Mad Mabel: A Novel

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

From New York Times bestselling author Sally Hepworth comes a twisty tale of justice, redemption, and one irrepressible woman who’s not done breaking the rules just yet.

Meet Elsie Mabel Fitzpatrick: eighty-one years old, gloriously grumpy, fiercely independent, and never without a hot cup of tea—or a cutting remark. She minds her own business in her quiet Melbourne suburb, until a neighbor turns up dead and the whispers start flying.

Because Elsie hasn’t always been Elsie. Once upon a headline, she was Mad Mabel Waller—Australia’s youngest convicted murderer. But was she really mad, or just misunderstood? Either way, she’s kept her secret buried for decades.

Enter seven-year-old Persephone, a relentless little chatterbox who has just moved in across the road (armed with stickers, questions, and no sense of personal boundaries); Joan, who appears to have it in for Elsie; and a healthy dose of public interest—the cops are sniffing around, and the media is circling like seagulls at a picnic.

So Mabel does what she’s always done best—she takes matters into her own hands.

Is she a cantankerous old lady with a shady past? A cold-blooded killer with arthritis? Or just someone who’s finally ready to tell her side of the story?

Sharp, surprising, and wickedly funny, this is the unforgettable story of a woman who’s spent a lifetime being underestimated—and is about to prove everyone wrong. Again.

Sally Hepworth is the New York Times bestselling author of nine novels, including The Good Sister and The Soulmate. Her latest novel, Darling Girls, was released in Australia in September 2023, and will be released in North America in April 2024.

Drawing on the good, the bad and the downright odd of human behaviour, Sally writes incisively about family, relationships and identity. Her domestic thriller novels are laced with quirky humour, sass and a darkly charming tone. They are available worldwide in English and have been translated into twenty languages.

Sally lives in Melbourne, Australia, with her three children and one adorable dog. She has recently taken up ocean swimming (or to put it more accurately, ocean dipping)

"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." —Library Journal, starred review

"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). " —Booklist, starred review

"A twisty page-turning triumph, packed with wit, warmth, nuance and mystery. Brilliant." —Jane Harper

"Funny, twisty and suspenseful."—Harlan Coben

Mad Mabel by Sally Hepworth is a twisty psychological thriller about murder, family secrets, childhood trauma, female friendship, and the dangerous power of public opinion. At the center of the novel is Elsie Mabel Fitzpatrick, an eighty-one-year-old woman living quietly on a small Melbourne street. Elsie is prickly, fiercely independent, funny in a dry and sometimes savage way, and determined to keep her private life exactly that—private. But Elsie has spent decades hiding something extraordinary. She was once known as Mabel Waller, a teenage girl whose name became synonymous with murder after she was convicted at just fifteen. For more than sixty years, she has lived under a different name, leaving the infamous “Mad Mabel” behind. When an elderly neighbor is found dead, however, the past comes looking for her. The resulting mystery asks a compelling question: was Mabel really a murderer, or was a vulnerable young girl made into a monster by the people around her?

The story begins in 2025 on Kenny Lane, where Elsie has created a quiet existence for herself. She has lived there for decades and knows the habits and personalities of her neighbors. One of the people closest to her is Peter Pantages, a kind neighbor for whom Elsie secretly has affection, although her sharp personality makes it difficult for her to express tenderness openly. Another important presence is seven-year-old Persephone, the daughter of Roxanne, a single mother who works exhausting night shifts while trying to keep her daughter safe from her abusive former partner, Shane. Persephone is curious, outspoken, and completely unafraid of Elsie's gruff exterior. Their unlikely friendship becomes one of the emotional centers of the novel because Persephone sees something in Elsie that many adults fail to notice: beneath the sarcasm and hostility is a deeply protective woman.

Elsie's carefully controlled anonymity begins to crack when someone slips an old newspaper article under her door. The article concerns Mabel Waller, the notorious teenage murderer from decades earlier. Elsie immediately understands what this means: someone has discovered her true identity. She has spent most of her adult life making sure that no one on Kenny Lane knows that the elderly woman they call Elsie was once the girl newspapers called “Mad Mabel.” She has changed her name and built an entirely new identity, but the article proves that the past has not disappeared. It has merely been waiting. Soon afterward, Persephone mentions that Ishaan Patel, an elderly neighbor, has not been seen. When Elsie investigates, she finds Ishaan dead inside his home. What initially appears to be a natural death becomes suspicious because of the circumstances—and because Elsie's past suddenly makes her an obvious person for the police and the public to scrutinize.

The discovery of Elsie's identity transforms Kenny Lane. Joan Waters, a suspicious and judgmental neighbor, quickly assumes the worst. Once she learns that Elsie is actually Mabel Waller, she begins treating the elderly woman as though she has always been dangerous. The old conviction becomes more important to Joan than any evidence concerning Ishaan's death. The media soon joins the investigation, turning Elsie's quiet neighborhood into a spectacle. Police questions, journalists, and public curiosity force Elsie into a situation she has avoided for more than six decades. Rather than allowing other people to tell her story, she agrees to speak with Adeem Anand and Libby Conquest, two young documentary makers associated with a true-crime channel. Their interest gives Elsie an opportunity to finally explain what happened when she was a teenager.

The novel then moves between the present and Mabel's childhood, gradually revealing why a fifteen-year-old girl became known across Australia as “Mad Mabel.” Born into a wealthy family, Mabel grows up at Rosehill, a grand Edwardian estate dominated by her father, Elliott Waller. Wealth does not make the household loving. Elliott is controlling, emotionally cruel, and deeply concerned with appearances. Mabel's mother, Mary, struggles with her own emotional instability and alcohol dependence, leaving Mabel with little reliable parental support. Mabel is an unusual child—tall, intelligent, observant, outspoken, and not particularly interested in behaving in the quiet, obedient way expected of girls at the time. These qualities make her easy to label as difficult. Worse, Elliott deliberately encourages the idea that something is wrong with his daughter.

Mabel's childhood becomes even more traumatic after the death of her baby sister, Kitty. Elliott blames Mabel for the child's illness, turning her into the family's scapegoat. Instead of receiving comfort, Mabel learns that the adults around her are willing to believe the worst about her. This is crucial to understanding the later “Mad Mabel” label. The novel suggests that Mabel's reputation did not suddenly appear after the murder conviction; it was built over years by adults who misunderstood, neglected, or deliberately damaged her. The more Mabel struggles, the more evidence her family seems to find that she is unstable. In this environment, even her genuine attempts to survive can be interpreted as proof that she is dangerous.

Mabel does eventually find people who offer her something close to unconditional love. Her aunt Cecily, known as Cess, is particularly important. Cess rejects many of the social conventions imposed on women and refuses to be controlled by Elliott. She becomes a fierce protector of Mabel. Cess's partner, Vanessa, or Ness, also provides Mabel with affection and intellectual companionship. Vanessa introduces her to books, including Anne of Green Gables, giving Mabel a private emotional world where she can imagine a life beyond Rosehill. These relationships matter because they show that Mabel's story is not simply about violence. It is also about the people who help a damaged child survive.

Another important relationship is Mabel's friendship with Daphne. Daphne becomes Mabel's closest companion, someone who understands her and gives her a sense of belonging. But as the story develops, this friendship takes on a more complicated meaning. Mabel's childhood is so lonely and traumatic that her need for companionship becomes intertwined with imagination and memory. The novel uses Daphne to explore how the mind can protect itself when reality becomes unbearable. What appears at first to be a straightforward lifelong friendship is eventually revealed to be much more psychologically complicated. Daphne becomes a symbol of the companionship Mabel needed when almost no one else was willing to stand beside her.

The greatest betrayal comes from within Mabel's own family. Elliott's behavior toward Mabel's mother and his relationship with another woman deepen the instability at Rosehill. After Mary discovers Elliott's affair with Susan McGinty, she dies by suicide. Mabel is left even more vulnerable. Her father's cruelty and manipulation continue, and the people who might have protected her are removed one by one. Eventually, the story reveals that Elliott himself is responsible for the death of Cecily. His motive is tied to control of Rosehill and his desire to preserve his power. The revelation dramatically changes the meaning of Mabel's childhood: the man who helped convince everyone that his daughter was unstable was himself capable of terrible violence.

This is where the novel's central question becomes especially powerful. If Mabel was convicted of murder as a teenager, what exactly did the public know about her life? How much of the evidence was shaped by adults who already believed she was “mad”? And how much did the press contribute to creating a permanent identity for a frightened young girl? Hepworth uses Mabel's story to examine the destructive power of labels. Once the world decides that someone is dangerous, every action can be interpreted as further evidence of guilt. The nickname “Mad Mabel” becomes almost impossible to escape because it replaces the complicated human being with a sensational story.

In the present-day storyline, Elsie's relationship with Persephone brings these themes into the foreground again. Persephone is living with her mother, Roxanne, who is attempting to escape Shane's abuse. Elsie recognizes the danger surrounding them and becomes increasingly protective of the child. Her response is significant because it reveals how much she has changed—or perhaps how much compassion she has always possessed beneath her defensive exterior. She understands what it means for a child to be trapped in circumstances controlled by adults. Her bond with Persephone gives her an opportunity to offer another child the protection she herself never received.

As the investigation into Ishaan's death develops, the threat surrounding Elsie becomes increasingly serious. Her old conviction makes her an irresistible target for suspicion, but the novel refuses to make the mystery simply about whether an old woman is capable of killing again. Instead, the real suspense comes from discovering what happened to Mabel all those years ago and understanding how the events of her childhood shaped the woman Elsie became. The present-day investigation effectively forces Elsie to reopen wounds she has spent decades protecting. Her interview with Adeem and Libby becomes an act of reclaiming her own narrative. For the first time, she can tell the story without allowing newspapers, neighbors, or her father to decide what it means.

The final revelations connect the two timelines in an especially emotional way. Peter, the seemingly ordinary neighbor who has shown such concern for Elsie, is revealed to have a much deeper connection to her past: he is her biological son. This revelation gives Elsie's guarded relationship with him a new meaning. She has spent decades believing that closeness inevitably leads to loss, so she has constructed a life in which she needs very little from anyone. Yet the people around her—Peter, Persephone, Roxanne, and even the memory of Daphne—gradually demonstrate that connection can also be a source of survival.

The story ultimately moves toward an act of sacrifice that redefines Elsie's legacy. Rather than allowing the world to remember her simply as “Mad Mabel,” she chooses to protect the people she loves. Her final actions show the difference between the violent girl the newspapers created and the complicated woman she actually became. The novel's conclusion is bittersweet: Elsie's life has been marked by enormous suffering, but it is not defined entirely by that suffering. Her relationships with others, particularly the younger people she protects, allow her to leave behind something warmer than the reputation imposed upon her as a teenager.

At its heart, Mad Mabel is a story about how easily society can mistake a damaged person for a dangerous one. Sally Hepworth explores the way childhood trauma, family manipulation, sexism, gossip, and sensational journalism can combine to destroy a person's reputation. The novel is particularly interested in the stories people tell about women who do not behave as expected. Mabel is loud, angry, independent, and difficult, and those qualities make it easier for others to dismiss her pain. Her father weaponizes that perception, while the public turns it into entertainment.

The novel is also deeply concerned with friendship and chosen family. Mabel survives because certain people see her as a human being rather than a problem to be solved. Cess, Ness, Daphne, Peter, and eventually Persephone each represent different forms of connection. These relationships challenge Mabel's belief that she is safest when she is alone. Her prickly personality is not simply comic relief; it is armor built over decades of fear. Beneath it is a woman who desperately wants to be loved but has learned that loving someone can also mean losing them.

Overall, Mad Mabel is an engaging choice for readers searching for a Sally Hepworth psychological thriller, domestic suspense novel about family secrets, mystery about a woman with a hidden past, or twisty murder mystery with an unreliable reputation at its center. Published in 2026, the novel combines Hepworth's characteristic interest in complicated families with an unusual protagonist: an eighty-one-year-old woman whose most important mystery happened more than sixty years earlier.

What makes Mad Mabel especially memorable is that its biggest mystery is not simply “Who killed whom?” It is who gets to decide who a person really is. Was Mabel a murderer, a victim, a survivor, or some combination of all three? By allowing the elderly Elsie to finally tell her own story, Hepworth shifts the focus from the sensational label to the human being underneath it. The result is a suspenseful but deeply humane novel about survival, forgiveness, friendship, and the possibility of reclaiming your identity after other people have spent a lifetime defining you. In the end, “Mad Mabel” is not the whole story. It is only the name the world gave a girl it never truly understood.