Alice Feeney is a favorite author, and Good Bad Girl did not disappoint! A slow-burn mystery told from the perspective of several involved women, this book is a page turner I could not stop reading. The characters were well-developed, and the intertwining of their lives was revealed at a perfect pace. While the one of the major reveals is somewhat predictable, there were plenty of plot twists I didn't see coming. Definitely a 5-star read for me!

This story was different than I expected! I think I was expecting a bit of a darker story. That being said, this was a great read. It definitely kept me interested.

Fantastic narrator. I did find this format made the reveal towards the end a bit confusing, so I had it go back a few times, but not a huge deal.

Would I recommend this book? Absolutely!

The plot of Good Bad Girl is a little complicated. To avoid giving anything away, I'll keep this as brief as possible:

A baby was kidnapped from a stroller at a store 20 years ago, and now a murder has occurred at a nursing home. Two distinct murders, but they are linked by a group of women who must solve the murder in order to discover who abducted the baby all those years ago.

The ladies are: Edith, 80, who believes she was duped into living in a nursing home, Patience, 18, who works at the nursing home, Clio, Edith's estranged daughter, and Frankie, a prison librarian.

I really enjoyed this book, and Alice Feeney never disappoints!

This book is so full of twists and turns that I was a bit lost in the beginning but so grateful I kept going because it all comes together in the end. The book is not just an unfolding mystery about a missing person but also dives deep into the complicated relationships between mothers and daughters of all generations . The narrator is an excellent storyteller not over exaggerating each character while at the same time injecting the slightest bits of personality and heart into each voice to fit the various ages and originality of each individual. This is my first time reading Alice Feeney and I’m definitely going to read her backlist!

Good Bad Girl by Alice Feeney is about a kidnapping of a baby twenty years ago and how it ties into a murder in the current day. Full stop, it's best to go into this knowing nothing more.

The characters were so well-developed, it was not hard to keep track of who's POV I was in between each chapter as each character had their own thoughts and personality. In total there were four points-of-view and each felt distinct. I think the narrators also did a fantastic job with her voice work to make each character sound distinct. This is truly a story about motherhood and its many challenges, and the relationship between mothers and daughters.

The novel was very well-paced and I never grew bored. The arrangements of the different character chapters was crafted exquisitely. The plot left enough kernels of information so I never felt unjustly blindsided when a reveal was made, but also not so obvious that I guessed everything early on. I think the pieces Feeney does allow the reader to guess isn't so huge as to make the reader feel disappointed when they find they are right, something I tend to feel if I guess a twist, but just small enough that the reader feels rewarded that they caught the nuggets of information Feeney left.

The ending to this was extremely satisfying and justified. I truly enjoyed this one and this might be my new favorite of hers. It is hard to top Sometimes I Lie, but this may have done it. Other readers say they are disappointed by this one, but this novel is more toned down than some of her previous novels, and has more of a Domestic Drama feel to it a la Sally Hepworth, and I'm very okay with that.

A baby is stolen on Mother’s Day; twenty years later, a woman is murdered in a care home. This is the story of how those crimes connect.

This was more of a domestic suspense story than Feeney’s last two novels, so it wasn’t my favorite of hers. But it was filled with Feeney’s signature twists and kept me reading. It was a fun ride.

Patience works in a care home and befriends a patient named Edith. Then there’s a murder, and Edith disappears. We eventually find out how everyone in the story is connected. I’m a huge fan of Alice Feeney, but Good Bad Girl left me disappointed. Sure, it had some unexpected revelations but none of the edge of my seat twists that I’ve come to expect from Alice Feeney!

Mother's Day is a complex and emotional day for many. At the beginning of this new title from Alice Feeney, a woman is at the supermarket on Mother's Day and the infant in her care disappears. Who is the mother? What happened to the baby? We don't know. There are three mothers in this story: Edith, Clio, and Frankie. There are two daughters: Clio and Patience. Who belongs to whom? I One clue seems to be a ladybug ring. 🐞This is a multi-layered story with surprises throughout. Feeney is so good at keeping the reader in the dark, then shedding just enough light to help us find our way to the end. Kudos to Macmillan Audio on casting two narrators to give us clarity on the characters as we listen. 🎧

I've always enjoyed Alice Feeney's works, and this one was no exception. I liked how the narrative was recounted from the perspectives of three different women and in two different historical periods. This is the story of two dysfunctional mothers and their daughters. This book is about hope and forgiveness, but it's also about how far our mistakes may reverberate. I enjoyed the characters in this novel, even the ones who weren't particularly likeable. I'll admit that it wasn't the most twisty book I'd read by this author. I liked how the tale gradually came together. This is a murder mystery as well as a kidnapping that was never solved.

This was a tad hard to figure out who was who in the beginning. The narrator did a great job, there are just a lot of pov characters. I enjoyed the story and the characters very much. I did figure out quite a bit of the ending, but it did not hurt my enjoyment at all.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review. First of all I have to say I am a huge fan of Alice Feeney and she did not disappoint in this one. The story starts off where a baby is taken from her stroller in the middle of a grocery store and then continues on from there.....or so I thought. All of a sudden we meet Patience and she is a caregiver at a seniors' housing development and gets to know a lovely resident by the name of Edith. Edith does not like being placed in the home by her son and daughter and is trying everything possible to break out of the home. Together Patience and Edith form a great friendship until one day Patience is fired and accused of stealing from the residents. I really liked this story and I liked that I didn't figure out the twists right away as I was struggling to try and figure out how all these characters were involved with the story and each other. As always there was that "gasp" moment which wad done in perfect Alice Feeney writing and I loved it. Enjoy!!!!

Alice Feeney wraps a mystery with a twist inside a mystery or two in this new tale about seemingly unrelated incidents and people whose lives are actually intertwined.

Clio's mother has been forgetful so Clio and her brother have placed their mum in a home for the elderly. Edith hates living there and detests having no one to talk with. Patience, the young girl who cleans her room seems to be her only friend. Patience has her own difficulties, having run away from home after her mother broke a promise. Frankie, Patience's mother, is heartbroken at her daughter's abandonment and keeps her narrow boat moored at the same place on the Thames in the hopes her daughter will return.

The three women begin to discover the ways in which their lives are linked and even begin to pull together when necessary. Several of Feeney's previous books have been adapted for the screen and I wouldn't be surprised if this one also is eventually.

Narrators Katharine Press and Stephanie Racine move the story along well in the audio version of the book. Recommended for those who enjoy mystery with a twist, contemporary fiction, and women's fiction.

Pub date: 8/29/23
Genre: suspense/mystery
Quick summary: A baby is stolen, and years later, a woman is murdered. Edith, Clio, and Patience have lots of secrets, and it's time for them to come out.

I loved DAISY DARKER on audio, so I jumped at the chance to listen to GOOD BAD GIRL. Stephanie Racine is the perfect narrator for these twisty tales, and I also enjoyed Katherine Press' narration as well.

Other reviewers have mentioned that this one is a slow burn, and I agree. There are a lot of characters and a lot of background at the beginning of the book - and it's only the last 75% where things really start to get explained. This is not an audiobook you can listen to while multitasking.

In the end, Feeney pulls off a bunch of twists - the blurb doesn't call her Queen of Twists for nothing - but I was hoping for a little more payoff for my investment. I enjoyed this one, but it wasn't my favorite by her. That being said - she's still an auto-read (auto-listen?) author for me, 3.5 stars.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio for providing an ALC in exchange for an honest review.

"Sometimes bad things happen to good people, so good people have to do bad things."

This book will make you think about whether it's okay to do wrong if it will benefit someone else?
20 years ago a baby was taken from a stroller in a market. Not much has been said or investigated about it until now. Pieces that have been lost have resurfaced when two murders occur in a nursing home. Edith, an 80 year old resident in the nursing home, is devastated that she has been moved here against her will. She is angry at her daughter Clio and makes it known to everyone that visits. One girl that she trusts is Patience, an aide in the nursing home. As she plans her escape without her children's knowledge, she also changes her will so they will receive nothing from her estate.

Patience is 18 years old and angry at her mom that she has not spoken to in a year. She loves Edith's eccentric personality and her fight to leave the residence. Before the fruition of the escape, she is fired from her job. Patience's mom, Frankie, is a prison librarian and is searching for her daughter and plays a big role in the story.

With four threads of characters, this book comes full circle and will leave you on the edge of your seat weeding through dark secrets waiting to be revealed. The dialogue is compelling and clever. This may be one of my favorites of Alice Feeney's but then it would be hard to choose from them all.
Thank you Netgalley and Macmillan audio for this incredible ARC in exchange for my honest review. Great job to the narrators Katherine Press and Stephanie Racine for their incredible depiction of this book.

Holy twists and turns!! This was such a great book! I listened to the audio, and the narrators were AMAZING! This is only my second Alice Feeney book, and I’m now a huge fan. This book had me from the beginning. I started off wondering what the connection was, but never would’ve guessed the ending. And there was a lot of guessing on my part. This was a well thought out delivery of the lives of the characters and how they were all intertwined. A slow burn that I really enjoyed. Definitely recommend!

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan audio for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest and voluntary review!

You’ll want to approach this read with a bit of patience. It’s all going to seem a bit confusing. But hang in there! When it finally comes together it will all be worth it!🤩

Speaking of patience, she’s one of our main characters. Patience works in a nursing home, off the books. She has her favorite residents of course, including Edith.

We also have Frankie, a woman working as a prison librarian. Her daughter is missing and naturally she’s shattered!

Lastly is Clio. Edith’s daughter who works as a psychologist and lives in her beloved pink house.

Between these characters, a missing baby and a murder in the nursing home, it felt like a box of random, un-connectible puzzle pieces. It took me half the book to assemble enough pieces together to understand what it was starting to look like.

Sit back, sip your tea, and know that you’re in for a twisty treat by the time you reach the end! Alice Feeney once again delivers a brilliantly written thriller! Bravo!🙌

The audio was well narrated by Katherine Press and Stephanie Racine.

A buddy read with Susanne!

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan audio 🎧

I'm a big Feen Feen fan. I love how she uses the same narrator for her books. She did a marvelous job. The character building and story telling was gripping and I had to listen to it straight thru because that's the only way to listen to her books lol. They're that good

I've never read anything by this author that I haven't liked, and this is no exception. This may be my favorite so far. Her writing style is engaging and easy to read, and pairs wonderfully with the audiobook version. I thought at first I knew what was going to happen, but was pleasantly surprised with a nice twist. The characters were flawed and fascinating, which makes for some interesting reading. The narrator was great as well, which can make or break a book for me. I would highly recommend this book and this author to anyone who loves a good mystery, some thrills and great storytelling. Well done!

4 mainPOV’s.

20 years ago a baby was stolen from a stroller a nursing home employee is killed. What do these 4 women have to do with it?

Auto-buy author in the thriller genre.

It’s a twisty turny story with plenty of misdirection, lies, deceit, despicable behavior & unreliability that this author is known for.

Edith’s a lively octogenarian who was tricked into a nursing home.

Patience/Nelly is 18 & works at the nursing home where evil appears to be afoot.

Clio is Edith’s seemingly uncaring daughter who has multiple secrets.

Frankie works in the library at the women’s prison.

Add-in a young over achieving Detective with an ax to grind, a horrible excuse for a son, Liberty the incarcerated hacker & Dickens the lovable dog & the story baffles in multiple ways.

Thank you NetGalley & Macmillan Audio. I look forward to Alice Feeney’s next story!b

TW: Cheating, language, drinking, toxic family relationships, death of parent, classism

*****SPOILERS*****
About the book: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.
Release Date: August 29th, 2023
Genre: Mystery - Thriller
Pages: 320
Rating: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

What I Liked:
1. Love the writing style
2. The who did it plot
3. The mystery sucked me in

What I Didn't Like:
1. The ending just seemed too much

Overall Thoughts:
This book was a lot of fun. All the characters were so interesting and I was absorbed in the story. The complex story with the mother/daughter was interesting.

All the chapters end on cliffhangers that start other characters chapters. I never felt weighed down at the multiple pov's.

I was very fond of Detective Chapman. She was whimsical and great.

I am convinced there are only 5 people that reside in the UK. It's just so ridiculous to think how tight knit everything was that everyone some how knew or was friends with each other but that the other person in their lives never saw them. It all gets to be too much and you really have to open your mind so much to enjoy this one. At some points I had to stop reading so I could remember who each person was.

The ending got away into this convoluted mess. Frankie being sisters with Patience but managing to find Cleo's home just because she had a name from a newspaper was far fetched.

Final Thoughts:
The reveal of Frankie taking Cloe's baby was predictable.

Despite all of that though I still very much enjoyed the ride this book gave us. The characters didn't annoy me and I was invested in the mystery of it all.

Recommend For:
• Fans of Agatha Christie
• Complex family stories