Emma Healey's dark, suspenseful debut pits an unusual sleuth against a mystery more than half a century old.
Octogenarian Maud Horsham's memories are slipping away. She copes with the help of part-time caregivers, handwritten notes and her daughter, Helen (who resents her brother, Peter, for not sharing the burden). Lately, Maud has grown convinced that her close friend Elizabeth has gone missing, but no one takes her concerns seriously. She tries to discover Elizabeth's whereabouts on her own, but as her grip on reality weakens, Maud's mind presents her instead with clues to the disappearance of her big sister, Sukey, shortly after World War II, when Maud was still a child. Even as Maud forgets the word "cup," her brain dredges up crystal-clear memories of beautiful Sukey, Sukey's handsome but jealous husband, Frank, and the mysterious "mad woman" who haunted their neighborhood.
Healey's bold decision to tell the story in Maud's voice pays off with a convincing and frightening descent into dementia. The suspense comes less from the mystery and more from the race against time as the reader wonders if Maud will find her answers before she is too far gone to remember the questions. Both an exploration of a cold case and a meditation on the inevitability of aging, Maud's last days of lucidity will challenge readers' assumptions about the elderly while also sending chills down the spine. Murder may be scary, but the thought of suffering Maud's fate is utterly terrifying. --Jaclyn Fulwood, blogger at Infinite Reads