Good Bad Girl

Starred review from June 19, 2023
Feeney’s latest (after Daisy Darker) solidifies her reputation as a premier purveyor of psychological suspense. She grabs readers from page one, as an unnamed woman, wracked with guilt about being an ambivalent mother, is distracted while shopping; when she returns her attention to her baby carriage, her six-month-old daughter is gone. “I will never see her again and it is all my fault,” the woman thinks. “Because I know who has stolen her. And I know why.” From there, Feeney introduces several women, including Frankie, who’s just left her job as a prison librarian, and her teen daughter Patience, who’s run away from home and works as an attendant at a London senior-care facility. Patience has bonded with one of the residents, Edith, a former store detective whose daughter tricked her into signing away her house, and Clio, a therapist who believes another resident at the home was murdered. As the women’s relationships deepen, Feeney gradually reveals their connection to the initial abduction, keeping readers constantly off-balance with shifting perspectives and brilliantly withheld information. All the while, she mines the murky waters of mother/daughter relationships with aplomb, anchoring the flashy plotting in palpable emotion. This crafty thriller will touch readers’ hearts as much as it bends their minds. Agent: Kari Stuart, CAA.

June 10, 2024

Feeney's (Daisy Darker) latest starts as a baby is abducted from its stroller. Twenty years later, a woman is found murdered in a care home, setting off an investigation that reveals the connection between the two events. In the present, listeners meet Edith, a spunky octogenarian trying her best to escape the care home. Edith has bonded with the young new worker, Patience, but she doesn't know that Patience is constantly telling her lies. Meanwhile, Clio, Edith's estranged daughter, wants nothing to do with her mother. When an ill-intentioned stranger enters the scene, the women must work together to discover the truth of the murders, the abduction, and their own closely held secrets. Narrators Katherine Press and Stephanie Racine keep the tension high in this fast-paced and gripping story. Listeners will need to pay close attention as the novel jumps from past to present and includes multiple POVs, but this is all part of the fun. VERDICT Feeney's fans and first-time listeners alike will enjoy seeing the pieces of this twisty thriller come together. Share with those seeking a fast-paced page-turner layered with insights into family dynamics and mother-daughter relationships.--Elyssa Everling

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