I’ve had fun seeing other people’s First Lines Friday posts, and finally decided to give it a try myself! Here’s an overview:
First Lines Friday is a weekly feature for book lovers created by Wandering Words. What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines?
- Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page.
- Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first.
- Finally… reveal the book!
Note: The original host blog does not appear to be active any longer — but if anyone knows of a new host, please share the information!
This week, I’m featuring lines from an upcoming new release that I’m really eager to read:
It’s interesting to note that there are two groups of people who are rarely, if ever, suspected of murder. These groups are elderly women and little girls.
So what’s the book?
Mad Mabel by Sally Hepworth
St. Martin’s Press
Release date: April 21, 2026
352 pages
Synopsis:
From New York Times bestselling author Sally Hepworth comes a twisty tale of justice, redemption, and one irrepressible woman who’s not done breaking the rules just yet.
Meet Elsie Mabel Fitzpatrick: eighty-one years old, gloriously grumpy, fiercely independent, and never without a hot cup of tea—or a cutting remark. She minds her own business in her quiet Melbourne suburb, until a neighbor turns up dead and the whispers start flying.
Because Elsie hasn’t always been Elsie. Once upon a headline, she was Mad Mabel Waller—Australia’s youngest convicted murderer. But was she really mad, or just misunderstood? Either way, she’s kept her secret buried for decades.
Enter seven-year-old Persephone, a relentless little chatterbox who has just moved in across the road (armed with stickers, questions, and no sense of personal boundaries); Joan, who appears to have it in for Elsie; and a healthy dose of public interest—the cops are sniffing around, and the media is circling like seagulls at a picnic.
So Mabel does what she’s always done best—she takes matters into her own hands.
Is she a cantankerous old lady with a shady past? A cold-blooded killer with arthritis? Or just someone who’s finally ready to tell her side of the story?
Sharp, surprising, and wickedly funny, this is the unforgettable story of a woman who’s spent a lifetime being underestimated—and is about to prove everyone wrong. Again.
Sound like something you’d enjoy?
Happy Friday! Wishing everyone a great weekend!
Bookshelf Fantasies 
^she is the one I have been going through or these weekly prompts 🙂
That sounds like an interesting book!
Thanks for sharing! Interesting – I think this may be a different version of the same meme, but maybe not. Good to know either way!
Ah, I see! I know some other people also use ‘Wandering Words’ as a host for this as well, so that could be more the same 🙂
That is a great first line. Here’s one: “Later, when memory was all she had to sustain her, she would come to cherish it: Old Honolulu as it was then, as it would never be again.”
Moloka’i by Alan Brennert
Fantastic! That book has been on my shelf for so many years, and I really do want to read it. I’m embarrassed to admit that I’ve never even gotten as far as the opening line! It sounds terrific.
It’s one of those books. I had it on my shelf for at least 15 years. I recently read it and am so glad I did. It is excellent.
Based on those lines, I would read this!
I’ve had the ARC for a while now, but this week was the first time I opened it. I love the first few paragraphs — can’t wait to get started for real!
I love books with murder, old lady MCs and mystery. Adding this one to my TBR!
It does sound like fun, doesn’t it? I’m looking forward to starting it!
This line only makes me want to read this book even more!
Me too! I’m hoping to start it in the next couple of weeks. I always enjoy this author!
That opening line is doing so much work. It names the two categories of people we reflexively trust and then just lets you sit with the implication — which is exactly the kind of quiet menace that makes crime fiction addictive. An 81-year-old former convicted murderer who might be killing again, paired with a seven-year-old who has no boundaries? Sally Hepworth clearly understands that the most unsettling characters are the ones society has already decided are harmless. This jumped straight to the top of my April TBR. Love this feature — first lines reveal so much about whether a book trusts its own voice.
I love the way you look at it! Thanks for articulating this so well. I agree, first lines really can show so much about voice and the author’s confidence.
That is certainly an opening that sucks you in!
Lynn 😀
I thought so too! And was happy to find that the book really delivers on the promise of that opening!