Her One Mistake

Why are so many books that are billed as psychological thrillers compared to BIG LITTLE LIES and GIRL ON THE TRAIN? Surely these are not the gold standard for every new book in the genre, especially those written by women. Both are good books, but they receive more attention now than when they were published. HER ONE MISTAKE is yet another story of women, supposed best friends, who constantly lie to each other and to the men in their lives. The plot line is getting rusty.

Harriet is the obsessive, overprotective mother of young Alice. Since her birth, Alice has never been separated from her mother until Harriet relinquishes control for a day and allows her only friend Charlotte to take her to the school fair. While Charlottes children and Alice play a short distance away, Charlotte sneaks a quick peek at her phone – gotta check Facebook just in case – and – poof – Alice is missing.

Charlotte panics and calls the police after searching the park in vain. Her greater fear is telling Harriet. How do you tell your best friend that her daughter disappeared within a few hours on your watch? Harriet, needless to say, does not take the news well. She blames Charlotte and herself; Charlotte for obvious reasons, and herself for letting Alice out of her sight.

Harriets husband Brian is beside himself with anger at both women, and as the story gets out, everyone turns on Charlotte. She and her children are ostracized. This is the most believable and heartbreaking part of the book. How ironic that Alice disappeared while Charlotte was Facebooking; the townspeople now use Facebook as a means to shun Charlotte and her (completely innocent) kids. Charlotte begins to question herself; perhaps shes not such a great mother after all. Harriet wonders how she can live without her daughter, and Brian is dangerously enraged.

The story begins to fall apart for me after the initial reaction to Alices disappearance. Chapters bounce back and forth either from points of view or chronology. There are several instances when even the writer loses track; a chapter told in the first person suddenly switches to the third person within a single paragraph. How, I wonder, does an editor miss that glaring error?

Im not a big fan of back-and-forth-and-back, ad nauseam structure in general. Some writers can pull this off, but more often than not, I find the stories to be disjointed. In HER ONE MISTAKE, I found myself having to check the name of the chapter as I was reading it.

Harriet, Charlotte and Brian, to me, are stereotypes and not very interesting or even likable characters. The only sympathetic character is Alice. The story of her disappearance and the aftermath are plausible, but I grew weary as the search for her dragged on.

I really looked forward to this book, but it missed the mark for me. Perhaps the time has come to define a new gold standard or let every book stand on its own.

I was very excited to read this book based on critical and reader reviews. I was so disappointed. This book feels like another attempt to take advantage of the Big Little Lies, Girl on the Train, Gone Girl bonanza with very little depth, lots of filler and nothing thrilling. I found myself skipping of pages of repetitive narrative and waiting for the twists and turns that, when they came, were predictable and boring. I kept reading, holding out hope but this was one sad sack book to the very last page. If you want a great mystery/thriller about a missing child read Mo Hayder’s “Gone.”

Initially I was excited to see a new author with a well reviewed book. However, I got more and more irritated with the insertion of American terminology that didn’t fit with the setting of Dorset, southern England. I don’t know who edited this or whether the author herself did it but it was bloody annoying. The characters were flat and one dimensional and the police officers were faceless and given American titles such as Captain Hayes when there is no such rank in the British Police force. There’s no such thing as a boardwalk either….. I could go on and on. I would assume that US customers who are reading a British book expect differences in language and are quite used to it. The best UK crime and mystery writers do not change their dialogue, terminology etc because it is condescending and down right irritating, not to mention confusing. Elizabeth George and Deborah Crombie and Tracy Chevalier don’t do this and they’re Americans. God forbid that the language of Rebus or Tom Thorne was peppered with American words for everyday British items especially when the setting is supposed to be in the UK. Also the author jumped around from past to present and randomly switched narrators which made the story hard to follow at times. All in all I wouldn’t recommend spending money on this book. Other authors do a much better job.

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 Harriets 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 surfaceand Harriet discovers that confiding in Charlotte again may be the only thing that will reunite her with her daughter.

My Thoughts: What a whirlwind ride! Her One Mistake begins as a lost child scenario, but as alternating narrators reveal more of the story, we see that the players in this layered and deceptive drama are not who they seem to be.

Harriet and Brian caught my interest early on, as there was something very odd about their dynamic. While townsfolk, along with the media, point a finger at Charlotte, they should be paying attention to the two of them.

As the story unfolds, I must stop the revelations, to avoid spoilers. Suffice it to say you will hang on tight throughout this breathless rideand you will not be disappointed. 5 stars.

I read and liked the Kindle sample, but was then nearly put off by the critical reviews: boring, plodding, formulaic. I ended up buying the Kindle version anyway, and I found it to be an absorbing read. Its not great literature, but thats not what I expected nor wanted. If youre looking for a relatively quick read that will keep you guessing and turning the page, I recommend this.

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