Mad Mabel by Sally Hepworth
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Publication Date: April 21, 2026
Format: Hardcover - 352 pages
Paperback - 352 pages
Audiobook - 9 Hours 20 Minutes
Kindle - 348 pages / 1.6 MB
Nook - 352 pages / 2 MB
ISBN (Hardcover): 978-1250284549
ISBN (Paperback): 978-1250479150
ASIN (Audiobook): B0F9MJ1XQ6
ASIN (Kindle): B0F5PCBV62
BNID (Nook): 978-1250284556
Genre: Mystery / Suspense / Thriller
Genre: Mystery / Suspense / Thriller
Buy The Book:
Disclaimer: I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. I also purchased a hardcover edition of the book from my monthly Book Of The Month (BOTM).
Book Description:
From the New York Times bestselling author of The Soulmate and Darling Girls comes the story of Mad Mabel. They called it murder. She called it justice.
'In 1954, at just fourteen years of age, Mabel Waller became the youngest Australian in history to be convicted of murder.'
In 2025, on a quiet street an elderly man is found dead by his neighbor, 81-year-old Elsie Fitzpatrick. No one suspects any foul play.
Until they discover Elsie's past.
In the 1950s, her name was not Elsie. It was Mabel.
'She is known around the world as Mad Mabel. But is she mad? More importantly, is she guilty?'
When the police open a new investigation and the media descend upon her, the elderly Mabel decides it's time to set the record straight.
'In a world first, at the age of eighty-one, Mabel Waller is speaking. This is her story.'
New York Times bestselling author Sally Hepworth is at her finest in this twisty, compulsive thriller of friendship, family and murder. Or is it justice . . . ?
My Book Review:
In Mad Mabel, author Sally Hepworth weaves a riveting thriller that easily draws the reader into a riveting storyline that follows a woman's determination to tell her life story.
After living a lifetime of trauma, 81-year-old Elsie Mabel Fitzpatrick is telling the story of her life as "Mad Mabel" in an interview after a neighbor is found dead in his house and her troubled past comes back to haunt her.
Mad Mabel is a complex and multi-layered tale told in the first-person narrative by Elsie "Mad Mabel" Fitzpatrick. Set in Melbourne, Australia, Elsie takes the reader along for the ride as she tells the story of her life in a video interview. Elsie is feisty and snarky as an older woman, but her childhood past was filled with so much trauma that no child should have ever endured. As Elsie's story unfolds, you can't help but feel for her and hope she gets the justice and peace in her life that she deserves. I love Elsie/Mabel!
The author does a phenomenal job of delving into Elsie's life; she interweaves Elsie's troubled past with the present that kept me turning the pages until the satisfying conclusion.
Mad Mabel is a riveting thriller; it just doesn't get any better than that!
Rating: 5 Stars 
About The Author
Sally Hepworth is the New York Times bestselling author of ten novels, most recently Mad Mabel. Sally’s novels have been called “darkly charming” and praised by authors Emily Giffin and Liane Moriarty as “totally absorbing” and “fiction at its finest.”
Sally's novels have sold millions of copies worldwide and been translated into over 30 languages.
Sally lives in Melbourne, Australia with her family.
