Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Freddy Bell, the hapless protagonist of this bighearted mystery from Edgar finalist Cooney (Before She Was Helen), has come to Middletown, Conn., to visit his beloved, Alzheimer's-afflicted grandmother, Cordelia Chase, who resides at Middletown Memory Care, "assisted living for the completely confused." Unfortunately, Freddy has unfinished money-laundering business with a drug kingpin, who has sent an enforcer in search of Freddy. Despite the risk of being found by the enforcer, he won't abandon his beloved grandmother, even though Cordelia no longer remembers who he is. He becomes especially concerned when one of the other residents is murdered, and he winds up an involuntary, in-fear-for-his-own-life sleuth. He's aided by a woman who's anxious to protect her own aunt but is also busily pursuing a lost musical manuscript by composer Charles Ives. The author does a remarkable job of combining tones, including sentimental and snarky, while being both wry and gently respectful in depicting mentally diminished people. Cooney should win new fans with this one. Agent: Kerry D'Agostino, Curtis Brown. (July)
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Review by Library Journal Review
With his mother deceased and his sisters distant and querulous, youngish Freddy is devoted to his memory-deficient grandmother. Then a resident at her nursing home is murdered, and Freddy frets about her safety even as he slides into a shady side business. Top-selling YA author Cooney entered the adult market last year with Before She Was Helen.
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
Murder at a memory-care facility leads the drifting but doting grandson of a resident to poke around. After his mother passed away, Freddy Bell moved to Connecticut to take care of his grandmother, Cordelia Chase. Technically, Middletown Memory Care is doing the heavy lifting, since Cordelia is best off being cared for by those who have the specialized training to do so. Freddy is perfectly happy with his regular visits, charming the otherwise unappreciated female caregivers. It's hard to believe that this is the same Freddy who's motivated the powerful drug dealer Doc to come all the way to Connecticut, or as Doc calls it, the land of trees, to get Freddy to do his bidding. Even though his main occupation is making glass pipes, Freddy doesn't want to be a dealer. Besides, a little pot isn't coke. But Freddy's wrong when he thinks the biggest problem in his life is Doc's demands, because the death of a longtime resident at the care center is way bigger. Sure, Freddy barely knew Maude Yardley, but when it turns out her death isn't the progress of her disease but murder, Freddy's afraid for his grandmother's safety. What he should be afraid of, though, are the concerns of his sisters, whose overachieving lives mean they're usually out of the picture but who are now threatening to descend on Freddy and get involved. To ensure his grandmother's safety and his own, Freddy scrambles to figure out what happened to Maude while trying to stay under Doc's all-seeing radar. Difficult to dig into, but the characters are so richly detailed that they feel real. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
