Review: Her One Mistake by Heidi Parks

Title: Her One Mistake 

Author: Heidi Perks 
Publisher: Gallery Books
Publishing Date:  January 8th, 2019

Pages: 320
Genre: Adult Psychological Thriller

Series:  Stand Alone
Source:  Audio

 

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.

This was a book I stumbled across on NetGalley and thought it sounded pretty intense. I am always in the process of finding great psychological thrillers. I am not really well versed on all the great adult authors out there  so I am starting my small list and this author is on the top for me. I really enjoyed this book. It was everything I hoped for and more. I thought I knew what was really going on until I didn't and I was just sitting there with my mouth hanging open. Well written, well thought out, well done. I truly enjoyed this read.

Charlotte has 3 children of her own and on the day of a school carnival, she agrees to watch her friends only child.  Everything seems to be going well until she cannot find the little girl, Alice, she agreed to keep an eye on. Alice just vanished. Charlotte knows she only looked away for a second but she feels guilty and everyone blames her. 

Harriet loves Alice, she is her world. She agreed one time to allow someone else to watch her child and she goes missing. Harriet is terrified, she wants to see her daughter again. Everyone is looking for her, the police have questions, Charlotte's live is destroyed... so is Harriet's. Harriet thinks she is done with Charlotte, even though she misses her terribly, she just can't bring herself to speak with her... until she must. Everything just keeps falling apart. 

I really enjoyed this book. It had so much going on and of course at first I didn't realize how complex this story was. The beginning grabbed me right away but it didn't excite me as I thought it would. I thought I knew where the story would go. I figured it would be a simple lost and found child. Dead or alive, I didn't know. But this story was nothing other than a mind blowing experience towards the end. Full of twists and turns, secrets and betrayals, and so much more. It started out slow but ended with a bang. 

I enjoyed all the characters in this book. I felt they were all multi-layered and complex. What was first shown was only the soft outer layer. There were so many layers to all the characters. I think I liked Harriet best of all. She was the most complex. She surprised me in so many ways. 
Charlotte was a pretty grand character but at times she seemed a little ditsy and spoiled, so it took me a bit to really get on her side. 

All the characters really surprised me at times. I thought I understood them, I thought I could be angry at them, I thought I could love them, but really I had so many emotions all at the same time for every single character. Very complex..... I know I keep using that world. 

I did love the way the book story was told in dual narration and dual time lines. There was before and now and also told from Charlotte's and Harriet's POV. I really love it when a story is told in pieces. It really gets me fully invested. 

The story really did take a turn I wasn't expecting at all and I was quite surprised and never saw it coming. I was in awe at the end. The ending was superb. And well I just really enjoyed it. 

It was a very well thought out and greatly paced story. 

A great psychological read. I look forward to reading more from this author. 

Heidi Perks was born in 1973. She lives by the sea in Bournemouth with her husband and two children.
Heidi graduated from Bournemouth University in 1997 with a BA (Hons) in Retail Management, and then enjoyed a career in Marketing before leaving in 2012 to focus on both bringing up her family and writing.
Heidi successfully applied for a place on the inaugural Curtis Brown Creative online Novel Writing Course and after that dedicated her time to completing her first novel, Beneath The Surface.
She has a huge interest in what makes people tick and loves to write about family relationships, especially where some of the characters are slightly dysfunctional.
Heidi is now writing her second novel