Her First Mistake

Her First Mistake by Kendra Elliot is the first book in a new series featuring Deschutes County, Oregon Detective Noelle Marshall. Thirteen years ago, Assemblyman Derrick Bell was murdered in his home and his wife, Noelle, was left for dead. Past and present leads collide when the FBI decides to take another look at the case and is reinterviewing everyone.

While a team in Sacramento interviews the Bell family and others, Special Agents Keaton and Rhodes are dispatched to interview Noelle and her family in Bend.

Noelle had a memory loss of the attack, but has been having dreams about it. How much of her dreams are real? Her husband had been charming and privileged, but he hid a dark side from others. The interviews spur memories and action as events unfold.

Noelle doesn’t usually lack confidence, but she realizes it took hard work to overcome her past and how she allowed herself to be manipulated by others. She’s a quick study, hard worker, and consistent. While working as a bartender before her marriage to Derrick, she received a college degree in psychology and became a level 2 certified sommelier. She’s sharp, observant, loves to solve puzzles, and loves her current job in law enforcement. She’s also been a supporting character in the Columbia River series by this author. The other characters have good depth for the first book in a series. It was also great that Mercy Kilpatrick from another of this author’s series had a cameo appearance in the story.

The book gives a lot of Noelle’s background so it sets the stage for the series featuring her. This includes her grandfather and great-aunt who raised her and her two sisters, her terrible in-laws, and her married sister’s husband. It was also great to get to know Agent Keaton.

While the story is largely told from Noelle’s point of view, it does go back and forth in time. However, Kendra Elliot is skilled at making this seamless with excellent flow. The start of each chapter tells readers when the events are occurring. While this starts out as only a cold case investigation, violent events begin to occur adding action, danger, and suspense. With the help of the FBI, Noelle must determine what really happened 13 years ago and stop the violence.

Full of twists and turns, lies, and action, this novel has good world-building, great characterization, and a gripping storyline. I was immediately drawn into the story that also has a hint of a future romance. However, getting through the emotional effects of this story’s ending may take a while for Noelle to recover her equilibrium. What an ending!

Overall, this was a tense, clever, and suspenseful novel with well-developed characters and a great start to a new series. I am looking forward to finding out what happens in the next book. If you enjoy police procedurals, crime novels, and mysteries with a strong female protagonist, then I recommend that you check out this series.

Montlake and Kendra Elliot provided a complimentary digital ARC of this novel via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own. Publication date is currently set for June 10, 2025.