Mad Mabel by Sally Hepworth

 

Elsie Mabel Fitzpatrick is 81, six feet tall and the epitome of a curmudgeon.  She lives on a small street where she has lived for over sixty years.  Her neighbors include the elderly man next door with a chihuahua she despises, a Chinese couple, a middle-aged man who she does like a bit, a nosy neighbor who thinks she is in charge of policing everyone's behavior and a single mother who has recently moved in with a seven year old daughter.  Mabel ignores them all, her only friend Daphne who has been her friend from childhood.

Mabel has a secret as do many of us.  But hers is bigger.  She was once called Mad Mabel, the youngest murderer ever who had killed her father.  Her father who never liked her.  Her father who spent his time making her life miserable as he had made Mabel's mother's life.  Mabel was in custody from the age of fifteen to the time she turned adult and moved on the street and no one knows who she is except Daphne.

But when Mabel's neighbor dies and she discovers his body, everything comes to light.  For some reason, the police suspect that the man could have been murdered and who would do that but the murderer next door?  As her secret emerges, Mabel's life is interrupted again and again, not only by the media who make her the headline news, but by Persephone, the seven year old girl who has no boundaries and decides that Mabel is her new best friend.  Will all of Mabel's secrets be exposed?

Sally Hepworth is an Australian author who writes in the domestic relationship and thriller genre.  I've read many of her books and this one is delightful from beginning to end.  Mabel has lots of secrets and they are slowly revealed as the book continues.  Her gruff exterior truly hides a heart of gold and as the mysteries are unraveled, the gold shines through.  I listened to this novel and the narrator is perfect, a slow English accented voice that can convey hauteur perfectly and as this is Mabel's normal way of dealing with others, makes her come alive.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.