I have been looking forward to a new K.L. Slater thriller ever since I finished Liar and I was more than excited when I first heard about The Mistake. And although it turned out not being my favorite of the bunch, The Mistake is without doubt still a very well written and suspenseful psychological thriller. The writing both draws you in and makes you fly through the pages. The plot was an interesting one and the situation and consequences of grooming are very thoroughly and realistically described. It's not a theme I have seen all that often before in psychological thrillers and I could really appreciate the spotlight on something that unfortunately happens way too often to vulnerable (young) women. I also liked the idea of the chapters going back between past and present; showing this way both what happened all those years ago and how this effected Rose's life even after all those years. This all sounds really positive, so why 'only' a 4 star rating? The main reason were the main characters, which I found highly unlikeable and made me enjoy the story less than expected. Rose and Garreth made me cringe A LOT. Unlikeable or not, the grooming is very well described as well as the consequences those actions have for the people around them. This is not a happy read and will provoke strong emotions. Realistic, full of twists, suspenseful, intriguing, provoking... All words that apply to The Mistake. Recommended for fans of the genre.

Excellent premise for a thriller and mystery but oh my goodness this is sad! Of course it’s going to be tragic with the death of a young boy, but this went deeper. the back story of Rose and her suffering on so many levels....well I was a wreck. It’s a hard read because of this for me. Good, don’t get me wrong, but as she grew up, and then we see her living with the ghosts of the past...well she’s one of these ghosts. I had to keep going to see what played out and who was ultimately responsible for the death of Billy though.

I have to say that the setting for this crime was ideal in the sense that the village was real and that it had very real history and heritage and a very small library which dials up the creepy factor and the small town way of living and thinking that can sometimes result.

The nice light touch of the novel was how Rose looked after the books and chose titles and arranged them on the shelves but then even that was tinged with chills.

Loved reading this book. I just couldn't put it down.. and just as I thought I knew what was going to happen.. it didn't.

Fantastic read!

I am a big fan of this author so was very excited to get an advance copy of this book to read and review from Bookouture via Netgalley . This is a fantastic book! Jumping between the present day and 16 years earlier we learn about Rose and her family and her first love. We learn what has made Rose the person that she is today. and it has a brilliant twist that I certainly did not see coming. Easily a 5 star rating from me!

I have a few of K.L. Slater's other books on my Kindle, but have yet to read them (I'm an e-book hoarder). But I'm eager to start them now, because I really enjoyed The Mistake.

Rose lives in fear because of what happened to her and her family sixteen years ago. She never goes out after ten p.m., has a quiet, cloistered career as a librarian, and finds comfort in food. She only has her next door neighbor, Ronnie, an elderly man Rose considers to be as close as a relative. So when she finds something in Ronnie's spare bedroom that means he might have been involved in her brother's death, her quiet existence takes a tailspin.

Interspersed with Rose's current day discovery are the events that lead to her brother's death, sixteen years before. Rose was a teenager then, navigating her way through art college and finding herself the center of attention of a mysterious older man. Their relationship soon turns ugly, however, and her best friend becomes involved in a most terrible way.

I really felt for Rose. She lived in constant, numbing fear and guilt for what happened to her brother. And as much as I empathized with Rose, I despised Gareth.

K.L. Slater can tell one hell of a story! I look forward to reading the other books I have of hers, and collecting the rest!

Thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for an ARC.

I have read the 3 previous novel by KL Slater and find her novels very enjoyable and of a consistently high standard. This is a fast paced psychological thriller that gets the reader hooked and wanting to learn more. I was certainly hooked and just had to learn the truth causing me to stay up into the early hours to finish it.
Sixteen years ago, Rose made a mistake when she fell in love with a man who was bad news. Things started to happen to her friends and family and when her 8-year-old brother went missing, he was found smothered to death. Rose had always felt guilty about his death and years later she is still coming to terms with the past when she discovers new evidence that may reopen the case. Doubt over her boyfriends conviction is uncovered leaving Rose unsure of the truth.

I really enjoyed this novel, it is always a privilege to read this authors work.

I would like to thank Bookouture and Net Galley for supplying a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

This one was one book that I enjoyed . The lady of Rose was gutted and began to realize that she got stronger as she got older .she had to fight with Gareth Farnham . Has she overcomes her brother billy is murdered and her best friend is too.

KL Slater smashes it again!!!
The Mistake had me hooked from page one - I found it rather creepy,just didn't know where it was going next & who would jump out!!! Definitely an edge of your seat read!
The Mistake is a story of tragic loss for Rose who looses her younger brother Billy - the book takes us back 16 years when Rose was a young teen growing up & the friends & relationships she has along the way & also present day Rose who still lives in the house she grew up in-still living with the ghosts from her past who haunt her constantly she is always wandering what really happened to Billy her brother & who was involved in his disappearance. A fantastic read with lots of twists & turns in the plot. Highly recommend!!!

The Mistake K.L. Taylor


Split between happenings 16 years ago and the present day, this psychological who-done-it thriller had me gripped from start to finish.

!6 years ago, Rose is an eighteen-year-old girl suffering the angst of college life.

Her younger brother Billy goes missing and is found murdered, but who is responsible.

In the present day, Rose is a slightly awkward, mid-thirties, library assistant, who still lives under the stigma of what happened when her brother was killed.

A discovery whilst looking after her ailing sends Rose on a hunt for the truth about Billy’s death.

The passages set 16 years in the past are a warning tale of grooming, how a 17-18 girl with low self-esteem can be cajoled into a relationship with an older man, at the expense of her family and friends.

Rose lies to her family, and although her best friend initially encourages her, she too starts to distrust the older and controlling man.

The effects on everybody around Rose are devastating, but who is to blame for the things that start to happen around them.

This book had me second guessing myself from start to finish. Empathy, sympathy and frustration was aimed at all the characters, especially Rose.

The end? I don’t think anyone will see it coming, but it won’t be a “that-would-never-happen” moment either.

A great book written with reality, and emotion in abundance.

Pages: 330
Publisher: Bookouture
Publishing Date: 4th October 2017.

Rose (aka Rosie) a young, naïve, trusting girl meets a young man called Gareth. I was particularly impressed how the author built up Gareth's character. It was chillingly authentic. The pattern of abusive behaviour or DV is skilfully built up. In the case of Rose the long lasting effects of abuse is heart-wrenching. There is a fascinating thread running through the novel where Rose wonders why she didn't realise - 'why didn't I notice?' I imagine this will resound with a lot of women. There's a lot of food for thought in this novel. It got me thinking that 50-60 years ago I didn't know anyone who came close to the mould of Gareth. Yet, in the last few decades the world seems to be swarming with control freaks. Were women once less aware of being controlled because they had accepted it as the norm? I thought I'd share that thought anyway. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and it has a killer of an ending. I loved "Blink" too. I can't wait to read "Liar" which I bought recently. Thank you for letting me read this novel. I shall post a review on Amazon, GoodReads, Facebook and my blog after publication.

Sixteen years earlier Rose’s life was completely destroyed and it still haunts her present. She fell in love with a wrong guy , her best friend was raped and her younger eight year old brother was murdered while he was in her care. She still feels responsible for all of it ,as she believes she brought it all on her family by making a mistake in falling for the wrong guy. Now in present time Rose finds a clue that might shatter everything she believed all those years ago.

The Mistake is a fast paced psychological thriller which I devoured in one day. The characters were well developed , the story suspenseful with a twist I didn’t see coming . Overall a great read and another hit by K.L.Slater

Many thanks to Bookouture & NetGalley for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest and fair review.

Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book as an arc.
Rose has spent the last 16 years mourning her 8 year old brother Billy. He was killed and her boyfriend at the time, Gareth, was imprisoned for his murder. Rose lives a quiet life, she only goes out when she is working and is still traumatised by the events of 16 years ago, having developed an eating disorder. She cares for her elderly neighbour, and when she finds evidence in his house that seem to point to Gareth not being responsible for Billy's death, she decides she has to find out the truth.
I really enjoyed this book, it was a good whodunnit as well as a story exploring relationships and family dynamics. Gareth was an odious creature and liked Rose because she was young and immature and very soon he was able to control her. I was hoping Rose would find out what he was really like before it was too late. It was very sad in places too, I really felt for Rose's dad when he was so hopeful of beginning his new job.
I have read a few of K L Slater's books now, and have thoroughly enjoyed them all.

Good read. Read in one day, a real page turner. Great plot and I never saw the ending coming.the characterisation is excellent as is the writing - you feel Rose's stress coming off the page at you

Thanks to Netgalley this is the fourth of K L Slater's books that I have read. Her writing just gets better and better. I can't praise her highly enough and wish I could give more than the five stars. Brilliant writing .

I did enjoy this book but i worked out the twist early on so it was a bit anti=climactic for me. But I loved the writing style and the vivid characters.

Wow, what a great book. I have loved all of K L Slater's books, but I think that this one is the best so far. I couldn't put it down and read it in less than a day
Full of tension and suspense with a great ending that I never would have guessed. It tells the story of Rose and the events over a 16 year period.

This is the first book I've read by K.L. Slater. It's an easy read which does draw the reader in. In the present day, Rose is haunted by the murder of her young brother Billy sixteen years earlier, and her own sense of responsibility - because the man convicted of killing Billy was her boyfriend, Gareth Farnham.

In flashbacks to sixteen years ago, we see the development of naive eighteen-year-old Rose's relationship with the older Gareth, and its catastrophic consequences. It's plain to see from the start that Gareth is a thoroughly bad lot - a dangerous, predatory creep who immediately sets about controlling and manipulating Rose in textbook ways which she is too innocent to recognise as such. This is very well and effectively described, even if Gareth is an out and out loathsome villain with no backstory and little depth to his characterisation.

Back in the present day Gareth has been in prison for murder for sixteen years, but Rose has hardly been able to get on with her life. She lives in the same village, works in the library, has no social life and is racked by an eating disorder. Then she makes a shocking discovery which casts doubt on whether Gareth was guilty at all.

The story is mainly told in the first person from Rose's viewpoint, with occasional sections in the third person, still from Rose's viewpoint, so I'm not sure why this was done.

As is par for the course nowadays this calls itself "an unputdownable psychological thriller with a brilliant twist!". (At the moment it seems to be compulsory for everything to have to have a so-called "twist you'll never forget!") While it's definitely a compelling read and there is a twist of sorts, I suppose, it comes fairly out of nowhere and isn't the sort that makes you want to immediately go back and read the whole book to see how you were fooled. The ending is satisfying, though.

All in all a good read which would certainly not put me off reading more of K.L. Slater's novels. I just wish publishers would stop marketing everything as having a shocking twist you won't see coming. If there really is one, I'd prefer not to have it announced at the outset so you spend the whole book waiting for it. The best twists come out of the blue. And it's for the reader to decide how brilliant (or otherwise) it is!

Wow what a fantastic book! I was hooked right from the first page, I couldn't stop reading until I had finished it. An extremely well written and thought out pschological thriller that left me wanting more. I loved it and big well deserved 5 stars.

What I love about this authors books is that she draws you into the story within the first few pages and holds you there, right up until the very last page and word. 

Rose is someone who has been dealt a bad hand in life. From events when she was younger surrounding the death of her brother Billy, she basically just exists from day to day. As a book lover, working in a library would be a wonderful job. For Rose it's her only highlight of each day and she constantly finds things to do so that she runs well past home time before having to leave work for the day and return home. I thought it was very sad that someone would not be able to let go of the past and basically be a prisoner in their own home and head. 

The story flicks between present day and back to Rose as a teenager building up to her brothers death. The book description didn't prepare me for one of the horrible characters in this novel who I grew to loath the more I read of them. You just know when you meet them that all is not quite right. As a typical teenager though, Rose knows better and doesn't listen to anyone or even the alarm bells in her own head. 

There is quite a big age gap between Billy and Rose but I loved the brotherly and sisterly love between the both. Even though there isn't many chapters with them both in together, the love that Rose feels for her brother, really does shine through and found myself quite a few times with a lump in my throat.

The Mistake is shrouded with suspense that took a direction that I did not see coming. Hooked from beginning to end, this is certainly a book that swallows you up and spits you out at the end when it's done with you. Yet another great read from one of my must read authors.

Excellent book - Great characters and plot. I would highly recommend this book.