How can you solve a crime when your own mind is working against you? In the summer of 1959, Adeline’s town was being stalked by a serial killer, abducting, mutilating, and killing teenage girls. Adeline escapes with her life, but 60 years later it seems the past might be back to haunt her. But is the danger she senses real? Or is it merely the cruel hand of dementia reaching into her mind...?

This is quite possibly one of the hardest books I've had to review. On the one hand, it's totally unique - a murder mystery/thriller set in a home for the elderly? It's completely bizarre, especially when you couple it with the fact that the narrator, Adeline, has dementia. And this is where the issue comes in. Writing a character struggling with dementia is incredibly difficult - getting the balance right between making it accurate without becoming a caricature. In this case, there were sections that were very well-written, and others that were just plain confusing.

I think part of the problem is there was just too much going on at times. The book is told from 4 main perspectives - Adeline now in the care home, Adeline as a teenager in the summer of 1959, newspaper articles from the same time period covering the murders happening in the town, and finally the murderers perspective, also based in 1959. This made it feel quite muddled, and sometimes I had to reread a few sections in order to try and clarify what was going on. The inclusion of the news articles was ok, I can see that it was done to disclose information about the murders but they were very long and very simplistically written, which made it seem a bit pointless. The murderers sections were also very odd - there was never really any real motive given, and the clues as to his identity meant you guessed far too quickly, leaving the rest of the book quite dull as you waited for Adeline to catch up.

Similarly, the present day sections also had issues. Yes, old people die all the time, but a serial killer loose in a home for the elderly is just odd, especially when the deaths are clearly not accidents or natural causes. Having the staff also be abusive just felt daft - I know it was done to again increase the suspect list (after all, having to decide which of the 3 old men was the killers just wasn't enough!), but it just felt like too much of a stereotype to have the failing care home with awful carers.

The finale was ok, the author didn't go down the route I expected which was a pleasant surprise. Nonetheless, the ending was so dragged out that by the time it happened, you really didn't care. All of the tension had gone, and I was just desperate for the book to finish so I could move on. All in all, it was ok - it was a novel idea that at times was well-written. For me, it just didn't work. It all felt a touch ridiculous, and while I did finish it, I would've been very disappointed if I had paid for it.

I also need to address a major issue with the version of the book that I received. There were some major formatting issues, mainly focusing on the news articles in the past but also dotted throughout the book (sections where there were no spaces between words soitallrantogether, making it very hard to comprehend certain sections). I'm just this won't be the case with the final copy, but it definitely made this one hard to read. It hasn't affect my review, as it is a technical issue not one to do with the writing, but it did definitely make it harder to read., and I would advise the publishers to fix this sooner rather than later, otherwise I imagine the reviews commenting on the confusing nature of the book will continue.

Disclaimer - I was provided with an advance reading copy of this book by NetGalley. This has not affected my review in any way, and all opinions are my own.

Adeline just moved into an elderly home and not one that will give her any peace of mind. Between the smell of death, horrible staff members and more than half of the residents are out of their mind; it's hardly a place where Adeline would call peaceful. She had came back to live in the same town that she had once flee from. The horrific serial killer was on the loose within the town when she was younger. She tried even harder to flee from those memories. It seems that life has come full circle. Here she is back again. Especially when things starts to happen within the walls of the retirement home.

The story started off in the past and then flip to the present. What was supposed to be a good murder mystery more than a psychological thriller has actually left me feeling more muddle than anything. Adeline voice in the present doesn't give the reader much to as whether or not her mind is still there or is she really in a state of dementia. I guess that place on to the mystery theme. The killer's voice doesn't exactly sound sane, but then again is any killer really sane. However, it was never explained as to a motive, which left me feeling lost and confused. Because as the story goes, the killer back story and his voice does not make him a psychopath where he is without empathy. He's very well aware of his actions; therefore, he would have a motive to why he kills. The ending does have a surprise I don't think I saw coming; however, again the surprise is not cohesive with the story line.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for letting me read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The One Who Got Away unfortunately wasn’t a story I could stick with.
L.A Detwiler is a fantastic author and I really enjoyed The Widow Next Door so maybe my expectations were just a little high for this book.

It’s such a interesting idea to have a thriller with an elderly character set in an old people’s home and I really wanted to love TOWGA but Adeline was just too annoying for me to get far into the story. As a reader I need to be able to picture scenes, this is just too fast paced and I got confused.

Sorry I really wanted to give this a 5. :(