Book Review: Mad Mabel by Sally Hepworth

 

From the publisher:

From Sally Hepworth, the New York Times bestselling author of The Soulmate and The Good Sister, comes a twist-filled, darkly funny mystery about the two kinds of people no one ever expects to be murderers: little girls and old ladies.

Meet Mad Mabel.

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.

Mad Mabel by Sally Hepworth was published April 21, 2026 by St. Martin's Press.

My thoughts: Mabel is a very interesting character both in the past and the present. We get to read her creation story as well as what she has become. Her story has plenty of tragedy and death. But, there are lighter moments as well. This is less a mystery and more domestic suspense. I liked Mabel and Persephone. I thought Daphne was interesting as well. 

There are twists and turns that are revealed mostly through Mabel's interview and looking back at her life. There is tension about what she is revealing of her past as well as what's going on in her present.The plot moved along fast enough. Some things in the end were predictable while others were not.

I gave this book 5 stars. I enjoyed reading it. If you like domestic suspense with twists and some dark humor, then this could be a good book for you.