The Young Widow

By Stopford Augustus Brooke

Book Overview

A CHARMING WIDOW WITH A TROUBLING HISTORYAs if by magic, Annette Berowne seems capable of dazzling men from the moment she meets them. But when Annette becomes the primary suspect in her husband's poisoning death, she arouses entirely different feelings. Now some men feel sorry for her while others are convinced she's guilty. PROVIDES TWO DETECTIVES WITH A MYSTERY OF SEDUCTION AND MURDER.Jack Gibbons is a by-the-book, rising star at Scotland Yard. His friend Phillip Bethancourt is a smart, devil-may-care type with a good heart and a razor-sharp sense of people. When they reach the Berowne manor in Surrey, with its colorful coterie of staff and family, Bethancourt is strangely immune to Annette's charms. As the two men delve into the case, Gibbons is sure Annette is an innocent damsel in distress. But Bethancourt is only certain of this: his earnest friend is falling in love-with a woman whose lovers keep finding ways to die.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312941889
• ISBN13: 9780312941888
• Release Date: October 2006
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 0.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 4.2" x 6.8"

Customer Reviews

A funny, entertaining mystery (albeit in a restrained, English kind of way)

"Annette Berowne had a sweet, heart-shaped face. She had honey-blond hair and wide brown eyes. She was not beautiful, and certainly not glamorous, but only Phillip Bethancourt noticed that." So begins Cassandra Chan's debut novel, The Young Widow, in her debut mystery series of Phillip Bethancourt and Jack Gibbons mysteries (clearly this book is a CLW review because of the author and not the main characters). But before discussing...

Enjoyable first crime novel

As an Agatha Christie, Dorothy Sayers fan I am delighted to have found another writer in the same genre. I do hope there will be many more from this author. So many modern crime writers seem to need to wallow in gory forensic details which make for very unpleasant reading. It is good to find writing that doesn't pander to the current obsession for the deeply nasty. As a Brit, I did notice that it was written by an American,...

Be transported to the English Countryside

Smashing, fun read! The Young Widow transports you right into the English Countryside. Character development is outstanding - I felt like I knew each of them personally by the time the mystery had been solved. Hope we're going to see more of Phillip Bethancourt in the future! A great first novel for Ms. Chan!

The most fun I've had reading a mystery in years ...

What a wonderful, fun read. Escape to a world that is a cross between that of Peter Wimsey and Bridget Jones with a dash of Clue thrown in. I was torn between dashing through this to see who poisoned wealthy Geoffery Berowne in the study of estate and taking it in slow bites to relish each character and scene. I chose the latter and enjoyed my stay in the English countryside, despite the cloud of the clever murder hanging...