The mystery of a missing child begins right away and drags on as you get to know multiple different characters and the issues they’re all dealing with indivially. I thought it would end up being pretty predictable, but was pleasantly surprised near the end! I didn’t grow to love any of the characters deeply, but I was impressed at the twists. Also, the theme of people being able to be both good and bad at the same time really did make me think about what being bad really is.

This book was such a great fast pace thriller!
It’s told from multiple POVs and had a great twist at the end!
“Sometimes bad things happen to good people. So good people have to do bad things.”

I love Alice Feeney but this wasn’t my favorite. The narrators were wonderful. But I felt super confused the first half of the book. I wasn’t sure what was going on. The twist at the end was great!! I just wish there was more build up to it but was hard to connect to the characters because it would switch back and forth between each character to quick so I found myself lost a lot of the time.

This was a fast, easy, high-interest listen/read that I tore through in less than 2 days.
Although the description says "3 suspects, 2 murders, 1 victim," the murders weren't really the focus in my opinion. This is less murder mystery/hardly a thriller and more commentary on generational trauma, the complicated relationship between mothers and daughters, and the small interconnected world we live in. This is the story of 4 (actually 5) women from different generations - Edith, Clio, Frankie, and Patience. The story is told from all 4 perspectives. The 5th woman involved is DCI Chapman who is tasked with solving the murders. Although we don't get her perspective, her story is interwoven with these women as well. There are very few male characters. The only one of any note is Jude, and frankly, he's mostly terrible. Or at least self-centered. I loved to hate him. Good Bad Girl is a very female-centered book.
Pros - I love Alice Feeney's writing style and voice. She is a master at her craft. I will probably autobuy anything she writes. The narrators of this audio (Katherine Press and Stephanie Racine) were also really lovely. I enjoyed having them tell me the story in their British/Scottish accents. The main events of the book take place over a relatively short period of time with a few flashbacks thrown in. But the multiple POVs (4 different women and a mix of 1st and 3rd person) helped keep the pace flowing and not boring.
Cons - aka - why it didn't get 5 stars - The ending was almost too tidy? I "guessed" the main connections between the women (were we supposed to? I don't think it was that well hidden) pretty early on. Some of the information wasn't provided until the very, very end with very few hints throughout which I don't love in a mystery. There was a smallish "twist" at the end regarding one woman that was a bit of a surprise and also a bit of a stretch. Like I said, perhaps a bit too tidy.
Overall, it was a great read into the lives of these women. And although I wouldn't categorize it as a thriller and even consider mystery a stretch, it was a lovely read about the complicated relationships between women - especially mothers and daughters. I still recommend this if you are fans of Alice Feeney or even fans of more women's lit.

Received an advanced copy for review from NetGalley. The four main female characters are likeable, even if I don't care for the hopping back and forth in time, and their supporting cast is affable. The time-hopping helps you to see the principal conundrum from each person's vantage point. How one makes peace with doing bad things to achieve a good outcome is the major premise of this book. Sometimes, the best way through is not the legal, or 'nice', way to get it done but it does mean that Cleo, Franke and Nellie/Patience (all of Edith's 'Ladybugs') make it to the end of the book minus their matriarch but with a better understanding of how they came to exist in their present. Revisiting the ladies in a decade to see how much more they've either bonded or crumbled would be great.
#GoodBadGirl #NetGalley #AliceFeeney #love #loss #familytrauma #healingjourney #dysfunctionalfamilies #thefamilythatpreystogether

This was very good! Great on audio! Clever, fast paced, well plotted. Love a good twist at the end. Character development on point. Recommended! Thank you for letting me listen to ARC!

Every story has two sides, and sometimes, they are both right.

Alice Feeney is one of my most favorite authors of all time and this book proves why. While it starts off slow as each character is introduced, the pacing picks up halfway through and then doesn't let go. Each one of the characters touched my heart at some point of time in the story, especially Frankie.

I would call it more of a domestic drama than a psychological thriller though. Five stars all the same!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the audiobook arc. Both narrators do an awesome job of keeping you captivated!

This book was soooo artfully written! Each chapter was like peeling back another layer of an onion. 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. At 80 years old, Edith has been tricked into moving into a care home by her daughter Clio. Their relationships is completed and contention from the start. Patience works at the care home Edith is staying at and a deeper relationship begins to form. The problem is, that everything about Patience is a lie, including her name.

This one is a twisty, back and forth slow burn. At times I had to really reel back and think deeply about what was going on with the four main characters in this novel that explores the often difficult reality of motherhood and the concepts of good and bad. Overall, I enjoyed Good Bad Girl because it kept me guessing until the very end. Thank you, NetGalley for the Arc!

I really enjoy this author, I loved Rock Paper Scissors and Sometimes I Lie. This one was just not for me. There are a lot of characters that took a long time to connect together for me and I had trouble connecting with them. I wanted to follow along and see it to the end, but I had a lot of moments where I was really confused, which made the ending feel just ok.

Intricately woven and utterly engrossing, this novel takes readers on a journey that spans two decades, connecting a stolen baby's disappearance to a recent murder in a care home. The enigmatic Edith, determined to escape her involuntary nursing home stay, becomes an unexpected ally to Patience, who harbors secrets of her own. The narrator's adeptness at transforming her voice for each character immerses the listener into the heart of the story, creating a multi-dimensional experience that brings the characters to life.

What sets this audiobook apart is its artful approach to storytelling, shifting seamlessly between characters' perspectives with every chapter. This narrative technique not only offers a fresh vantage point but also amplifies the suspense as hidden truths come to light. The complex dynamic between Edith, Patience, and Clio, whose strained relationship adds another layer of intrigue, forms the backbone of the plot.

Amidst the backdrop of mistrust and uncertainty, the three women are compelled to collaborate in solving a dual mystery involving murder and a long-unsolved abduction. As they navigate a maze of motives and deception, the listener is gripped by a relentless desire to uncover the connections between these seemingly unrelated events.

With its masterful blend of suspense, intricate character development, and a narrative structure that keeps you guessing, this audiobook is an absolute must-listen. It's a journey that delves into the complexities of human relationships and the unearthing of long-buried truths, leaving an indelible mark on anyone seeking an immersive and enthralling audio experience.

Good Bad Girl by Alice Feeney
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Alice Feeney’s new book just fantastic! She kept me guessing until the very end. It wonderfully shows us how sometimes very good people choose to do some very bad things.

We follow two timelines as a baby is abducted from a stroller and then years later a woman is murdered. Following the two timelines, they eventually merge to discover how these two events are connected and really how it is difficult to trust anyone at all!

Thank you for the author, the publisher and NetGalley for this opportunity.

`A good book can be a light in the darkness` — this is so true —and this was definitely a good book ! I enjoyed all the narrators they did a great job of the POV of the characters. By the time I got about 20% in I was hooked with intrigue and had to know what was going to happen and how all these characters were connected to to each other. I loved the technique of building tension of a character and then switching POV it really keeps you on your toes and makes you want to continue with the story to know what will happen to that character where the tension was built . This is a story about mothers and daughters and their relationships , it really touches on the issues mothers and daughter can have. The author does a great job of threading the characters lives together . Loved this book , hard to stop listening— I love this tag line — Sometimes good people have to do bad things! — Recommended !

I was pretty unengaged with this story and I cannot pinpoint why. It was very confusing and dare I say there were too many twists? I just didn't see the point of the entire book until the end when all the twists were revealed and explained. It was interesting and they all made sense afterwards. But was the bulk of the book worth it?

Again! Another great book by Alice Feeney. I just can’t seem to read them fast enough. I am too impatient to find out what the next great twist is going to be! And there are many in Good Bad Girl.

The main characters begin by eking out cryptic stories of their past and present lives. They, along with some side characters ALL have secrets to hide!!!
And the amazing part is that they all come together in the end. I was fascinated with how Alice Feeney made them all fit like a complete puzzle.

I can’t say too much without giving away spoilers but this is a fun ride of a book. You’ll need to pay attention to the many clues and be on the edge of your seat as each character reveals a shocking new discovery! As you can tell, I really liked this book and want to read all her others.

Many thanks to Macmillan Audio for the ARC via NetGalley!

What an interesting ride! This author always tackles some hard topics, and she’s at it again with motherhood this time. She plays with perspective, and always has those twists coming out of nowhere. It was a little confusing at times, but maybe that’s because I was listening on audio. Overall, captivating and very enjoyable!

Edith is an eighty-year-old ex-store detective who’s been shuffled off to a nursing home against her will. She blames her daughter Clio for putting her there. Clio feels she’s doing the best she can and blames her mother for never truly loving her. Neither prefers to communicate with the other.

Patience is an 18-year-old care home employee who’s befriended Edith and her adorable dog, Dickens, who Patience sneaks in for visits with Edith. She also has a strained relationship with her own mother, Frankie, a prison librarian. Patience left home after a disagreement and hasn’t communicated with Frankie since.

In each woman you see both good and bad. As truths come to light you see they’ve all made very bad choices in their lives, yet are any of them truly bad? For a story involving crimes committed, I don’t think I’ve ever felt more sympathetic towards the characters involved!

It’s rare that I finish a book and have no complaints, but try as I might, I can’t find a single one. Alice Feeney outdid herself with this, and it’s risen to the top as my new favorite book of hers! It's a domestic drama/mystery that twists and turns in ways that Feeney has made an art of. It’s also eminently quotable and so insightful regarding women and mother/daughter relationships, that I guess my only complaint is that I couldn’t highlight the MANY wonderful quotes on my Kindle since I listened to it on audio! Who am I kidding? I really can't complain. The audio was amazing.

Speaking of the audio, it was narrated by Stephanie Racine, who always does a brilliant job with Feeney’s books, and the equally impressive Katherine Press. They brought all these fascinating personalities to life and only added to my enjoyment of the story.

I can only sing this book's praises and tell you to check this out if it sounds like a good match!

The beginning of this book was a little hard for me to follow mainly because there were so many different points of view in the story that it felt kind of jumbled and I spent more time trying to piece together how every character is connected and their role in the story.The story is a bit predictable, but there were some twists that were surprising and kept the story interesting.

Both narrators were enjoyable to listen to and brought a uniqueness to the different POV. They brought the uncertainty and distrust of the story to life while also bringing a warmness to each character. This was my first time hearing a story be narrated by either of these women and I truly enjoyed their voices.

Overall this was a good story, but ultimately one that isn’t memorable.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the ALC

My expectations for this book sort of messed with me at first as I didn't find it to be all that twisty or feeling like a thriller. I mean, there are secrets and murders and surprises - don't get me wrong. But it really was more of a book about family and the murder mystery stuff was more the backdrop for that exploration and I really enjoyed the book. Some of the relationships in the book are ones you can kind of figure out and some are surprising. And as in the other book by Feeney I read, Daisy Darker, there are plenty of flawed and dislikable characters and some that you root for. So I wasn't on the edge of my seat, but once I just sat back and enjoyed the book as it was it was excellent!

The very first chapter will have your jaw already on the floor

Multiple POV’s (like 4 different people) - this did get confusing at times just trying to figure out who was who and keep up with the separate intertwining stories. However, the narrators did do a good job of each character having their own voice/tone - it was just hard for me to keep up with that many different POVs.

There are several twists in this book - some that I saw coming and some that I didn’t.

Would recommend for a good thriller, but probably keep notes/tab so you can easily distinguish the different characters in the book.