The Young Widow (Phillip Bethancourt and Jack Gibbons Mysteries) - Softcover

Add a little romance to a little murder with shades of P.D. James, Dorothy Sayers, and a hint of Bridget Jones, and you get Cassandra Chan's brilliant debut novel.
 
A CHARMING WIDOW WITH A TROUBLING HISTORY
As 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.
 
"The author tells a tale that is part crime story, part family drama, part buddy flick, and part love story, a combination that makes for enjoyable reading."-School Library Journal 
"Chan's sprightly debut, a contemporary homage to Dorothy L. Sayer's classic Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries, introduces an appealing pair of sleuths."
-Publishers Weekly Visit www.minotaurbooks.com.