Elizabeth is missing - Emma Heaey

Elizabeth is Missing by Emma Healey
My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Elizabeth is Missing, Emma Healey's stunning debut novel, introduces a mystery, an unsolved crime and one of the most unforgettable characters since Mark Haddon's Christopher. Meet Maud ...

'Elizabeth is missing', reads the note in Maud's pocket in her own handwriting.

Lately, Maud's been getting forgetful. She keeps buying peach slices when she has a cupboard full, forgets to drink the cups of tea she's made and writes notes to remind herself of things. But Maud is determined to discover what has happened to her friend, Elizabeth, and what it has to do with the unsolved disappearance of her sister Sukey, years back, just after the war.

A fast-paced mystery with a wonderful leading character: Maud will make you laugh and cry, but she certainly won't be forgotten.



Maud is 82, her best friend Elizabeth is missing but no one seems to care. The problem Maud has is that she can't remember, she doesn't know where Elizabeth is but she is going to get to the bottom of it.

Maud has to write things down, if she doesn't she will forget completely, Larry though, she can't seem to remember why she has written theses things. None of them make any sense. Maud has been trying to contact Elizabeth for weeks now, she has not been in contact about their weekly meetings and whenever she tires to contact her, she never gets to deal to her. Maud has a horrible feeling something has happened to Elizabeth and she needs to discover what.

This situation with Elizabeth provokes of memories for Maud, years ago her sister Suki disappeared and no one knew what happened to her. The story slips back and forth from th past to the present day. We read about Maud as a young girl and watch the story developed with her sister Suki.

As the story progresses, so does Maud' s dementia and it is a dreadfully sad story to hear. (I listened to the audio book.) There are really sad parts to the story, that had me in tears. From having a family member who had dementia, it bought it home to me how scared and confused they must have been.

I thought that this story was extremely clever and the way it was told was wonderful. Anna was a perfect narration choice, she really gave the characters depth.

This is not an easy read/listen but it makes you stop and think about those people with dementia and gives you a snapshot of how they could be feeling. I also could fee Helen's ain through the book, having to deal with her mother going through this. The story is certainly thought provoking and powerful.

I thoroughly enjoyed listening to this audio book and would recommend it to others. The story itself crosses a few genres I feel and would appeal to a wide range of audiences.

I had like to thank Audible for sending this in exchange for an honest review.