|
[ Home ]
[ About | Reviews | Search | Submit ]
Scotland Yard Detective Sergeant Jack Gibbons has big plans for his life. He is going to follow the promotion path and get ahead in the Yard. Gibbons is close friends with Philip Bethancourt, a rich playboy, who occasionally becomes interested in a crime and helps the police. Bethancourt's father has arranged with the police so that Philip is welcomed in said investigations. Geoffrey Berowne is poisoned. Someone put Lilies of the Valley in his coffee and this poison killed him. The most obvious suspect is his widow. Annette Berowne is a much younger woman and attractive woman with two previous marriages. Both of her pervious marriages ended when her husbands died. In addition, Annette is one of the few people who had the chance to put poison in his drink. The local police invite Scotland Yard in to investigate. Gibbons is assigned to assist on this case. He feels that Annette is innocent regardless of her history. Luckily, for Gibbons there are several other suspects to be considered including an unhappy daughter-in-law and a stubborn sister. Whether or not these other suspects had the opportunity to kill Berowne is another story. Gibbons and Bethancourt must find the killer before an innocent person's life is ruined forever. THE YOUNG WIDOW pays tribute to the Lord Peter Wimsey series. Lord Peter Wimsey became involved in criminal investigation when a case caught his attention. In addition, he had the influence and position in society to find clues and connections that might have been hidden to someone from a different background. In THE YOUNG WIDOW, Bethancourt is more of a playboy than Wimsey. He dates beautiful women and has the ability to see through a woman's lies. He is not overly handsome but is incredibly charming and curious. His money and his sophistication make witnesses willing to share all they know in hopes of impressing him. Skills such as these are always helpful in a murder investigation. I was hesitant to read this book as it appeared to be a typical 'boy meets girl, girl traps boy in web of lies, boy must sacrifice his happiness and career to get out of the situation' book. This is not the type of book I am very comfortable reading. Thankfully, THE YOUNG WIDOW, Cassandra Chan's first full-length novel, dies not meet this stereotype. While it does contain some of those black widow characteristics, the future is not as bleak as normally portrayed in this sub-genre. Gibbons is somewhat naive about the world and love in general; however, he realizes the consequences of any action he takes. While he might make stupid decisions, he does think about it first. Also, unlike stereotypical 'black widow' novels, the book does not focus just on this element of the plot either. The murder investigation as well as Bethancourt's own life is given equal attention. I am impressed that Chan manages to avoid a lot of the pitfalls into which many first novelists fall as well as avoiding many stereotypes of the genre.
Reviewed by Sarah Dudley, July 2005
[ Top ]
QUICK SEARCH:
Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
[ About | Reviews | Search | Submit ]
[ Home ]
| 
