By: Alice Feeney
Katherine Press, Stephanie Racine Macmillan Audio
ISBN: 9781250843968
Publisher: Flatiron
Publication Date: 08/29/2023
Format: Audiobook
My Rating: 5 Stars (ARC)
Sometimes bad things happen to good people, so good people have to do bad things.
Our Queen of Twists, bestselling author of Daisy Darker and Rock Paper Scissors Alice Feeney, returns with another thrilling mystery filled with drama and her trademark surprises.
Twenty years after a baby is stolen from a stroller, a woman is murdered in a care home. The two crimes are somehow linked, and a good bad girl may be the key to discovering the truth.
Edith may have been tricked into a nursing home, but at eighty-years-young, she’s planning her escape. Patience works there, cleaning messes and bonding with Edith, a kindred spirit. But Patience is lying to Edith about almost everything.
Edith’s own daughter, Clio, won’t speak to her. And someone new is about to knock on Clio’s door…and their intentions aren’t good.
With every reason to distrust each other, the women must solve a mystery with three suspects, two murders, and one victim. If they do, they might just find out what happened to the baby who disappeared, the mother who lost her, and the connections that bind them.
In the style of Daisy Darker and Rock Paper Scissors, Good Bad Girl is a thriller in which nobody can be trusted and the twists come fast and furious.
My Review
The reigning queen of psychological twisty thrillers, Alice Feeney, returns following Daisy Darker and Rock Paper Scissors with her BEST YET, GOOD BAD GIRL— an intricately woven mystery of mothers and daughters, when a past abduction collides with the present in this riveting multi-level mind-bending yet heart-rendering gripping suspense.
Four women, three suspects, two murders, and one victim. DCI Charlotte Chapman is on the case.
Twenty years ago, on Mother's Day, a baby in a stroller was abducted in a grocery store. The mother is distracted while shopping; she discovers her six-month-old daughter is gone when she returns her attention to her baby carriage. The child was never found.
Twenty years later, a woman is murdered in a care home. The two crimes are somehow linked, and a good-bad girl may be the key to discovering the truth.
Frankie is a prison librarian struggling to deal with losing her eighteen-year-old daughter, Patience, who has run away. She makes an appointment to see a counselor called Clio.
Clio's mother, Edith, is not happy having been moved into a care home. She wants to escape and move back into her house. She blames her daughter, Clio.
Patience works at the London nursing/care home. She has a special relationship with Edith and goes to the pound to get Edith's dog for her. Can she be trusted?
Everyone has a past. Everyone has secrets. Each is acting good and bad and you will sympathize with both sides. The gripping mystery—what do these women have in common?
Sometimes, bad things happen to good people.
Sometimes, good people have to do bad things.
How does this mystery connect these women, both mothers and daughters? Does history repeat itself or will love win out in the end?
What a book! Feeney has outdone herself —cleverly exploring the emotional, unique, complex relationships between mothers and daughters. A relationship that shapes lives.
GOOD BAD GIRL is well-written, fast-paced, engaging, smart, and intriguing, with characters that jump off the page with all the Feeney signature twists and turns. No one writes family and complex relationships better (whether good or bad).
Feeney fans will delight! Also for fans of authors Sally Hepworth and Michael Robotham. An ideal book club pick for further discussions.
Binge-worthy and movie-worthy, you will be on the edge of your seat to discover how all the pieces of this clever puzzle fit together.
I loved Edith with her spunk, humor, and drive. Just because she is old does not mean she is done with living.
AUDIOBOOK: I listened to the audiobook, which was SPECTACULAR! Narrators Katherine Press and Stephanie Racine gave an award-winning performance and perfect voices for all the women. I could not tear myself away. A favorite audio!
Heart-stirring, emotional, and suspenseful —I highly recommend GOOD BAD GIRL.
Many thanks to Macmillan Audio for a gifted ALC via NetGalley for my honest opinion. Also ordered the hardcover copy.
@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks
Pub Date: Aug 29, 2023
My Rating: 5 Stars
Praise
“Feeney’s latest solidifies her reputation as a premier purveyor of psychological suspense. . . As the women’s relationships deepen, Feeney gradually reveals their connection to the initial abduction, keeping readers constantly off-balance with shifting perspectives and brilliantly withheld information. . . This crafty thriller will touch readers’ hearts as much as it bends their minds.”
―Publishers Weekly, starred review
“Alice Feeney will have you on the edge of your seat until the very end with Good Bad Girl. So. Good.”
―Glamour Magazine UK
“This well-written, fast-paced novel is full of Feeney’s trademark twists and turns. Fans of the author and those who enjoy psychological thrillers will want to check it out.”
―Library Journal, starred review
“An intricately woven mystery. More than just a cleverly plotted thriller, this also takes a deep dive into mother-daughter relationships to really make you think.”
―Heat
“Twisty, pacy and deliciously clever, this thriller is brilliant!”
―The Sun
“You know when you’re reading an Alice Feeney book to expect plenty of twists…but I defy you to keep up with the turns that her latest takes. This has bestseller written all over it.”
―The Belfast Telegraph
“A deep, dark mystery filled with Feeney’s powerful psychological insights, and the devilish surprises that have become the hallmark of her novels. . . This clever, multi-layered tale works its mesmerizing magic from the startling open chapter to the final, jaw dropping conclusion. . . A terrific novel.”
―Lancashire Post
“A satisfyingly clever shocker.”
―Booklist
About the Author
ALICE FEENEY is the New York Times bestselling author of Sometimes I Lie, I Know Who You Are, His & Hers, and Rock Paper Scissors. Her novels have been translated into over twenty-five languages and have been optioned for major screen adaptations. Alice was a BBC journalist for fifteen years and now lives in the Devon countryside with her family.
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