In One Small Mistake, Dandy Smith gives us a delightfully twisty thriller. The novel takes some unexpected swerves and keeps tension consistently high.
Elodie Fray has spent her life feeling that her parents want her to be more like her sister, Ada. Ada is married to a well-off man, has a beautiful house, and spends her time swanning around throwing stylish parties. Elodie, in contrast, has thrown in her successful marketing career to try to make it as a writer. She’s single, lives in a small rented house, and makes ends meet by working in a coffee shop.
So it’s hardly surprising that Elodie is tempted to tell one small fib to a friend. But it all spirals, and soon Elodie is desperate to get out of the trap she’s created for herself.
When Elodie disappears, Ada finds herself not just questioning her sister’s life, but her own. Desperate to find her sister, Ada risks everything.
One of the things I liked about this novel was the way it swerved several times. You start off thinking, ooh, it’s this kind of plot, and then it veers sharply. There are some predictable story beats, but the overall plot is harder to guess and twists interestingly. Smith has combined tropes from a couple of sub-genres to produce a really involving novel.
The early swerves meant that although I had certain expectations of the ending, it was hard to know if Smith would ultimately go there. There was genuine tension throughout the novel, partly because of the narrative itself, and partly because Smith wasn’t necessarily respecting genre conventions – and the novel is the stronger for it.
Characters are strong, particularly the two sisters. Smith involves us with both of them; despite their clashes, we feel empathy for both, and in the early chapters, it’s hard to pick who to champion. Although both do some silly things at times, it’s completely understandable, and there’s a sense that you might do the same thing.
It’s easy to believe not just in the characters but in their relationships. The slow growth of that sibling relationship, including after Elodie disappears, is involving. I was impressed by the way Smith deepened our understanding of their relationship after Elodie disappeared.
The strong characters and plot combine to make a novel that’s hard to put down, and which I think will prove memorable in the longer term. I strongly recommend it to readers who like twisty, tense plots or strong characters – or both.
A selection of our Beauty and Lace Club Members are reading One Small Mistake by Dandy Smith. You can read their comments below, or add your own review.
I’ve loved books for as long as I can remember, and I love sharing that joy.
I’ve been an avid reader for as long as I can remember, across all genres. There’s not much I won’t at least try. I’ve been an enthusiastic book reviewer for years. I particularly enjoy discovering writers new to me, and sharing good writing with others.
My career has included time spent writing and editing technical documents, but it’s fiction that really moves me. I’ve reviewed for a number of different outlets over the years, and have been a judge in literary competitions.
I’m now raising little bookworms of my own, which brings a whole new kind of joy to sharing books.
More of my reviews can be found on my review blog www.otherdreamsotherlives.home.blog .
When you throw a small pebble into a lake, and those concentric circles form fanning out, the larger one completely swallowing the smaller one before it.
This is how I imagine how Elodie feels, as her one small mistake, escalates, gradually inch by incremental inch until a chasm threatens to engulf her.
I loved the addition of Ada’s self-soothing letters to Elodie, over thinking and then self-critiqued what she had just previously written.
This story builds like a runaway train barreling down a mountain careening of the tracks, crescendoing in a spectacular grande finale I did not see coming. This story is a five star read for me and I’m so excited and thankful to Echo publishing and Beauty and Lace for introducing me to Dandy Smith’s works of art, I’m a bit trepid to delve into Dandy’s back catalogue in case they don’t measure up and I’m disappointed, but, I’m sure my fears are definitely unwarranted, and I’ll be equally as impressed as I was with Elodie’s story.
Thank you so much Beauty and Lace for allowing me to read and review One Small Mistake.
From the first page I fell in love with the character of Elodie. She feels she is always second best when it comes to her and her sister Ada.
Ada seems to have it all, money, house, etc.
When Elodie goes missing Ada starts to write letters to her, I think she realised how harsh she was on her sister.
I won’t give away the whole plot but after that the book gets more intense and harder to put down. There is twist after twist so it had me on the edge of my seat right up until the very end.
I highly recommend.
One Small Mistake by Dandy Smith is a totally immersing and engaging “sit on the edge of your seat” mystery thriller which I loved.
Main character Elodie has lost the love of her life, Noah, in a hit and run. Life has been difficult for her since, and she is struggling with a less than perfect relationship with her parents and has a complex relationship with her sister who has a beautiful home and husband everyone loves. Elodie had graduated with a degree and had started out in a career her parents approved of, before choosing to give it up after Noah’s death to concentrate on what she really wanted to do … write. Elodie has been trying to have a manuscript published and is starting to feel desperate with repeated knock backs, which has impacted her confidence and made her start to think if she will every realise her dream of being a successful writer and getting praise and approval from her family. It was following Elodie’s last rejection and after she had been fired from her job in a café, when Elodie was feeling the most despondent and when she “accidentally” told a friend she had a book deal. Before Elodie had a chance to correct this, the lie filtered back to her parents, sister and family and life became much more complex.
In the meantime, Elodie has been unsettled by the repeated presence of a stranger who seems to be following her, and she is becoming increasingly worried about this.
Thankfully Elodie has the unwavering support of her best friend since childhood, Jack. Jack is the one person who truly understands Elodie and supports her with everything. He supported her through the loss of Noah, encourages her with her writing and wants to protect her when she tells him of the stranger she keeps seeing.
This was a riveting read, and I loved that I didn’t predict the direction the storyline would take or the outcome. Lots of twists and turns and suspenseful moments. I was sorry when I got to the end of this book and will be looking forward to reading more from Dandy Smith. Thank you Beauty and Lace and Echo Publishing for the opportunity to read and review One Small Mistake, which I highly recommend to anyone who enjoys a good suspenseful drama.
One Small Mistake by Dandy Smith is a gripping and addictive fictional mystery thriller.
The story follows Elodie Fray, a struggling writer who makes a bold decision to quit her marketing job and pursue her passion for writing. But what comes next is a story full of surprises. Packed with intriguing characters and unexpected twists, the plot takes you places you won’t see coming, making this novel an absolute page-turner.
Thank you Beauty and Lace very much for the opportunity to read and review this book. I recommend it for fans of psychological thrillers.
An amazing thriller story that I couldn’t put down. I loved everything about this book, I will definitely have to read more books from Dandy Smith.