Despite being a long time lover of thrillers and crime novels, I’ve not read much of Kendra Elliot’s work. The odd book here and there, but never quite following through the different series.

Reading this book, I’m now reproaching myself for that, because it’s been a pleasure to read a book with such well fleshed-out characters. I gather that this is an origin story for Noelle Marshall, who I had not encountered, which might explain why the novel’s setting felt so well-established.

The plotting is strong, with enough twists to keep me guessing for much of the book. While I did guess one key element quite early, the full denouement wasn’t clear until close to the end, and I was still keen to finish and find out the why as well as the who.

I will definitely be diving into other books in the series. This has been a great find. Highly recommended.

Wow! This will keep you in suspense until the very end! More intense roller coasters than you can count. Yes, this story covers three different time periods of Noelle's life, but the start of each chapter lets you know. It flowed nicely without confusion. Past and present along with misleads will collide as detectives rush to solve a thirteen year old murder. I don't want to give any spoilers but I do have to say that the Bell family is scary nuts. Especially the mother! Only take on this book if you've got nothing on your agenda for the day because you won't be able to put it down once you start. Super twisty story that hold your interest and keep you guessing up the exciting end. I'm looking forward to the next book in the series. Noelle and Max definitely have chemistry.

Noelle finally gets her own series and it starts off with a great book!

Her First Mistake covers three time periods of Noelle’s life including the present. The start of every chapter clearly states what time that chapter takes place in, and it was never confusing when changing time periods. Despite the frequent time changes, the book didn’t feel choppy or disjointed and actually had a really good flow and story arc.

I loved finding out about Noelle’s past and the new characters while also revisiting some characters from previous Kendra Elliot books.

I absolutely loved this book, and it definitely had some twists and turns that I didn’t see coming. I can’t see what happens in the rest of the series!