MAD MABEL
By: Sally Hepworth
Published: April 21, 2026
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Mystery
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Sally Hepworth is such an amazing storyteller. She gets you invested in the characters and gradually shares the mystery, uncovering it piece by piece until the spectacular reveal at the end. MAD MABEL is my new favorite of hers, and I have the goal to read all of her novels. Part curmudgeon story, part mystery, part friendship story, MAD MABEL is a page-turner that will have you laughing out loud, tearing up, and dropping your jaw at the final twist in the story.
“This isn’t the story of a murderer. It’s a story of a child who was failed not only by her father, but by all of us. Mabel Waller is her name. This is her story.”
Two groups of people are rarely suspected of murder: elderly women and young girls. This story debunks that theory. We first meet Elsie at the age of 81. She lives on a quiet street with neighbors she both likes and is annoyed by, and one she hates. Elsie doesn’t hold back on her opinions and gives it to you straight. Elsie has changed her name to avoid scrutiny and publicity surrounding her real name, Mabel Waller. Yet, somehow, someone has found out who she really is, and this is where the trouble begins.
“Convicted murderer. Mad Mabel. I haven’t been called that-to my face-in a very long time, but one doesn’t forget how it feels.”
After the neighbor across the street is found dead by Elsie, of course, she becomes the prime suspect because someone has leaked to the police and to the press that Elsie is “Mad Mabel”, the first child in Australia to be convicted of murder. Once this information gets out, a couple of YouTubers want to share her story and approach Elsie with the opportunity to tell the real story of Mabel Waller.
As Mabel/Elsie shares her story, she easily worms her way into your heart. Her childhood will make you cringe, weep with joy, and then drop your jaw in disbelief that all of these things could happen to one child. You also realize, with sadness, that Mabel had a lonely childhood and adult life. As the murder of her neighbor is being investigated, her other neighbors, including a young child, begin to befriend her. Something Mabel is unfamiliar with.
“Friends are like oxygen. If you’ve been blessed enough to have always been surrounded by friends, you might think I’m overplaying this. I don’t blame you. If you’d always been surrounded by air, you wouldn’t think to credit it for your very existence either. But I’ve spent much of my life gasping for breath, so I promise you, it’s true. Friends are like oxygen. And the only reason I’m still alive, is Daphne.”
The relationship between Mabel/Elsie and Persophene, the child living next door, becomes special. Elsie has never felt the love and warmth of a friend like Persophene. Even though she abhors how the child just walks into her home and helps herself to food, Elsie realizes she looks forward to Persophene being around and misses her when she is gone.
“I choose you. It’s hard to imagine a nicer thing to say to a person, especially when you’re not the sort of person people tend to choose. And yet here she is. This loud, bossy, sticky-fingered child declaring, without hesitation, that I’m the one she wants. As if I’m some grand prize and not just the only adult left upright on the street.”
After Mabel/Elsie’s story goes live on YouTube, the community begins to understand what happened to this child so many years ago. Through calculated details and some shocking twists, readers will not be able to put the book down as the final pieces to Mabel’s life puzzle are eventually revealed. You may even want to go back and reread the whole story.
Sally Hepworth is the New York Times bestselling author of nine novels, including The Good Sister and The Mother-in-Law. Drawing on the good, the bad, and the downright odd of human behaviour, Sally writes incisively about family, relationships, and identity. Her domestic thriller novels are laced with quirky humour, sass, and a darkly charming tone. They are available worldwide in English and have been translated into twenty languages. Sally lives in Melbourne, Australia, with her three children and one adorable dog. She has recently taken up ocean swimming (or to put it more accurately, ocean dipping)
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Posted Under Book Review, Friendship, Sally Hepworth, mystery