Mad Mabel A Novel
There are 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.
Published: April 21, 2026
Pages: 352
ISBN: 9781250284549
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2 ratings
Chelsey H.
Short Synopsis:
Elsie Mabel Fitzpatrickābetter known as āMad Mabelāāhas spent decades living quietly while rumors about her past swirl around her small community. As a teenager in 1959, she was accused of murder and branded a killer. Now at eighty-one, when a new neighborās suspicious death draws police attention back to her door, the secrets of Mabelās past begin resurfacing. Told across dual timelines, the story unravels the truth behind the legend of āMad Mabelā and the life sheās spent trying to move beyond it.
My Review:
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Iāll be honestāthe first half of this book had me convinced it was going to be a miss for me. It felt slow, and Iām just not usually a fan of the whole serial-killer-grandma trope and I struggled to fully connect with the story early on.
But Iām so glad I stuck with it.
Because Mad Mabel turns into so much more than what it first appears to be. Once the second half kicked in, the story completely took off. The twists started coming one after another, and suddenly I could not put it down.
I genuinely donāt know how Sally Hepworth keeps coming up with such unique storylines and still manages to surprise me every timeābut she absolutely did it again here.
And the characters? They were fantastic. The community felt so real and full of personality, and Persephone absolutely stole my heart. She was easily my favorite part of the book.
While the slow start kept this from being a five-star read for me, the payoff in the second half made it completely worth it. I would definitely recommend this oneāespecially if you enjoy character-driven books with plenty of twists.
Matt D.
Elsie lives in a quiet street outside of Sydney. The neighbors are nosy and she doesn't quite get along with them all. One day, her nemisis in the house next door doesn't answer the door. When his body is found, it triggers a series of events that will force the past to come back to haunt Mabel. Murder, lies, and secrets swirl all around her. Mad Mabel has resurfaced and no one is ready for the consequences.
I've read several of Sally Hepworth's books and every one has been excellent. She has a way of making the characters come to life and almost jump from the page. Elsie is no exception and as we slowly learn her back story, it's clear that life has not always been easy for her. It is quite a ride to the end and the twists that smacked me across the face were unexpected. I couldn't put this book down!