Reviewed by Lit Amri for Readers' Favorite

On the night of her eleventh birthday, Billie Fullalove witnessed the murder of her parents at the hands of a gun-wielding thug, which also caused her to lose a leg. Billie survives her painful and lonely childhood by settling into a solitary adult life, pursuing her dream of being an editor in a top publishing house. Unable to avenge her parents' unsolved murders, she begins editing crime news stories, making them all end with justice fully served. When her edits come true and criminals start dying, Billie must discover the vigilante’s identity before they act out more of her revenge fantasies.

The concept in Goody One Shoe by Julie Frayn is intriguing. Readers will definitely find the death of her parents a Batman-esque tragedy but with differences. Ironically, Billie hates Batman. Her parents are not wealthy, and her sarcastic, chain-smoking mother often humiliated her cash strapped father with her words and behavior. Thankfully, her father was a loving man and doted on his daughter. Unfortunately, Billie’s father’s strong sense of justice as a cop cost him his life, and that of his wife.

Goody One Shoe is witty and imaginative. The story starts slowly but the pace steps up as the plot progresses, not inappropriately hurried or measured. Frayn shows superb and perceptive skill through solid writing. This is a more realistic manner in terms of good versus evil theme. Frayn gives the dark superhero premise a fresh perspective, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.