The Book:
The First Mistake by Sandie Jones, 2019
The Characters:
Alice, her current husband Nathan, and her deceased husband Tom
Her best friend Beth
The Plot (from Goodreads):
THE WIFE: For Alice, life has never been better. With her second husband, she has a successful business, two children, and a beautiful house.
HER HUSBAND: Alice knows that life could have been different if her first husband had lived, but Nathan’s arrival into her life gave her back the happiness she craved.
HER BEST FRIEND: Through the ups and downs of life, from celebratory nights out to comforting each other through loss, Alice knows that with her best friend Beth by her side, they can survive anything together. So when Nathan starts acting strangely, Alice turns to Beth for help. But soon, Alice begins to wonder whether her trust has been misplaced
The Twist:
Alice suspects Nathan of cheating. She finds out that her deceased husband Tom had had an affair with her best friend Beth before he died. Tom scammed Beth, took her mom’s life savings and disappeared. Alice is heartbroken, but once she forgives Beth enough to speak to her again, they put together that Nathan was actually the one that had slept with and scammed Beth, using Tom’s name.
The Ending:
Nathan turns out to be Tom’s estranged brother. He was about to take $1 million from Alice and leave her and their children behind–the ultimate long con. Alice and Beth figure it out in time, and Nathan dies when they confront him. Tom’s name is cleared.
The Review:
I loved Sandie Jones’s debut novel The Other Woman, so I had very high expectations for her sophomore novel. Once again, she did not disappoint! I thought The First Mistake was even better.
Once again, this book was delightfully fast-paced, the kind you stay up way too late to finish. The characters were relatable and believable, but not much to write home about.
Sandie Jones does a masterful job of keeping the reader on their toes in The First Mistake. I swear I got mental whiplash from the amount of back and forth who’s-the-bad-guy. And I mean that in the best way possible!
Sandie Jones is officially a master of the twist. I love it when I am able to find amazing thrillers outside of my trusty auto-buy authors. I will certainly be reading The Half Sister soon, and hopefully will be able to add Sandie Jones to my auto-buy list!
Check out my reviews of Sandie Jones‘s other books:
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