Publication Date: April 8, 2025
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 . . .
Perfect for fans of Emma Healey’s Elizabeth Is Missing, Helene Tursten’s An Elderly Lady Is Up to No Good, Robert Thorogood’s The Marlow Murder Club, and Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building.
What happens when an almost 90-year-old woman holds the key to solving a murder, but she can’t quite remember what it is?
If you are Margaret Winterbottom, you will do everything necessary in order to prove her grandson is not guilty.
Author Richard Hooton draws on personal experiences with his grandmother, who suffered from Alzheimer’s, in creating The Margaret Code.
Margaret’s character delivers a bittersweet performance. Straddling two worlds, past and present, forces her to use unusual tactics to prompt her memories. A secret from the past also manages to come to light.
The Margaret Code provides a mystery with the primary clue locked inside a woman’s fading memories.
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.
