The Mistake I Made

I've read Paula Daly's first two books - Keep Your Friends Close and Just What Kind of Mother Are You? - and devoured them both in a day. Her new book, The Mistake I Made, was also a one day hammock read!

Okay, so right off the bat, I wanted to know what the mistake was. Single mother Roz is struggling to make ends meet after losing her business, inheriting her ex husband's credit card debt, falling behind in the rent and still trying to give her young son what he needs. She works long hours as a physiotherapist, but never seems to get ahead. An eviction notice is the final straw - and her decision to accept an offer that will help her get out of debt is....a mistake. Remember that Robert Redford movie Indecent Proposal?

Daly's writing show more has a delightfully chatty, conversation tone to it, like you were listening to a friend tell you a slightly salacious tale. One you'd lean closer to hear....

I like scary movies, but I must admit to watching some parts from behind a pillow. Shouting out 'why would you go in the basement'!? I felt a bit like that with Roz. She definitely makes some questionable choices. While she can rationalize them, the reader just knows that bad is going to lead to worse.....

Daly helps that along with some excellent foreshadowing at the end of chapters, guaranteeing that you won't be able to put the book down.

"It would be this decision, within the list of bad decisions, that would send out lives on the roller-coaster trajectory that was to change everything."

Daly writes great psychological thrillers. Her characters are not always likable, but they're just trying to do the right thing. And sometimes to do the right thing, you have to do a few wrong things....There are a few plot points that ask the reader to suspend disbelief. And I encourage you to do so. The Mistake I Made is an entertaining, psychological suspense novel that you won't be able to put down.

Fun fact: I was quite fascinated by Roz's physiotherapy diagnoses, having visited one myself many times. And only on looking at the author's notes, discovered that Daly herself was a physio until turning her hand to writing. show less

A special thank you to Grove Atlantic and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

S C A N D A L O U S!

Paula Daly delivers an enthralling domestic psychological suspense page-turner, THE MISTAKE I MADE -- a gripping 5 stars+, making it to the my Top Books of 2015!

Was utterly delighted when I scored an early reading copy- "Christmas Comes Early,” with a stunning front cover, drawing you into the temptation. Anytime I see the name, “Paula Daly” my eyes light up, anxiously awaiting her next suspense masterpiece. One of my favorite authors, she delivers creativity, top shelf quality, wit, and intensity.

In her third electrifying domestic thriller, Daly takes us into the home of single mother, Roz Toovey. Roz is a show more hard-working single mom, struggling to keep her professional and home life balanced. She has all sorts of financial issues; a failing business, a mountain of debt, and a no-good cheating ex-husband, Winston— of little support, or assistance with their nine-year-old son, George.

Winston is like a little kid himself, a grown man with no responsibility, living with his mother, bouncing from one woman to another. Poor George loves his mom and just wants to fit in at school. He knows they need money, and your heart goes out to him, while sympathizing with the mother.

Roz, formerly a self-employed physiotherapist in England’s Lake District. When there was no more money left, she found herself at a chain on clinics, working fifty hours a week, cooped up in an airless cubicle with a production line of patients. Of course, the fruits of her labors go straight into someone else’s pocket and at the mercy of a practice manager, named Wayne. She is always rushing every day to get to the ferry, balancing her clients, with continuous calls from the school--parenting, financial, and work stress has reached its limits.

Roz is being evicted, has lost her furniture, her pride, her business, and has borrowed all the money she can from her sister. She is DESPERATE. George has issues at school, and they need money in order for food and survival. She has no clue what she will do.

When she attends her sister’s birthday party, her sister’s best friend and husband is in attendance. Scott Elias is wealthy, powerful, and married. However, the conversation turns to a subject which leads Scott to believe, she is liberal and open-minded. Could Roz be open to being his mistress? He can pay for her services. Appears to be simple. What could go wrong?

Scott shows up at her office the next day and makes a proposition. He wants one night with her. He will pay her. She can get out of debt. No strings. There is NO way she can even consider this. Or can she? Why would someone be interested in her? She does not even date?

Could this be a simple business transaction? Clean and clear-cut? Nothing is as simple as it seems. She does not see herself as sexy or a package any man would want. However, when George gets caught stealing at school, she knows she has to do something.

What comes next is a series of complex events which spirals out of control. How in the heck can this be happening? What has she gotten herself into? How does Wayne (creep) fit into the equation?

Blackmail, murder, conspiracy, illegal activities, fraud, an investigation, a stalker? A devil in disguise? What if her sister finds out about her new little side job? Little does she know, she may put her own son and herself in harm’s way?

Loved, loved this psycho-suspense! Would love to see this one played out, on the big screen--can only imagine the cast of characters. As a single mom, sympathize with Roz, as most of us have been there, trying to raise our children, and circumstances making it difficult. Desperate times call for desperate measures. At what cost?

The twists and turns are heart-pounding with head spinning action. Fans will love the revisit with DC Joanne Aspinall (from previous books). She was the perfect tenacious advocate for Roz, in order to assist her, out of this mess.

What really adds to the intensity, is the insurance guy, Henry with his background and connections--brilliant; keeping you on the edge-of-your seat to see how his character will play into the complicated saga. Loved the ending, which will leave you smiling.

Once again, Daly exceeds all expectations with an “Indecent Proposal-like” addictive domestic drama. If you have not read Daly’s previous books, highly recommend.

Keep Your Friends Close
Just What Kind of Mother Are You show less

Roz is skint. Seriously skint and about to lose everything. So when a local millionaire offers her a substantial amount of money to spend the night with her it seems like an easy choice to make. But does Scott's deal come with strings attached? The idea for this novel was a great one and on the whole it delivered. The characters are believable especially Roz and her dealings with her feckless husband Winston. However I did feel that the story started to meander a little after a while. The main 'crime' sort of just crept into the plot with a whimper and by the end nobody really seemed to know what was going on. Roz and Scott have a confrontation which goes nowhere and the story was sort of wrapped up as an afterthought in an epilogue. It show more was a great idea for a book but I just felt it fell a bit flat. show less

This is another read for me that was recommended that if I liked Gone Girl, Girl on the Train etc etc, then I should read this. This time single parent Roz Toovey is down on her luck, in a lot if debt and has nothing left. Along comes Scott, a wealthy married man who makes Roz an offer that she cannot refuse, think Indecent Proposal. Things then spiral out of control.

This for me was a fun read and it just shows how things can escalate because of one action, one mistake. I was hooked with this story and really wanted to see what Roz would do next. I felt for Roz and liked her pluck but did think at times don't go there, walk away.

An interesting read, which skipped along quite nicely. The ending was satisfactory as sometimes endings can show more let a book down. show less

4.5 stars

In The Mistake I Made by Paula Daly, Roz Toovey, a destitute single mother, makes a morally questionable decision to solve her financial woes and soon lives to regret it when her situation quickly goes from bad to worse.

Roz is a physiotherapist (for US readers, physical therapist) who is struggling to make ends meet after she separating from her cheating husband. In addition to his infidelity, he also ran up a staggering amount of debt on their joint credit cards and as a result, she lost both her business and the family home. The final straw comes after most of her household furnishings are repossessed and she is served with an eviction notice. Having recently met wealthy businessman Scott Elias through her sister, she show more reconsiders his proposition to sleep with him after he offers to pay her for her services. However, things takes a bit of a dark turn when Roz tries to end their arrangement and one of her co-workers goes missing.

Roz is a surprisingly sympathetic character despite her rather unpalatable choice to sleep with a married man for financial gain. Once the full scope of her financial situation is revealed, it is easy to understand why she feels like she has no other option but to accept Scott's offer. Her estranged husband refuses to pay child support and she is truly at wits' end with the looming eviction. Adding to her stress is her nine year old son, George's misbehavior at school but she is surprisingly patient with him as she tries to understand what is motivating his actions.

Although Roz has qualms about what her agreement, she feels as though she she has no choice but to follow through with their arrangement. She grows increasingly uncomfortable with the situation as their lives become more entwined socially but trying to extricate herself from Scott is unexpectedly complicated by his reluctance to end their affair. Her life becomes even difficult in the wake of her co-worker's disappearance and the subsequent police investigation. However, once Roz realizes the full implications of her fateful decision, she makes a surprising choice that could have a disastrous effect on her future.

Despite a bit of a slow beginning and a somewhat predictable storyline, The Mistake I Made by Paula Daly is nonetheless a compelling novel. The plot is quite unique with plenty of tension to hold the readers' interest as the story winds its way to an unanticipated but thoroughly satisfying conclusion. An overall outstanding mystery that fans of the genre do not want to miss. show less

This is the third Paula Daly novel that I have read in the last few months and although I enjoyed it, it didn't command my attention from the first page like Just What Kind of Mother Are You? and Keep Your Friends Close.

Roz is quite a likeable character and her frustration was evident when dealing with her waste of space ex-husband. Roz has made some bad decisions in her life and accepting the offer that she gets from Scott Elias is the worst decision she could make. I understand why she did it, and could feel her relief as her bills started to get paid, but she didn't realise that Scott didn't just want to hire her by the hour, he wanted to own her and would go to any lengths to do so.

I liked Roz's son, George - a chip off the old show more block, already starting to make bad decisions for himself, thinking he could help Roz out. He's a very likeable little boy and he gets on well with the neighbours as he likes to play with their little dog, Foxy. I do like the loveable dog characters that make appearances in Paula's novels.

When Roz's boss, Wayne, goes missing it was lovely to see DS Joanne Aspinall and DS Ron Quigley make an appearance, with Ron keeping his stomach happy as always. I was hoping to see them at some point but I didn't know how they were going to be introduced, which is where Paula Daly's writing is so good - springing surprises on us. Paula is the queen of the unexpected.

Overall a good read but not as much of a page turner as I've come to expect from Paula Daly. It is, however, a really good psychological thriller, with a Fatal Attraction edge to it, as we see what Scott is prepared to do to get Roz all to himself. Paula Daly really delves into the human psyche in all of her books and this one is no exception.

I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. show less

Paula Daly's "The Mistake I Made" was marketed as a "thriller". Either I don't know what a thriller is, or Daly's publishers have taken some liberties with with word.

Main character Roz has been down on her luck for awhile. Her n'er do well husband left her and their son with a mound of debt, she's lost her business, and she's currently on the verge of being evicted from her rental. Seeing no other option, Roz compromises her principles and makes a decision that ends up causing a chain reaction of unintended consequences.

The story line is engaging and has entertainment value. I didn't know for sure exactly how it would all end up, and I also didn't know how we'd get there, so kudos to Daly for crafting an interesting tale. I definitely show more would not describe this book as "edge of your seat" or "suspenseful" though. I listened to the audio version of this book on my daily walk to work. The audio was well-done, and I suspect that I enjoyed the audio more than I would have enjoyed the text.

3 stars. show less