BOOK REVIEW - The Widow by Fiona Barton

Wow,this book is really good,it gripped me from the first word to the last,I was so hooked in by the story I didn't want to put it down.
Jean Taylor's control freak of a husband is accused of abducting a two year old girl called Bella from her front garden.Does Jean stand by him or walk away?,does she know more than she is letting on?.We have all watched the news and wondered if the accused partner knew what was happening and just pretended not too.

The story is told in alternating chapters from the perspective of Jean ( the widow),Kate ( the reporter),DI Sparkes (the detective),Dawn (the mother) and one chapter told from the perspective of Glen,the creepy husband.The story flips back and forth between before and after Glen`s trial but the chapters are clearly marked so the story is easy to follow.There is not a long drawn out description of the trial,it is covered by only one chapter which is good,I am not a fan of pages and pages of trial coverage.

My favourite parts of the book where the chapters told from Jean and DI Sparke`s perspective although sometimes I wanted to grab Jean and give her a good shaking,she was just so blinkered or was she just acting that way?.I enjoyed the interaction between the Murder team members and the fact that they got on well with each other and the fact that the higher ranked officers were not over bearing bullies like you find in so many books about police forces.I really liked DI Sparkes,he was a genuine caring detective who was deeply affected by Bella`s disappearance and although he made mistakes it was only because he wanted to find Bella and get justice for her mum.It takes four long years for the case to be solved,there are so many brick walls and dead ends and you can feel the frustration and lose of hope that the team feels when all their hard work comes to nothing.

We all know that the press will do anything to get a front page story and I was prepared to really dislike Kate but although she did come across as hard nosed and selfish at times when she was trying to get Jean to tell her story,she had a good working relationship with DI Sparkes with some flirty banter going back and forth.

The ending of the book is quite sad but it is refreshing to read a story that ends realistically,real life doesn't always have a happy ending.The story is not action packed or full of twists but it is very intriguing and very well written especially for a debut book.The characters are realistic and well thought out,you do get some background information but only enough to give you some insight into the characters.I hope Fiona Barton is going to write another book featuring DI Sparkes and I will definitely be adding her to my authors to look out for list.