Mad Mabel by Sally Hepworth

 

Elsie Mabel Fitzpatrick is eighty-one years old. She's lived on her idyllic street, Kenny Lane, for sixty years--longer than anyone else. Aside from being a curmudgeon who minds everyone else's business, few would suspect that Elsie has a past that she has worked exceedingly hard at concealing. Because when it comes to murder, no one ever suspects little girls or old ladies. And Elsie Mabel Fitzpatrick, once a little girl and now an old lady, has a strange history of people in her life coming to a foul end.

When a new little girl (talkative, curious, nosy) moves into the neighborhood and stops at nothing to befriend Elsie, her carefully-constructed life threatens to come crashing down as the secrets in Elsie's past start coming to light. Who was "Mad Mabel" fifty years ago? Who is Elsie Fitzpatrick today? And if the past has a habit of repeating itself, who has the most to lose?

Told with Sally Hepworth's twists, humor, charm, and heart, MAD MABEL is novel that weaves past and present together--through the power of justice and redemption, and all the way to its stunning conclusion.

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About The Author

Sally Hepworth is the New York Times bestselling author of nine novels, including The Good Sister and The Soulmate. Her latest novel, Darling Girls, was released in Australia in September 2023, and will be released in North America in April 2024.

Drawing on the good, the bad and the downright odd of human behaviour, Sally writes incisively about family, relationships and identity. Her domestic thriller novels are laced with quirky humour, sass and a darkly charming tone. They are available worldwide in English and have been translated into twenty languages.

Sally lives in Melbourne, Australia, with her three children and one adorable dog. She has recently taken up ocean swimming (or to put it more accurately, ocean dipping)

 

My Review

Such a great read, from cover to cover I was page turning. I was also hurting for a little girl, she lived with wealth and in a beautiful home, and thank goodness for her aunt.
This delightful 81 year old women is a convicted murderer and it takes awhile, as we go through Mabel or Elsie life, to find out whom she killed. Seems like she has been tormented her whole life, and was not surprised as to whom the victim was, only about how it came about.
I personally loved Mable, but trouble sure did follow this women, and it continued right to the end. Oh what a lot of surprises dropped! Some awesome, and some very sad.
Don't miss this excellent read!
I received this book through Net Galley and the Publisher St. Martin's Press, and was not required to give a positive review.