Harriet hovers over Alice, her only child, most would agree, to a fault. When she finally entrusts her best friend Charlotte to take Alice to a school fair, the worst happens. Alice disappears!

Charlotte, of course, panics. How could something so devastating have happened to 4-year-old Alice? After all, her three children are fine, only Alice has disappeared.

Emotions are high as the police interrogate everyone. The reader vacillates as the story moves along at a rapid pace. It's a whodunit that will keep you guessing to the very end.

My Thoughts

What My Concerns Were: Nothing

What I Liked Most: If you've read many of my reviews, you know I like a book to hook me from the get-go. This book certainly meets that criteria. You will be hooked and guessing up until the end.

I received an ARC of this book for my honest review.
This book was so good. Could not put it down. From the turn of the first page the reader was drawn in and then it was a wild and bumpy ride to the last page. A great psychological thriller that kept this reader guessing. Just a really great read.

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. Thank you to net galley and the publisher for letting me have the chance to read this book first time reading her books would enjoy to read more by her. I thought I had this book figured out by there was alot of twist had me on the edge of my seat very good suspense mystery book

This was a really engaging and page-turning tale, which I quite enjoyed. I felt like I read half of it with my fingers over my eyes because I was so afraid of what would happen to the characters (especially poor Alice!) next... The Big Reveal TOTALLY caught me off guard - even though in hindsight it probably shouldn't have - and I flipped pages even faster once I reached it. The pacing was consistently edge-of-my-seat throughout and the characters were very well developed. Their miseries and frailties and (eventually) small victories of daily life pulled me in and never let me go. This was a very good read, for all the horribles it describes, and I will definitely read Perks again...

This book was unpredictable and completely mesmerizing. Every time I thought I had it figured out, it turned another corner. Talented writer with ability to draw out the reader’s emotions. I highly recommend this book.

This was a typical, run of the mill. domestic thriller, in which a child goes missing - not the first of its kind and certainly not the last. However, a refreshing element is added in which there is a lot of conflict between parents and friends - victim blaming and finger-pointing really add depth to an otherwise potentially banal story.

It seems that the theme of gaslighting has taken on a whole new sub-genre in psychological thrillers lately. What becomes interesting is how the author uses this device to move the plot forward. In this novel, I think it works well as one of our protagonists slowly becomes aware of what is going on. It's cleverly done and leaves you wondering how straight forward or twisted the road ahead will become.

Now I'm ready for a female character strong enough to look a guy in the face and say, "Are you trying to gaslight me? I don't think so." That would be a great plot twist.

Suspenseful with a surprising answer to "who did it". Heidi Perks wrote a good representation of mom's and their children.

A child is missing, which has to be the most absolute worse nightmare for a parent. Harriet, a helicopter mom, on a very rare occasion had entrusted her one and only friend, Charlotte, to take her 4-year-old daughter, Alice, along with Charlotte's three young rambunctious children to an outdoor school fair while she attends a bookkeeping class. After a stop at a concession stand for cotton candy, they head to the "Jungle Run," a large inflatable that stretched back to the very back edge of the field. As Charlotte and her daughter wait in the shade while the other three children take off towards the back to enter the run, she takes a minute to check her phone, her messages, texts, and Facebook. As her son and daughter slide down the end of the Jungle Run for the second time, Charlotte becomes panicked when Alice cannot be found.

The reader is hooked from the very first page as Charlotte Reynolds is being relentlessly interrogated by the police thirteen days after the abduction of Alice at the school fair. The book is basically divided into three parts--Now, Charlotte's Story, and Harriet's Story. Charlotte's Story is a combination of the police investigation and the more public perspective of the affected lives of Charlotte and Harriet. Once you get to Harriet's Story, be forewarned, the personal perspectives are even more in depth and revealing, and you will not want to put it down.

It is difficult to comment more without giving away any spoilers, but this book is definitely a must read. I am thankful for the opportunity from NetGalley to read an early release of this book in exchange for an honest review, and even more thankful for the three-year investment by the author and her editing team for producing an exceptional read.

Fantastic read. It really pulled you in from the the beginning and didn't let you go. It was a total surprise ending for me. Well written with excellently developed characters, it didn't want you to put it down. You NEED to read the book!I

*thank you to the author/publisher/Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for for a fair and honest review*

This was a fast-paced psychological thriller that kept me quickly turning the pages to find out what happens next. It offered a fantastic twist!

When Charlotte's best friend Harriet knocks on the door and asks her to watch her daughter, Alice, for the day, she doesn't hesitate. Harriet never goes out and never leaves her child's side, so Charlotte is happy to take Alice along with her own children to the school fair for the day. What promises to be a fun day for the kids even if it's more of a hassle for Charlotte, turns into a nightmare. After Alice gets in line to go on a ride, she never reappears and can't be found anywhere on the fairgrounds. And Charlotte only looked at her phone for a minute (and checked Facebook)...

A fast-paced, original psychological thriller that will have readers quickly turning the pages to find out what happens next!

"Her One Mistake"
By Heidi Perks
Gallery Books


Contemporary Fiction -- Release Date: January 8, 2019


It's every parent's nightmare to discover their child has gone missing, but more heartrending is entrusting your youngster to a friend and learn they've either been abducted or run away. Charlotte Reynolds, friends with Harriet Hodder tried many times to talk Harriet into giving up her obsessive hold over five-year-old Alice by offering to watch her or let her play with her children. One day, Harriet finally decides to let Charlotte take Alice along with Charlotte's three to a fair at the kid's school.

Alice and Charlotte's two oldest rush to play on the Jungle Run leaving Charlotte with Evie, her youngest, waiting on a nearby bench. When Charlotte's two arrive without Alice, she panics. She's only glimpsed at her cell phone, so how could the little girl be gone? Where is she? Did someone take her? Kids can take off in a split second, yet Charlotte didn't believe Alice ran away.

Sick with worry and grief, Charlotte wonders how she is going to explain this to Harriet. When Harriet hears her baby is gone she won't talk to Charlotte. Why couldn't she keep her eye on Alice? As the police investigate, the animosity between the two women swells and Harriet's overly protective husband Brian, grief-stricken about Alice's disappearance, blames Charlotte but more so, Harriet for allowing her to go away with someone else.

Tension builds as time passes with Harriett believing she is crazy and an unfit mom. She distrusts everyone but needs Charlotte. Can she trust her friend after she's been slandered for not taking better care of Alice? However, Charlotte is the only one who can help her. Secrets are exposed as this psychological thriller climaxes with an unexpected ending.

Harriet lets her daughter, Alice, visit a school fair with Charlotte and Charlotte’s three children. The first time she has let Alice accompany another adult, the child disappears.

The chapters alternate between points of view of the two women as well as between two time frames, “before” and “now”. Although a few things are a little too convenient in this psychological thriller, it is well written and engrossing. The author gives readers a lot to think about concerning friendship, jealousy, and guilt.

Thank you to Netgalley for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this novel.

Harriet was very protective of her daughter Alice, to the point that she has never allowed anyone else to watch her. When Alice was 4 years old, Harriet decided to sign up for a bookkeeping class and entrusted Alice with her only friend Charlotte. Charlotte was ecstatic about watching Alice as she has offered in the past. Charlotte has 3 children of her own so she decided to take the four children to the school fair. While at the fair the unthinkable happens...Alice goes missing. Was she kidnapped or simply wander away and get lost?

I loved everything about this book. Just when I thought I had the mystery figured out, another twist would happen and I wasn't sure how it was going to play out. I highly recommend this book to anyone that loves a good mystery.

I look forward to reading more from this author!

I think every mother can relate to this story. Many mothers have experienced a moment of panic, that sinking feeling in their stomach when suddenly that child that supposed to be standing next to them is nowhere to been seen. Luckily for us that most of the time this situation is resolved very quickly and doesn't turn into an ongoing nightmare with a bad ending. In this case the situation is even more complicated because the child that disappeared is not one of her own but her best friend she promised to take good care of her child for that day.
Add to the mix:
The constant interrogations by the police.
The accusing attitude of people, some of them used to be her friends.
A manipulating husband who is the father of the child lost and a lot of extra baggage from the past.
The clues are all through the book but I didn't expected how the book ended. The emotions and the events portrayed have a real live feel and you can't help feeling sympathetic or angry with the various characters. The book for me was very addictive so it was hard to stop reading when I needed to do other things.
The only reason I gave it a four instead of a solid five because occasionally I had a bit of a problem with the switching back and fourth between the two main characters Charlotte and Harriet. The present and the past. All by all I highly recommend this book.

Charlotte love her friend Alice's daughter and is overcome with guilt and shame when Alice's child disappears on her watch. And as one of Alice's few friends, Charlotte's negligence is all the more devastating. But as Alice and her husband work with the police to find their daughter, it becomes apparent that this disappearance is not how it appears. Told from both Charlotte and Alice's point of view, HER ONE MISTAKE is a fascinating page turner.

A parent’s worst nightmare. A child goes missing while under the supervision of another and there isn’t a trace of her to be found. The only person who knows where she is, is the person responsible, not even the police have a clue, but Charlotte knows it was her fault, she failed to protect her best friend’s only child. Why should Harriet ever forgive her? What happened to Alice?

There is more to this abduction than meets the eye as dark and twisted secrets unfold in the stark light of day.

HER ONE MISTAKE by Heidi Perks is a chilling tale of terror, suspense and desperation. Well crafted, the twists and turns come at us like a murder of crows in the night. How far can a friendship be stretched until it breaks?

There is no such thing as the perfect crime…but Heidi Perks has created a perfectly horrendous scenario, a nightmare on steroids and captured the weaknesses of humanity with clarity as neighbor doubts neighbor, bonds are broken and minds are wrenched in wretched pain.

I received a complimentary ARC edition from Gallery Books!

I felt earlier on that this book would be a bit predictable. At 25% into the book I felt I needed to put it down and take a break from it. I may re-visit and pick it up again to finish. I tend to crave more literary fiction or historical fiction when I choose a book, so this may be the reason Her One Mistake did not get my attention from the beginning.

This book is absolutely amazing! I read it in less than 12 hours because I couldn’t put it down. Such an amazing plot twist and excellent storyline.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this advanced reader copy. It was fantastic!!!