Elizabeth is Missing, by Emma Healey

This quietly devastating tale combines a murder mystery with an account of a woman’s gradual decline into dementia. Written from the point of view of Maud, the novel cleverly intersperses her ultra sharp memories of her parents and older sister in her teen years, just after World War II, with her current fuzziness about her daughter and grand-daughter. What has happened to Maud’s good friend Elizabeth? Can she solve the mystery and will she remember it if she does? Maud is determined that she will and, with the support and care of her often exasperated daughter, she uncovers more than she knows she is looking for. Emma Healy has written a poignant story of love and loss that strikes a strong and lingering chord, with a subtle examination of the effects of ageing on an individual, on her family and friends and on her community.