Mad Mabel

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.