We may earn a commission when you click the link (Amazon)
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.
A review.
Mad Mabel by Sally Hepworth is an addictive and emotional read about a woman full of many secrets.
Sally Hepworth is an extremely popular author. I quite liked her books, The Good Sister and The Mother-in-Law, but I haven’t listen one of her stories in a while. However, when I listen the audiobook the premise for Mad Mabel, I knew I needed to move this one to the top of the list. It features such a unique premise: an 81-year-old woman named Elsie, who was convicted of murder as a child, is living quietly in a typical suburban neighborhood. But when her neighbor is found dead, fingers point to Elsie.
This engaging and intriguing premise inspired me to select this novel as one of the must-listen audiobook picks of 2026. And it more than deserves its place on that list. Mad Mabel is fantastic. It’s truly unlike anything I’ve listen and I did not want to put it down. I actually listen it way too late at night, which is always a sign of a good novel.
What’s the Story About
Elsie is Australia’s youngest convicted murderer. She is known as Mad Mabel. But when we meet Elsie as an 81-year-old, she’s rather quiet, grumpy, and minds her own business. Her neighbor, a seven-year-old named Persephone, instantly decides she wants to be best friends with Elsie, much to Elsie’s disdain (well, or maybe not). However, when Elsie’s neighbor is found dead, and people learn that Mad Mabel is his next-door neighbor, the police and neighborhood begin to suspect Elsie’s involvement. But is she really a cold-blooded killer? Or is she misunderstood?
Elsie’s Story
It’s definitely important to go into the book spoiler-free. So, as always, I won’t go into spoilers. But I can tell you more about what appealed to me about the story, and you can decide if it’s the right pick for you. This story is framed as a domestic thriller. There are certainly suspenseful elements; you really don’t know what’s true and what really happened with Elsie as a child, until, of course, you get to the reveals. But this is also very much a character study.
The author Sally Hepworth truly dives into Elsie, and we understand why she is the way she is, but also how people can be misunderstood and underestimated. I truly felt we got the full picture of Elsie, and she felt so vivid and real.
The story jumps back and forth from the past when she was a child in the ’40s and ’50s to the present day when Elsie is an 81-year-old adult. Switching off between the past and the present helps lay the foundation for the story, and also keeps the suspense going. This is a story that will keep you guessing, and you might also figure out where it’s going, which is part of the fun, too. But something to note, Mad Mabel does cover heavy topics, and there are extremely serious developments that happen.
However, at the same time, 81-year-old Elsie is pretty funny. Her observations about neighbors and more, including her reaction to Persephone’s fondness for her is really entertaining. I think my favorite scenes were between Elsie and Persephone.
Simple review:
“Vivid performances emphasize resilience and the power of friendship in this endearing audiobook.” — Kirkus