ALC Review: A Mystery

Mad Mabel by Sally Hepworth

Read by Hannah Fredericksen and Jenny Seedsman

Publication Date: April 21, 2026

Summary from Netgalley:

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.

ALC provided by MacMillan Audio via Netgalley for an honest review.

Confession:

I really enjoyed this story, although I hesitate to call it a mystery thriller. It felt more like a story about a woman’s life and how circumstances and trauma in her youth shaped who she is. There are mystery thriller elements in the story, but they certainly take a back seat to the themes of friendship and found family.

The two narrators, Hannah Fredericksen and Jenny Seedsman did an excellent job of capturing Mabel as a young teen and as a woman in her eighties. Even though they are narrating different stages of Mabel’s life, they still are able to make it sound like the same person. They both have lovely voices and did an excellent job with the story.

The story is told through Elsie/Mabel, but at two different times in her life. We get the story of her life now as Elsie and her life growing up as Mabel, but with a focus of the events that happened when she was fifteen. Both timelines are fascinating and I loved seeing how the events that happened when she was fifteen shaped who Elsie was now. Elsie is a curmudgeon and very grumpy, but somehow has earned the trust and even friendship of her neighbors. I loved the relationship that develops between Elsie and Persephone, the little girl that insists on being her friend. I think that it is this friendship that really brings Elsie out of her shell and allows her to accept who she is.

The chapters about Mabel are hard to read at times. This woman’s childhood was full of trauma and emotional abuse. This story slowly progresses through her childhood and youth up to the events that lead to her being convicted of murder. This part of the story really emphasizes how trauma, gossip and circumstances shape a person. Her childhood was not all gloom though, she had a wonderful aunt, and her aunt’s friend, who were the bright spots in Mabel’s life.

The two timelines is really what makes the story a bit of a thriller. You know pretty early on that Mabel has killed, perhaps more than once, but it is a slow reveal as to when and who. In the present, Elsie is suspected of killing her neighbor, mostly because of who she is. There are some good twists in both timelines and when we finally find out what happened in Elsie’s past, it was a bit of a surprise. The writing and the pacing were excellent and I loved the blend of dark humor and Mabel’s dark childhood. This was actually a pretty uplifting story for a thriller. But that is what makes this such a unique story.

This is a story that I highly recommend to everyone. There is a lot of warmth and depth to this story of how neighborhood gossip and childhood trauma can shape a person’s life. It is not just a thriller, but a story of resilience, friendship and community.