- this edition from my local library
- published 2025 by Sphere
- ISBN 978-1-4087-3103-1
- 337 pages
Synopsis (publisher)
In this bittersweet, hilarious, and suspenseful crime debut, a grandmother with a failing memory teams up with her grandson to solve the mysterious murder of her friend and neighbor.
Margaret Winterbottom, 89, has lived on Garnon Crescent her entire life—except for a few years she never talks about. She knows all the neighbors: their lives, their hopes, their heartbreaks. Only recently, Margaret’s memory isn’t what it used to be. She’s sure Barbara, her best friend and neighbor, told her something very important . . . but what?
When Barbara is found dead in an apparent homicide, Margaret is determined to recover the missing memory. Margaret and her grandson, James, begin investigating, but soon strange things begin happening in her home—objects moving and cropping up in odd places, the television turning on by itself. Some believe her memory is worsening, but Margaret knows somebody wants her out of the way because she holds the key to solving the case—if only she could recall where she put it . . .
My Take
In some ways an amusing cozy, and in other ways Margaret's predicament gets very close to the bone. Margaret has a hidden past that she has not told her family about and a brother who has not been around for some time. But she keeps thinking that she is glimpsing him.
When her grandson James begins to work on a school project about his grandmother, Margaret and he begin an investigation into who killed Barbara, and also to recover Barbara's last words to Margaret.
A good read.
My rating: 4.4
About the author
Richard Hooton has received numerous prizes for his short fiction. After a career in journalism, Richard now works in communications. The Margaret Code, his debut novel, is inspired by the author’s relationship with his grandmother, who died of Alzheimer’s when he was a teenager. Richard lives in Manchester, England.
