The Widow

In Fiona Barton's The Widow, the first installment in the Kate Waters thriller series, this captivating thriller would make you second-guess whodunit and why in a heart-stopping pace. Jean Taylor had met the man of her dreams, when she married young to Glen Taylor against her parent's well wishes. She became the perfect wife who had enabled her own husband.  The only one she couldn't have was a child of her own. But little did she knew that her husband became a pornographic pervert and a suspect into Bella Elliott's kidnapping and presumably murder. She tried to hold her emotions in check, when the press became like a pariah, as the police swooped in like a vulture with evidence against him. When they lost in court and then sued by the Taylor, the investigation continued on to find the culprits and kept nailing Taylor as the suspect, right up he was "accidentally" killed by the bus, freeing Jean from her husband's control. There's a shocking ending you don't want to believe on what happened and why that would leave you cold.


This is a mesmerizing and startling thriller debut by Fiona Barton. I did feel some sympathy for Dawn Elliott and Jean Taylor. I did take a liking to Kate Waters and Bob Sparkes too. I did develop a loathing to Glen Taylor as well. I didn't like how he took advantage of her and how she enabled him, even with her desire to have a child and not by taking someone's child in daylight. Poor Bella. I did like the London settings and the locations to bring the story into light. This would make you want to bit your lip, groan, gasp, shake your head, and flare your nostrils with non-stop action, drama, action, and a dose of mystery.

Will you feel sympathy for the Widow?