Shocking twists!

The story revolves around several women.

There is Edith who used to be a store detective. She is now in her eighties and was tricked into signing a power of attorney, placed in a care home and her dog was taken away from her and sent to a rescue.

Edith's daughter is Clio. She is a therapist who likes to help people but is unable to help herself. She lives in her pink house alone with the memories of happier times.

Frankie is the prison librarian. She has a secret. Frankie did a bad thing but for a good reason. Frankie suffers from anxiety and the only thing that helps her is counting.

Patience works at the senior care center where she does housekeeping. She befriends Edith and saves her dog. However, she is hiding who she really is.

Then a murder happens.

"Three suspects, two murders, and one victim."

DCI Chapman is called in to process the scene. She believes Clio, Patience, or Frankie are involved and all she has to do now is prove it.

The novel has several POVs and past and present chapters. The story flows and the characters are all very original and interesting. The last few twists were freaking amazing and the narration by Katherine Press and Stephanie Racine was superb! A sure winner for me.

I wouldn't mind seeing DCI Chapman in another novel and please keep the strand of pink hair!

Cliffhanger: No

4.5/5 Fangs

A complimentary copy was provided by Macmillan Audio via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Will I always read Alice Feeneys book, yes! But this one was not for me. We follow the days of three women with some flashback scenes. But much did not shock me in this book like her stories normally do. I couldn't put this one down only because I was hoping what I was wrong on the twist.

This book was so so good! Loved the narration as well! I listened in 2 days I believe ….unputdownable!! Thank you for the ALC!!

Can a person be completely good? Completely bad? Or a mix of both? Can life's experience change a person from one to the other? That's what the reader finds out in Feeney's latest.

The story starts when a baby is stolen from her stroller. We then travel to the future and I wondered how this tied into the missing child. It seemed like a whole new story. Then when I thought I knew where that was going, it morphed again and again I was left wondering.

I love the complexity of this authors characters. I Enjoy how she takes the reader from there to here and twists us all around. I also enjoyed the Gothic tones in this novel. I'm a big fan of Gothic novels and try to read as many as I can.

The narration was also perfect.

There are two murders and three suspects...

I am not really sure on how to summarize Good Bad Girl without making it sound confusing or accidentally spoiling the book a bit. So, let's just skip ahead to the review.

As most know thrillers once upon a time used to be my jam but over the past two years or so I have fallen out of love with thrillers. But I tend to keep giving the genre a try.

I've discovered Alice Feeney's books back in 2018 but I did not pick up another book by her until the fall of 2022. Last year I read Daisy Darker and seriously loved it so when I saw Good Bad Girl on
NetGalley for request, I instantly knew I wanted to read it because I love how twisty Daisy Darker was.

I went into listening to Good Bad Girl without comparing it to Daisy Parker or Sometimes I Lie.

The premise of Good Bad Girl was good but the execution was just okay. This had an uneven pace with lots of drama going on and then there were multi-povs. With this being on audio, I struggled knowing who was who because all the characters sounded the same because it felt like their character traits were super similar which made them blend all together with no uniqueness to them.

There were parts that felt forced or rushed as the story unfolded. I did enjoy the secrets that came to light. This did not have many twists that left me thinking on my gosh and it just fell flat.

A lot of people will really enjoy this for the drama, secrets, and the puzzle like mystery.

Good Bad Girl by Alice Feeney is a gripping and suspenseful mystery that keeps you on the edge of your seat from start to finish. The story unfolds two decades after a baby is stolen from a stroller, and a murder occurs in a care home. The connection between these two seemingly unrelated events is the central mystery.

Edith, an eighty-year-old with a plan for escape, forms an unlikely bond with Patience, who works at the care home but has a slew of secrets. Edith's daughter, Clio, is dealing with her own troubles, including an unwelcome visitor with sinister intentions.

Feeney's storytelling is masterful, with a web of deceit, mistrust, and a fast-paced narrative filled with twists and turns. It's a tale where nobody can be trusted, and surprises lurk around every corner.

If you're a fan of thrillers that keep you guessing until the very end, Alice Feeney's trademark surprises will not disappoint.

I had to restart this book. I wasn't following the plot, and I had just grown so bored. I put the book down and dreaded picking it back up. When I finally did, I told myself that I would stick it through to the end. I can't say it was worth it, honestly.

The characters were average. Their personalities were relatively flat: this is her goal; this is her motivation. I mean, Frankie had her OCD and fears form from a single trauma.

The plot was boring and hard to follow. It was an interesting story, but there was so little information given to the reader that I couldn't find reasons to be interested. Why is Frankie doing this? No idea. Why does Clio hate her mother so much? No idea. It wasn't even really a thriller because nothing about it was tense.

The only redeeming quality of this book was the mildly interesting climax. I never would have guessed the twist, but then again, there was never enough information for me to even begin guessing.

I love Alice Feeney, and this was no exception! Great page-turner - clever and well-paced. I am glad I listened to this as well, the narration added to the story.

The plot of this book was so riveting and I absolutely devoured it, however I found Edith to be a bit boring. I thought it was going to be more of a thriller, but it was definitely a heavy, domestic drama story. I enjoyed it enough though! This was a 3 star read for me!

Let me begin by saying I am Alice Feeney diehard.

The book has been praised for its suspenseful plot and its well-developed characters. However, it has also been criticized for its predictable ending and its lack of originality.

Overall, Good Bad Girl is a decent thriller with some good moments, but it is ultimately forgettable. It felt fragmented and was not what I was expecting from the "Queen of Twists". If you are looking for a dark and suspenseful thriller, there are better options out there. However, if you are a fan of Alice Feeney or psychological thrillers in general, you may enjoy the book.

Good Bad Girl
⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Author: Alice Feeney

I requested a digital advanced readers copy from NetGalley and Macmillan Audio and providing my opinion voluntarily and unbiased.

Synopsis: 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.

My Thoughts: I have typically loved Feeney books in the past but this one was a little off for me, not all bad, just expected a little more. There were the typical Feeney twists and not providing information until the second you need it, but it lacked a little luster from His and Hers, or even Rock, Paper, Scissors. The story covers a twenty year time span and involves a host of characters. It takes a little while to sort out who is who, as they each have their own distinctive voice. We open up with a baby stolen from a stroller then twenty years later a woman is murdered in a care home. Are these two tragic events related? Packed with dysfunctional family drama and beyond complicated mother-daughter relationships.

Edith is 80 years old and in an assisted living facility. Her daughter is Clio, their relationship is estranged at best. Patience works at the assisted living facility and has befriended Edith. Frankie works as a librarian for a women’s prison and is searching for her teenage daughter after she ran away from home. DCI Charlotte Chapman is the investigator for the murders. All of these characters don’t seem to belong together but towards the end, it makes sense of who they are and why they are paired the way that they were. Each chapter is clearly labeled with whose voice is narrating so it was easy to keep up. The characters were well developed with depth, mystery, creative, and intriguing. This was more of a character driven than plot driven story. The author’s writing style was complex, suspenseful, twisty, and engaging. The story is built around the characters and the plot is delivered in twisty layers within the characters.

This was a great read that I enjoyed. It had the elements of family dysfunction, psychological thriller, and class whodunit mystery, all rolled into one novel. The pacing is on the slow side but the flow is typical Feeney fashion, delivering what you need when you need it. Feeney also tackles sensitive social issues, such as post-partum depression. I would highly recommend this or any of Feeney’s backlist.

“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.”

I was immediately drawn in from the very first line. Good Bad Girl follows the relationship stories of several mothers and daughters. One has her baby kidnapped in the supermarket, one mothers daughter has run away and one daughter just put her mother in a nursing home.

The story is told from multiple points of view making it difficult to ever really get to know the characters as well as keep each character straight so I ended up switching to the ebook instead. As usual with Feeney books there are lots of twists and turns. I was disappointed that many were easy to figure out along the way. This also wasn’t much of a thriller but rather more of a mystery family drama.

The one thing I was very disappointed in was a comment made about being persuaded to have an abortion and the character spending a lifetime regretting that decision. This has been disprove to be true in the Turnaway study, as the majority of people who chose to have an abortion do not regret it but otherwise feel relieved.

Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan audio for the advanced audio copy in exchange for my honest review.

Alice Feeney has done it again. Good Bad Girl is exactly the kind of page turner I've come to expect from Feeney. It's a captivating story that seamlessly weaves together the past and present, drawing readers into a web of intrigue and heartwarming connections.

Twenty years after a baby is stolen from a stroller, Feeney crafts a tale that is as much about the enduring human spirit as it is about solving a decades-old mystery.

Edith, our spirited octogenarian protagonist, refuses to let age define her. Her determination to break free from the confines of a nursing home is both inspiring and relatable.

Patience, a caregiver at the nursing home, emerges as a complex character who keeps readers guessing. Her bond with Edith is heartwarming, and the layers of her character unfold beautifully throughout the story. The way Patience navigates a world filled with secrets and lies adds depth to the narrative.

The strained relationship between Edith and her daughter, Clio, adds a poignant layer to the story. Their journey towards reconciliation is touching and relatable, exploring the complexities of family dynamics with sensitivity. And it's only one of the mother-daughter relationships that makes this book so compelling.

As the plot unfolds, a mysterious stranger knocks on Clio's door, setting off a chain of events that keeps readers on the edge of their seats. Feeney masterfully constructs a web of suspense, with two murders, three suspects, and one victim, leaving us guessing until the very end.

Good Bad Girl is a page-turner that keeps you engaged from start to finish. It beautifully explores the themes of forgiveness, redemption, and the enduring bonds that connect us all.

A must-read for fans of heartwarming family sagas with a dash of suspense!

It's no secret I'm an Alice Feeny fan! I have loved every single book of hers, and Good Bad Girl was no exception. Wow! I love her twists and turns. I never see them coming 👀 just when I think I have it figured it - I don't! The audiobook was *perfection* ! The narrators were amazing and really pulled me into the story.

I liked the plot of this story and its overlapping perspectives. I appreciate the accurate depiction of nursing homes and family/resident experience of them.

I'd say that Feeney has an exceptionally unique writing style, which is what hooked me to Rock Paper Scissors, but Good Bad Girl was a sore disappointment. I listened to that one as an audiobook so didn't think much while requesting an ALC of this too. But the ensemble cast and way too many POVs made it impossibly painful for me to read this book. Maybe it would have been better as an ebook/physical copy, but I didn't have the time, money, or patience for that and went ahead with a hard read.

I will read everything she writes. I love her stories and crazy endings. But I will say, this is best as a book. There are way too many characters to be able to fully dive into this one as an audiobook. I was not expecting there to be as much drama as there was, but she can do no wrong in my opinion.

I absolutely adored 'Good Bad Girl' by Alice Feeney! The multiple viewpoints added such depth to the story, and I loved how they all eventually intertwined to reveal the mind-bending twist. It kept me guessing and on the edge of my seat throughout the entire book. Feeney's writing style is captivating, and she knows how to build suspense like no other. The characters were complex and well-developed, making it easy to get emotionally invested in their journeys. The pacing was perfect, and I couldn't put the book down until I finally could put it all together! If you're a fan of psychological thrillers with unexpected twists, this is a must-read! Highly recommend any of this authors work and this book did not disappoint !

The book opens as a six month old baby is stolen from a stroller.


“I wished my daughter would disappear and now the baby is gone”

Frankie has been the head librarian in the prison library at HMP Crossroads for the last ten years. The prison library has always felt more like home than her real home. Frankie thinks of herself as a good bad girl.

“Someone who made the best of the bad life she was born into. And tried to do something good with it.”

But Frankie says she’s done something terrible and that now she has to do something worse…

18 year old, Patience works as a cleaner at the Windsor Care Home. Residents need to be well off to get a room at this care home.

Patience feels like she doesn’t know who she really is anymore.

“Doing something wrong is sometimes the right thing to do”

Patience has become very close with a resident of the nursing home, 80 year old, Edith. A year earlier Edith was moved into Windsor Care Home. She says it was without her consent.

“would you want to eat in a dining room with the walking dead?”

Edith and Patience have big plans. But both of them are keeping secrets.

Everyone is keeping secrets!

So many secrets. So many lies!

A thrilling read!!

I’ve enjoyed previous books from Alice Feeney. I just had the audiobook this time but thought it was excellent. A great story that was very well performed.

The storyline had me gripped and kept me guessing (I had many guesses but they were almost all wrong). The story is told from the many characters point of view. I found it easy keeping everyone and their individual stories straight. The plot was implausible at times but I still found it very enjoyable. I loved how the story and characters all came together.

A complex and exciting mystery about difficult relationships, love, loss, revenge, grief and more!


I'd like to thank the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this novel. All opinions are my own.

Eighty year old Edith is in a care home and doesn't want to stay in what she calls a prison. Patience is one of her care workers and is like a granddaughter to her. She calls her ladybug, based on her paper artwork of a ladybug. Edith's daughter, Clio is not a happy woman and her relationship with her mother is strained. Clio's daughter was stolen from her pram years earlier while her mother had her at the shops. Now, the manager of the care home has been murdered and Clio, Patience and Frankie are all suspects. It turns out Patience is Frankie's daughter who ran away from home and is lying about everything. How are all these women tied together and what do they have to do with Edith and the death in the home?

I love Alice Feeney's thrillers. They are all full of unreliable narrators and secrets and Good Bad Girl is no exception. I felt terrible for Edith. She was alone, especially after her only friend in the home died or was killed. Her best friend, her dog, was not allowed to live with her in the home so she missed him until Patience rescued him and brought him to visit. Patience also was alone. She lived over an art gallery of the man she thought was her real dad. She left home young and is living and working under an assumed name. I whipped through this book trying to see what would happen next. As I began to figure things out, I thought for once, I knew what was happening, but there was a final twist that kept me from being completely correct. With the mystery of the stolen baby, the murder, Frankie trying to find her daughter and the relationships between the main characters, there is a lot to figure out, as well to keep you interested. The characters were relatable and believable. There are several narrators that give you all POVs as well as an examination of the relationships and bonds between mothers and daughters. What happens when you keep secrets from one another. If you enjoy a thriller with some twists, a mystery and some drama, then you will enjoy Good Bad Girl. Another winner from Alice Freeney. I did a read/listen (more listen) and enjoyed both formats. Katherine Press and Stephanie Racine narrated this one and did a great job with their voices, expression and tone. I recommend either format.