Her One Mistake
by Heidi Perks
What should have been a fun-filled, carefree day takes a tragic turn for the worse for one mother when her best friend’s child goes missing in this suspenseful, compulsively readable, and darkly twisted psychological thriller.
It all started at the school fair…
Charlotte was supposed to be looking after the children, and she swears she was. She only took her eyes off of them for one second. But when her three kids are all safe and sound at the school fair, and Alice, her best friend Harriet’s daughter, is nowhere to be found, Charlotte panics. Frantically searching everywhere, Charlotte knows she must find the courage to tell Harriet that her beloved only child is missing. And admit that she has only herself to blame.
Harriet, devastated by this unthinkable, unbearable loss, can no longer bring herself to speak to Charlotte again, much less trust her. Now more isolated than ever and struggling to keep her marriage afloat, Harriet believes nothing and no one. But as the police bear down on both women trying to piece together the puzzle of what happened to this little girl, dark secrets begin to surface—and Harriet discovers that confiding in Charlotte again may be the only thing that will reunite her with her daughter....
This breathless and fast-paced debut—perfect for fans of Big Little Lies and The Couple Next Door—takes you on a chilling journey that will keep you guessing until the very last page.
Momma Says: 3 stars⭐⭐⭐
A thought-provoking story that begs the question of just how far a parent would go to protect their child, and how many secrets a person can expect a friend to keep. While the storyline did hold my interest, there were a few things that bothered me about this one, leaving me somewhere in the middle with how I felt about it. The timeline jumps back and forth between the now, about two weeks past Alice's disappearance, and the day it happened, plus some glimpses from even further back. That, in itself, wasn't problematic, but the jumps from first person to third person were a little jarring, pulling me out of the story. There were also a few things that just weren't believable, especially the investigators, who were a bit caricature-like for most of the investigation into the abduction. I will add that I felt like the court of public opinion where Charlotte was concerned was done very well, painting an accurate picture of the naysayers and those fair-weather friends who all think they know the circumstances. The story was a mix of too obvious twists and those we can't see coming, but it ended pretty much as I expected it to once the key elements were revealed. In the end, there were things I liked and things I didn't, but it was interesting enough to keep me turning the pages. All in all, Her One Mistake is a promising debut from this author, and I look forward to checking out whatever she does next.
❃❃ARC provided by NetGalley and Gallery Books
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