Mad Mabel by Sally Hepworth Review | A Brilliant Character-Driven Mystery

Mad Mabel is a compelling dual-timeline mystery featuring an unforgettable older heroine, emotional depth, and exceptional audiobook narration.

Acknowledgments:

Thank you to Macmillan Audio and Netgalley for the ARC of this audiobook. The thoughts and opinions expressed here are my own.

Summary:

Eighty-one-year-old Elsie Mabel Fitzpatrick has lived on her quiet, idyllic street for sixty years, known mostly as a nosy, curmudgeonly neighbour—but beneath that unassuming exterior lies a darkly hidden past. Once a little girl and now an old lady, Elsie has spent a lifetime concealing a troubling history, one marked by a curious pattern of people around her meeting untimely ends, proving that when it comes to murder, the most unlikely suspects are often the ones no one ever looks twice at.

My Thoughts:

There are two kinds of people no one ever expects to be murderers: little girls and old ladies—and Mad Mabel leans brilliantly into that idea. In this clever and deeply character-driven mystery, eighty-one-year-old Elsie “Mabel” Fitzpatrick has lived on her idyllic street for more than sixty years, known mostly as the neighbourhood curmudgeon who keeps a watchful eye on everyone around her. But beneath Mabel’s brusque exterior lies a complicated past she has spent a lifetime trying to conceal, and when a neighbour dies under suspicious circumstances, long-buried secrets begin to surface.

Mystery and thriller lovers will especially appreciate how Hepworth tells Mabel’s story across two timelines—“Then,” during her troubled childhood, and “Now,” as she becomes a person of interest in a modern-day investigation. The pacing is excellent, with revelations delivered at just the right moments to keep the reader constantly guessing. Mabel’s early years are marked by trauma, loss, an absent father, and relentless ridicule, and watching those experiences slowly shape the woman she becomes was both heartbreaking and fascinating.

What surprised me most was how deeply I came to care about Mabel. Despite her reputation, her unexpected friendship with seven-year-old Persephone—being raised by a single mom on the same street—reveals the warmth and protectiveness beneath her prickly exterior. It adds emotional depth to the mystery and beautifully challenges the question at the heart of the novel: was Mabel truly “mad,” or simply a survivor of an extraordinarily difficult life?

This is likely my favourite book I’ve read by this author. The character development is outstanding, and I found myself completely invested in Mabel’s story, rooting for her even as doubts lingered.

The Narration:

I listened to the audiobook, narrated by Hannah Fredericksen and Jenny Seedsman, whose performances were exceptional. Each narrator captured a different stage of Mabel’s life so convincingly that I genuinely felt I was hearing the same woman across decades. Their narration added another layer of emotional depth to an already fantastic story.

Final Thoughts:

Mad Mabel is an engaging blend of mystery, dark humour, and poignant character study—a reminder that the stories we tell about people rarely reveal the whole truth.