One Wrong Word tells the story of Arden Ward, a PR professional who has been grossly mistreated by her firm and fired. Her boss throws one last client her way before she leaves – the Bannisters. Ned Bannister has been acquitted of vehicular homicide due to drunk driving by a jury, however in the eyes of the world that hasn’t changed their view of his guilt. Arden’s job is to rehabilitate Ned’s reputation and help the Bannisters put their lives back together. But there is more to this family than meets the eye, and Arden cannot tell who is telling the truth and who is playing her. She had better figure it out as there are more lives on the line, as well as her own professional reputation.

I would classify this novel as a psychological thriller, although the thrills are few and far between. I wanted to love this book, my first by this author, however I began to get frustrated by the sense of going around in circles. Truthfully, this story could have been told in half the number of pages but we spend great amounts of time trying to sort out the various lies and tales, and questioning who can be believed. The reader knows who the murderer is and what actually happened long before it is revealed.

On the positive side, the writing is quite good and the characters, unlikeable as they are, are well-depicted. If you are a fan of character studies and a slow psychological cat-and-mouse game then you will like this one.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Forge Books.