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From Booklist, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission.

Melbourne octogenarian Elsie is comfortable being the grouch of Kenny Lane, and she fills the role beautifully when she clambers her neighbor Ishaan’s fence, determined that he stop hiding from his turn answering the relentless questions of the street’s only child, Persephone. Instead, she finds Ishaan’s body and must answer police officers’ relentless questions. Elsie assumes that 93-year-old Ishaan succumbed to natural causes, but the police become suspicious after discovering Elsie’s past. She’s Mabel Elsie Waller, aka Mad Mabel, Australia’s youngest murder convict. Hounded by police and protesters, Elsie takes documentarians Libby and Adeel up on their offer to help her tell her story on her own terms. Through flashbacks, Elsie reveals a lonely, abusive childhood, the deaths of her toddler sister, her mother, her favorite teacher, and a series of violent accidents laid at Mad Mabel’s feet. Then Persephone’s abusive father shows up, and Elsie doesn’t hesitate to act. Hepworth balances heartbreak with Elsie’s delicious snark and strong suspense, but readers will be hard-pressed to resist feeling something here as allies emerge to defeat Elsie’s resigned loneliness. Arguably Hepworth’s best, this is a must-read for fans of Helene Tursten’s Elderly Lady series and Christopher Bollen’s Havoc (2024).HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Best-selling Hepworth gets more inventive and more incisive with each thriller, winning the attention of ever more readers.

Library Journal
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These days, 81-year-old Elsie Fitzpatrick lives a quiet, if lonely, life on an unassuming street in Melbourne. When her neighbor Ishaan, her nemesis, is found dead in his home, people put together that Elsie is really the infamous "Mad Mabel" Waller, the youngest person in Australian history to be convicted of murder, and the police label Ishaan's death as suspicious. Was he murdered, and did she have anything to do with it? Soon, a couple of young documentarians arrive, and Elsie/Mabel agrees to tell her story for the first time, starting with the very first death. It happened when she was three. Hepworth (Darling Girls) showcases her storytelling prowess with this dual-timeline tale that is part thriller, part historical mystery and filled with quirky characters that will pull readers in different directions emotionally. The twists may not all be surprising, but readers will be fully enraptured by the story and fall in love with Mabel, curmudgeonly woman that she is. VERDICT A must-purchase for most collections. Not only will Hepworth's many fans be clamoring for this, but it's sure to grow her reader base.—Sarah Sullivan