these years, but can't quite remember what it is.

When her son Daniel breaks the news to her that they will be selling her house so that she can come and live with them in Devon she knows that she only has a short time to piece together the fragments of her memories about Lucy. With the help of her granddaughter Amy and a teenage boy she meets in the library she tries to work out what the secret was that she has forgotten, so that she can finally help Lucy.

This is a beautiful book, but it is also incredibly sad. Edie is a lovely old lady who  has been through so much and will capture the hearts of readers.

A lovely book that sort of gave me Elizabeth is Missing vibes. We have in 2018 Edie who is in her 80s and suffering from confusion. Her family are worried about her ability to cope on her own because of her 'forgetfulness and are making plans to look after mum. When Edie keeps seeing Lucy, her old school friend who vanished in 1951, she feels the stirrings of long lost memories. She kept Lucy's secret for over 50 years but she can't remember what it was. She also feels that if she can find Lucy, then it will prove to her son that she is still capable of an independent life. The story is told in dual timelines as Edie tries to remember her life in 1951, her friendship with Lucy and the secret. This is beautifully written and the author makes us see how frustrating annoying Edie feels when she can't remember things, how frightened she gets. She is never a figure of fun. In fact the Edie of 1951 is intelligent and razor sharp when it comes to judging people which makes it heart-breaking to see her confusion now. She is close to her grand-daughter and their relationship is gorgeous. There is a mystery at the heart of this - what did happen to Lucy in 1951 - and as Edie struggles to remember and tries to put pieces of the jigsaw together, I did come up with my own ideas, but - guess what? - I was wrong. I never guessed the secret that Edie had buried. A lovely ending - a lovely read.

A very interesting and touching dual timeline story. The depiction of dementia is beautifully nuanced and respectful. I really enjoyed the details of life in the early 60s too, so much has changed thank goodness.

One Puzzling Afternoon is a touching yet emotional story which explores a friendship tainted by tragedy.

Between her ever-fading memory and deep rooted grief, the novels well-aged protagonist Edie, struggles to remember what happened to her dearest childhood friend Lucy, who disappeared over sixty years ago. With her happiest memories in turmoil, Edie delves back into her childhood in order to try and "solve" the mystery surrounding Lucy, where, she heartbreakingly discovers she has long held the truth inside her...

Emily Critchley has managed to write a novel that is truly, both uplifting and unnerving in equal measure. It's dual timeline, endearing protagonist and saddening mystery made for a real page turner that has you feeling every possible emotion - well worth a read!

In 1951, fifteen-year-old Edie Green can’t believe her luck when popular Lucy Theddle becomes her friend. Her mum is thrilled, thinking that this is a way to improve their social standing. Lucy has a secret, however, and swears Edie to secrecy. Then one day, Lucy goes missing, never to be seen again… Years later, in 2018, Edie is now eighty-four and she is a lot more forgetful than she used to be. One day, she becomes convinced that she has seen Lucy and becomes determined to find out once and for all what happened to her.

This is an absolute delight of a book, cleverly written with a story that is told with great care and sensitivity. Told in both timeframes, we are treated to a wonderful image of post-war Britain, the author managing to paint a vivid picture of what life was like for a teenage girl at this time. I was totally immersed in the setting, visualising the village and the array of characters.

Edie is a superb character both in 1951 and in the present and the author has done a superb job in showing the progressive nature of dementia and the effect it has not just on Edie but also on the people around her. Anyone who has witnessed this terrible disease will recognise how some days the sufferer will be very lucid but other days will bring confusion. For Edie, this is increasingly frustrating as she battles to remember what happened to her friend, Lucy.

One Puzzling Afternoon takes us on the journey along with Edie, and by the end we find out what actually happened when Lucy disappeared. The ending, however, is bittersweet as we know that after all of her hard work, the chances are that Edie will soon forget, all over again, what happened.

I cannot recommend One Puzzling Afternoon enough and know that this promises to be one of my favourite books of the year.

A sweet and emotional read that captures some tricky subjects in a very respectful and well presented way. Gorgeous imagery and realistic characters. Worth a read.

This is a beautifully-written, touching novel about an octogenarian's desire to find out what happened to her teenage friend who went missing over 50 years ago. Edie is slipping into dementia when she spies what she believes is her friend Lucy, looking exactly the same as she did when they were 15. This spurs a desire to figure out what happened to Lucy. The author portrays Edie's condition with care and compassion and tells a wonderful, emotional story.

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 . . ."

If the synopsis doesn't grab you I'm not sure what else will, I was hooked as soon as i'd read the prologue. Edie is 84 & finds herself trying to piece together a part of her life that she'd buried many years ago. This book will have you turning the pages at speed, one minute you're in 1951 and the next you've fast forwarded to 2018. This is @emily.critchley debut book and I loved every minute, I started last night and finished this evening. You know you're onto a good thing when you can't wait to get home to keep reading & that's exactly how I felt today. The story is incredibly moving, bittersweet and made me gasp out loud when all started to unravel itself. No spoilers from me, but I have a feeling as soon as this book is released it will be a huge success and it deserves every bit of recognition it receives. Edie Green, is one special character & I think I'll remember her for a long time yet 💞

Thank you @netgalley & @emily.critchley
for the advanced copy, so grateful to have had the opportunity to read such a remarkable debut 💞

A mystery she can’t remember and a friend she can’t forget. Meet Edie Green who has kept her friend Lucy’s secret for over sixty years. It’s 1951 and Edie lives in Ludthorpe with her eccentric mother. She feels dull and isolated and is looking for something to help her escape from her dull and isolated life. Then she meets Lucy, but Lucy has a secret. One Edie promises to keep, them Lucy goes missing. Fast forward to 2018 and Edie who is now in her eighties is convinced she’s seen Lucy looking exactly the same as she did in 1951. This is a beautiful and touching novel that will completely grab you. You find yourself rooting for Edie as she tries to piece together her past. A poignant novel that is begging to be read. Thank you to NetGalley, Bonnier Books UK and the author for the chance to review.

A lovely story but also a sad one as Edie struggles with her worsening dementia and also the need to remember what happened to her friend many years ago. Set in 1951 and 2018 with a young and old Edie it is a captivating story that was a joy to read.