Publication Date: April 21, 2026
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Pages: 352
Genre: Literary Suspense
Rating: 5/5
Mad Mabel is a story that follows grumpy octogenarian Elise Mabel Fitzpatrick as she navigates life in her quiet Melbourne neighborhood when her next door neighbor’s death reopens trauma and secrets from her past. Mabel might just be the elderly lady next door but she used to be known as Australia’s youngest convicted murderer. So when her past is thrown back in her face and the police and public are circling around her, Mabel decides that now might just be the perfect time to finally tell her side of the story.
I was instantly captivated by Mabel and could not flip through the pages fast enough. I love how this story is told in now and then timelines because it allows the reader to get to know the Mabel who was and the Mabel that has been formed by chance and circumstances. I went into this book completely blind and that’s how I recommend reading it. Everything that was revealed connected me further to Mabel and by the end she felt like a real person. And even though there were things that were fairly obvious I still enjoyed watching it all come to fruition. This is the first book that I finished this year and it has stuck with me as one of the best books I’ve read.
Hepworth has done a phenomenal job creating this world and this character. Mabel is easily the best character study I’ve read in a long time and the layers and themes of this book could be talked about endlessly.
