By Sheila Dube, Youth Services Librarian
Elsie Mabel Fitzpatrick is a grumpy on the outside and soft in the middle, sarcastic and witty 81-year-old woman who has been able to keep her past as Australia’s youngest convict covered up in her quiet Melbourne neighborhood for close to 60 years – until now. When she climbs over the fence to stop her 93-year-old neighbor’s infuriating dog from barking, she not only finds her neighbor dead, but she becomes the focus of unwanted police and media attention due to her secret past. Elsie arranges to tell her side of the story in a YouTube Documentary to control the neighborhood busybodies and protect Persephone, the seven-year-old chatterbox who has recently moved into the neighborhood and wormed her way into Elsie’s heart.
The YouTube documentary is used to flesh out Elsie’s relationships from her childhood, her history with her best friend Daphne, and the various difficult life circumstances that result in her criminal history. Each character holds a place in Elsie’s self-protecting shell. Although Mad Mabel is not a classic mystery, the humor, drama and rollercoaster emotions between characters creates its own brand of suspense.
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