Good Bad Girl

By Alice Feeney

What it’s about?

Twenty years after a baby is stolen from her push-chair, 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 up mess 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 . . .

What I think:

Alice Feeney is great for mysteries and twists and unreliable characters you cannot trust.

Edith is stuck in an old people’s home an utterly miserable. Patience works there and they become friends after she rescued Edith’s dog Dickens. They are planning to break Edith out of the care home when the mysterious death of one of the residents convinces them to leave immediately.

Edith is missing.

Her exasperated daughter, Clio, is worried about her. Her relationship with Edith is strained and there are misunderstandings and bitterness on both sides. There are also a lot of secrets and sadness.

Patience has her own issues with her mother. And is keeping secrets of her own.

This is a slow burner. I was really engaged with the characters individually but had no idea how it was all going to come together. And then, in true Alice Feeney style, it did!

The book explores women’s lives and the complex relationships between mothers and daughters. The characters are complex and flawed and really interesting.

This was a good read. It’s clever and twisty and will keep you engaged right to the last page.

Thank you to Netgalley for my gifted digital copy of Good Bad Girl.