Alice Feeney’s books never fail to surprise me with their exciting twists, and Good Bad Girl was no exception. I highly recommend reading it, but I do admit that it takes a bit to get into because there are a large number of characters and it’s not clear for quite awhile how they all fit together. That said, if you’re looking for spoilers about the ending of this book, then you’ve come to the right place.

Good Bad Girl is an August 2023 release by Flatiron Books

I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book, all opinions are my own. This post contains affiliate links, see disclosures for more detail.

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.

Spoiler Alert! Don’t Read Further Unless You Are Prepared for Spoilers!

There are four main characters in this book (along with a few other minor characters that play significant roles)

Frankie: 

Works as a prison librarian. Her eighteen year old daughter, Nellie, has run away because Frankie wouldn’t tell her who her father was when she turned eighteen.

Patience:

Patience is Nellie, and she is working as a caregiver in the nursing home where Edith lives. Edith has given Patience her bank card to buy things for Edith. Patience lives in a room above an art gallery.

Edith:

Elderly woman who lives in a nursing home. Her daughter is Clio, with whom she has an estranged relationship and is mad about being put in the nursing home. Her best friend, May, died recently in the home.

Clio:

Edith’s daughter. She’s a counselor. Running out of money, tries to talk to the care home manager, Joy, but is rebuffed and is told she will have to pay or move Edith.

Minor characters:

Jude: the owner of the art gallery where Patience lives. He met Patience when she came to confront him about being her father. He takes her paper artwork as payment for living there. He is Clio’s brother and Edith’s son.

DCI Charlotte Chapman: Investigating the murder of Joy, the care home manager.

The Stolen Baby: It was actually Edith, who had taken Clio’s baby to the store all those years ago. Right before that happened, Frankie had shown up at Clio’s door to meet Clio, the mother who gave her up for adoption many years before. Edith thinks Clio can’t handle the baby, so she “sells” her to Frankie for $10, Frankie picks her up from the stroller at the store and walks away.

Frankie and Patience/Nellie are actually sisters, both are Clio’s daughters. 

Joy’s Death: DCI Chapman was May’s grandmother, and she thought it was suspicious that May was killed. Joy was in the middle of smothering Edith (thought to have been paid off by Jude, who was later arrested for it, in order for him to get his inheritance early.) Patience catches her in the act, Clio grabs her around the neck, and Patience hits her with a statue. Clio offers Patience money to hide Edith, so she takes Edith away, indicating that Clio knew where Edith was the whole time she was being questioned.

Lots of unreliable narrators in this one! This is at least how I interpreted the main events of the story. If you have other opinions, let me know because I’m not completely sure I have it all correct.

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