Jaffareadstoo....: Review ~ The Mistake I Made by Paula Daly

Friday, 21 August 2015

Review ~ The Mistake I Made by Paula Daly

Bantam Press
Random House UK Transworld Publishers
August 27 2015

He wants her. At any price.

There is one thing of which I am absolutely sure and that is, to be in possession of a new Paula Daly novel, is akin to winning a literary lotto. All six of your numbers come up at once and as you sit comfortably in your favourite reading chair time simply ceases to exist in the here and now, and you are instantly taken to another time and place, and very quickly find yourself amongst people who become as familiar as friends. And as you do with friends, you laugh with them, hurt with them and try to understand when they make decisions you inherently know are going to bring them a whole heap of trouble.

Roz, a physiotherapist, is desperately struggling to makes ends meet after her profligate ex-husband left her with crippling debts. It’s a common belief that a professional career should earn enough to be able to fill the car with petrol and make sure that there’s food on the table, but life is difficult and Roz is faced with some really tough choices. Amongst her choices, is one being made by Scott Elias, a local man with enough disposable income to get what he wants, and what he wants is to pay for a sexual encounter with Roz. But gratification comes with a high price tag, and the intimate liaison Scott suggests is a way for Roz to escape her money worries forever, but the moral code by which Roz has lived her life is so harshly called into question that you can’t help but be emotionally affected by the choices she makes.

The Mistake I Made is gripping, it’s a real page turner, it’s everything you want in a suspenseful novel and it exemplifies just how clever Paula Daly is at writing about strong, decisive women who have bucket loads of charisma and yet who are as fatally flawed as the rest of us. For those who have read the author’s previous books, there’s a nice sense of continuity as The Mistake I Made is also set in the English Lake District and it features a very welcome appearance by DC Joanne Aspinall who we have met before. As always, though, the book stands completely confidently as a standalone story with more than enough twists and turns to keep you on the edge of your seat.

From beginning to end, I absolutely loved it, and I really can’t wait to see what’s to come next from this talented author.

When I'm compiling my books of 2015, The Mistake I Made will definitely be on the list ..

About the Author

Paula Daly lives in Cumbria with her husband, three children and whippet Skippy. Before becoming a writer she was a freelance physiotherapist