Published By: Macmillan
Pages: 320
Released On: 03/08/2023
Sometimes bad things happen to good people, so good people have to do bad things.
Twenty years after a baby is stolen from her push-chair, 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 up mess 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.
*****
Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan for the advanced copy of this title in return for an honest review.
**** PLEASE NOTE THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOIERS ****
I try not to write reviews with spoilers, but there are so many intricacies in this book that I feel are important to the plot and the reading of it, that it’s very difficult to write a proper review without mentioning some. I will try my very hardest, but I am aware what one person may consider a spoiler, someone else might now, so please use your own initiative on what you want to read or not.
*** LAST CHANCE ***
Okay, so. I only discovered Alice Feeney last year with Daisy Darker, but I was instantly hooked on her writing. It was excellent and I couldn’t wait to read more. She’s clearly got a passion and a talent for writing mind-bending thrillers, and I for one am here for it.
This is completely different to Daisy Darker. Whereas that was very much a whodunnit, this isn’t. We see several points of view – including Clio, Edith, Patience, and Frankie – of the same event that things get muddled in your head, which adds to the thrill. It’s much quieter than Daisy too. It’s not as visibly full on – that’s not a complaint by the way. It’s quiet and it’s tense and it’s curious, and you just want to fly through it to get to the end. It’s got this creepiness about it, you don’t know who or what to trust or believe.
I really liked that it was a bit slow to begin with. There’s quite the build-up whilst we get to know our main characters and how their stories may link, and for some maybe it would be a bit slow, but 100% this was a positive for me. It gave me time to fully appreciate the characters she had created and worm my way into the setting and the story.
Like I say, we have four main viewpoints, four main protagonists:
Clio – a psychiatrist, living in a pink house, daughter of Edith
Edith – an elderly lady in a care home who strikes up a friendship with her carer, Patience
Patience – an artist, working a care home to make ends meet, hasn’t seen her mother Frankie in years
Frankie – Patience’s mother, works in the library in a prison
There…that shouldn’t have spoiled too much, these are things mentioned pretty soon into the book.
It is so twisty and turny with surprises round every corner. Who did what and to whom? Who is related to whom? Why are people running and why are people staying? What do people want? Are people who they say they are? Why should we believe those who have constantly lied? It really gets into your head, and won’t leave for a while. I read it in less than 24 hours, but it did stay with me for a bit whilst I worked through what I’d just read. I have a general rule that I only read uplifting books in bed, but I just couldn’t put this one down and I did take it to bed with me.
It’s not clear at first what the kidnapped baby and the missing care home resident have in common; for most of the book, Alice has left it up to you to figure that out, and I had great fun creating little storylines in my head.
The only complain I had, and it’s a minor one, is I didn’t think the detective’s role was needed. No, let me rephrase that. It was needed, seeing as there’s a murderer afoot, but I felt it was unrealistic and felt a bit weak compared to the rest of the plot. But not enough to hinder the enjoyment of the book.
The title – Good Bad Girl – intrigued me right from the off. We often say that bad people are bad and good people are good, but no-one is that clearcut. Good things happen to and by bad people, and bad things happen to and by good people. We will all have a line that we keep to in our daily lives, but we also all have that thing that would see us cross that line, whether it by a relative or a friend, a job, a stranger, money etc. No-one is black and white, in reality or in fiction, and I really liked seeing that explored. They are multi-layered and complex characters existing in a complex and multi-layered story.
Obviously I won’t go into detail about the ending – regardless of my spoiler warning – but I really loved it. I’ve read the odd review that says they felt it was quite predictable but I didn’t think so. Maybe I just wasn’t paying enough attention. I felt it was the perfect ending. It was very sad but also uplifting and hopeful, and I couldn’t think of any other way of ending it.
I have now enjoyed both Feeney books I’ve read. Whilst Daisy Darker is more plot and action heavy, Good Bad Girl is more about the women, their backgrounds, their presents, their futures, their loves, likes and dislikes, their pride and their worries. Fascinating.
Like I said, this is only my second Alice Feeney book but I’m definitely keeping my eye out for her others. Her writing ability on a very basic level is fantastic. I could go into details about the whys and wherefores and the whathaveyous, but simply put, she is an enormous talent and I enjoy her work very much.
Books By Your Bedside 