Mad Mabel

 

*Chef’s kiss* to what I think is Sally Hepworth’s best novel yet!

Eighty-one-year old Elsie Mabel Fitzpatrick is living a quiet life on Kenny Lane with an assortment of neighbors. A curmudgeon on the outside, she’s not afraid to voice her very unfiltered and often hilarious opinions about anything, including Nugget, her neighbor’s yappy dog, or Persephone, the persistent 7-year-old little girl who really wants her attention!

When one of her neighbors is found dead under unclear circumstances, ghosts arise from Elsie’s past when she was known as ‘Mad Mabel’ Waller, the youngest convicted murderer in Australia. As the news questions her potential involvement, two YouTube vloggers, Libby Conquest and Adeem Anand give Elsie an opportunity to share the truth about those long ago events on their AdLib channel. What will “Mabel” reveal? 

I’ll let you discover the rest for yourself, since this is such a good novel to unpack!

I do want to say that this is NOT an old lady serial killer story, despite the blurb giving that potential impression. I’ll also add that, as with Hepworth’s other novels, this isn’t a thriller either. What Hepworth does extremely well is domestic suspense, whether it involves married couples, children and parents, neighbors, or whoever. It’s her characters and their simmering tensions that make her books so delicious, and this is a prime example.

This book has Then and Now chapters, with Elsie taking us back to her childhood and what led to her infamous ‘Mad Mabel’ moniker. Her scenes with her aunt Cess and Cess’ friend Ness were some of my favorites in the book, but I’ll tell you … it was a painful past and this book makes you feel all of it. That said, there’s also so much humor between Elsie, her bestie Daphne and little Persephone’s antics that regularly made me chuckle and warmed my heart!

It’s impossible not to love Elsie and Persephone. Watching Elsie try to push Persephone away while Persephone pulls her in was delightful. I work with kids Persephone’s age every day and I know Elsie’s fighting a losing battle on that front, even if she secretly wanted to lose it!

Here’s the only thing that might trip some people up … the ending. Hepworth seems to like writing those “love it or hate it” ones! Personally, I was OK with it, even if my emotions tried to throw a tiny tantrum. It didn’t take anything away from my enjoyment, and honestly, when I think about it … it kind of fits the story perfectly. I did guess one of the big reveals early on, but another took me by complete surprise! 

I did an immersion read with my Kindle and the audio expertly narrated by Hannah Fredericksen and Jenny Seedsman. I highly recommend this approach if possible. This is another for my year-end favorites list!

★★★★★❤

Thanks to St. Martin’s Press, NetGalley and author Sally Hepworth for the digital ARC and to Macmillan Audio for the ALC to honestly review. This is out on April 21, 2026.