Meet Elsie Mabel Fitzpatrick from Mad Mabel by Sally Hepworth: 81 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.
