1951: Fifteen-year-old Edie Green's life changes forever when she becomes friends with the popular Lucy Theddle. Suddenly her loneliness dulls, and the weight of her father's death and her eccentric mother's seances for the local community becomes more manageable. However, friendship comes with secrets. And the secret Edie is keeping for Lucy might do more harm than good.

2018: Edie is now eighty-four, and she's kept her promise all these years. That is, until she glimpses her best friend just as she was at fifteen while popping out to the shops. Edie's family has long grown used to Edie's mix ups, her moments of confusion, and the memories that have started to bleed. Everyone else may write off Edie's glimpse of Lucy, but Edie herself refuses to do so. In fact, she is determined to find out what actually happened to Lucy back in 1951...

I was so impressed by the dual timeline in this cold case mystery. I entered the book blindly without much investment, but by the book's close, my heart went out to Edie and her family in the present while my brain puzzled away at the mystery piecing itself together in 1951. For full transparency, I do my best to avoid books with heavy depictions of alzheimer's or dementia because those topics bring on the waterworks. Did I cry a few times? Yes. Was it worth it? Also yes. In my opinion, the author did an excellent job balancing the intrigue of the mystery while tastefully and artfully giving her readers a full view into Edie's day-to-day struggle and the terrifying reality of one's past memories and present life becoming ever more warped and blurred.

If this author decides to write more mysteries, I want to read them.

Content Warning: dementia, abortion, death of a parent, SA, and adult/minor relationship
Actual Rating: 4.0 stars
Original Pub Date: 3 October 2023
Reading Format: ebook paired with the audio 

Thank you NetGalley and Sourcebooks for an E-ARC copy in exchange for this honest review!