I've never read this author before but this book was sooooo good! The pacing was on point, the flow flowed. Perfect! Thanks for the ARC, I appreciate it!

This was a little bit different from her normal books, but I have to say I loved it. The characters are so well developed and charming. The story overall was gripping. I really could not put this book down.

Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC. This will be one of the best I read this year. I love Sally Hepworth books and this one is one of the best. Full of all the things. Fantastic plot. Quirk. Humor. Seriousness. She’ is hands down one of the most brilliant writers out there. Five sold stars.

Mad Mabel by Sally Hepworth was such a wild little ride! We meet Elsie Mabel Fitzpatrick, 81 years old, grumpy as hell, and not exactly beloved by her neighbors. She’s been living on this quiet, suburban street for sixty years, and you can tell there’s way more to her than just “grumpy old lady”. Without spoiling anything, let’s just say Elsie has a dark past. And when this curious and nosy little girl moves in next door and inserts herself into Elsie’s life, things start to get messy. What I loved: this book is kind of genre fluid. It’s got mystery, but it’s also funny and emotional. It explores themes around justice, redemption, and how the past never really stays buried, no matter how hard you try. The back and forth between past and present is done so well. Add this to your TBR if you like twisty suburban dramas with morally gray women, dark secrets, and unexpectedly badass older characters!

Very well done, Sally Hepworth!! I loved this book. The storytelling was incredible. I felt every emotion imaginable while reading this book.
All I can say is that I genuinely feel this is the book I have been waiting to read for the almost 50 years I have been reading!
Mabel is definitely not Mad! She is amazing!

Then: Fourteen year old Mabel.
Now: Eighty-one year old Elsie, and seven year old neighbor Persephone.
As pointed out early on, children and elderly women are usually not murder suspects. Usually.

Elsie Fitzpatrick changed her name years ago and has lived in the very small enclave of Kenny Lane for sixty years. When her ninety-three year old neighbor is found dead, the local street busybody leaks to the media that “Elsie” once was the infamous “Mad Mabel Waller.” Elsie never had a chance to fight the nickname, but she’s finally going to do so with the assistance of twenty-somethings Libby and Adeem, of the “AdLib” true crime podcast, as she also succumbs to small devil-child Persephone’s school assignment to interview someone “old.”

“Mad Mabel” is a charming, witty, but often bittersweet story of close female friendship, unfair reputations, and how the perception of women from 1959 to now has/or hasn’t changed. Unfair rumors and bullies haven’t subsided in sixty years, although the technology used to spread lies has. This is different from author Hepworth’s past psychological thrillers, but it still features a well-written main character with multiple misunderstood secrets. There’s a lot more humor than I expected from a Hepworth novel, and it helps diffuse the seriousness of the unfolding story. About halfway, something clicked and I figured out a major plot point (although the supporting details were yet to come). But I wouldn’t call this predictable — it’s emotional, tender, and heartbreaking to the end. 5 stars!

Literary Pet Peeve Checklist:
Green Eyes (only 2% of the real world, yet it seems like 90% of all fictional females): NO No green eyes, but much ado about Anne of GREEN Gables.
Horticultural Faux Pas (plants out of season or growing zones, like daffodils in autumn or bougainvillea in Alaska): NO How bouquets of flowers end up on Kenny Lane is part of the story.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy!

Mad Mabel you are incredible. You are hilarious and heartwarming and certainly memorable. Are the rumors true? Are you really a notorious murderer or someone who was subject to a lifetime of rumors? Be prepared for all the twists and feels, especially the last 30%.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

Seems like a bold statement to make on July 31, 2025... but I think I have just read my FAVORITE book of 2026. I am about to become a book bully to make everyone read this hilarious, heartwarming, shocking book. If you like books that have a feisty octogenarian, quirky memorable side characters, secrets and twisty mystery, and plenty of laughter through tears, have I got a book for YOU. Especially if you cherished Anne of Green Gables as a kid, and always wanted a bosom friend like Diana Barry.

Elsie knows everything that goes on in her neighborhood, even with her nemesis Imhann. When he ends up dead, precocious neighbor Persephone announcing his demise, Elsie's hidden identity as "Mad Mabel" comes out. But why is she known as "mad Mabel"? What happened in her young life?

Told in alternating timelines, we follow the oddball outcast Mabel from age 3, when her younger sister tragically died of polio, like so many in the 1950's. In the present timeline, Elsie at 81 is charmingly grouchy, annoyed with the police, and begrudgingly ends up with Imhann's dog Nugget. What is her story? How did she become known as Elsie? And did Imhann die of natural causes or was Elsie behind it after all?

I was SO sucked into this story, the CHARACTERS- even minor ones, are so real. I roared with feet-kicking laughter, my mouth dropped open with shock at the reveals, and I put down the book to cry real tears. This book is a supreme roller coaster of emotions that you won't forget. It ABSOLUTELY will be made into a movie. My first choice for playing Elsie is Jane Fonda, but Lily Tomlin would also be phenomenal. Only a skilled actor with incredible range will do.

The last line of the book? Just about threw my e-reader across the room.

Seriously this story is just too good for Hollywood to miss it. I can't wait for you all to read it. It is worth bumping to the very top of your TBR.
6/5 stars

Thanks to NetGalley and St Martins press for the ARC. Book to be published 4/20/26

I have read all this authors books and thoroughly enjoy them. This was no exception. Thanks for the opportunity to read and good luck with this one.

A new novel from Sally Hepworth is a must-read asap.

Mad Mabel centres on Elsie Mabel Fitzpatrick, eighty-one years old, living a quiet life until an incident in the neighbourhood threatens to expose the notorious past she’s tried to conceal.

Told as now and then, the events from Mabel’s past are gradually revealed. Mabel is a lovable curmudgeon, in childhood she was a socially awkward loner. Was she really mad, bad or just a bit sad?

Sally Hepworth’s character writing and development is just a superb as usual. While the story takes a while to unfold it’s a very enjoyable, often emotional journey which ends very strongly. Yes, I cried.

While The Good Sister and Darling Girls are still my favourites, Mad Mabel is highly recommended and a must for fans.

Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press

Another wonderful read from Sally Hepworth. All of the characters were absolutely fantastic, and the story was thrilling and heartwarming at the same time somehow.

𝐈𝐭'𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐩𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐫𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐲, 𝐢𝐟 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫, 𝐬𝐮𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐮𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐩𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐞𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐠𝐢𝐫𝐥𝐬.

One of my most highly anticipated reads, and with those opening lines, I knew this one was going to be a winner.

Elsie Mabel Fitzpatrick is eighty-one years old, and she's lived a quiet, unassuming life on Kenny Lane for sixty years. She is uproariously funny without even trying, with phrases like, "𝑰 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒕 𝒅𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒅𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒇 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒚, 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕'𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑰 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌" part of her everyday vernacular. She's not warm and fuzzy, she doesn't bake cookies, and she's not anyone's grandma.

When determined little girl Persephone moves into the neighborhood, she stops at absolutely nothing to befriend Elsie. This plot point was both heartwarming and hysterically funny as Mabel did everything in her power to repel her. During an unwelcome visit, the child persists in interviewing Mabel because she's an "old person", but Mabel sees a way out--she tells Persephone that her neighbor is much older and encourages the girl to interview him. But his annoying little dog's persistent barking alerts Mabel to a potential problem, and she finds him dead inside his house.

And his death brings all sorts of unwelcome attention to the residents of Kenny Lane, especially Mabel. Pretty soon, her entire life is under scrutiny, beginning with the sister she lost in early childhood. Because here's the secret about Mabel: people in her life just had a way of meeting an untimely and unfortunate end.

There is SO much to unpack in this story! Told in alternating timelines, then and now, you will be howling with laughter one moment then completely heartbroken the next. Because those same two groups who are rarely suspected of murder? They are the same two groups who are often banished to the sidelines, far from sight. We're reminded of this: 𝑯𝒐𝒘 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒄𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒍𝒚 𝒖𝒏𝒇𝒂𝒊𝒓 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂 𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒅. 𝑯𝒐𝒘 𝒃𝒂𝒓𝒃𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒄, 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒔𝒐 𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒍 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒂𝒍𝒔𝒐 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒏𝒐 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒍 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒚𝒐𝒖. The ending was shocking, unexpected, and my heart was in my throat the entire time. Huge kudos to the author for creating two of the most memorable characters in recent memory, Mabel and Persephone. Make room in your heart for both. A big thank you to NetGalley and St. Martins Press for this early copy. Releases April 21, 2026.