The Winter Widow

Susan Wren #1

by Charlene Weir

Daniel Wren blew in like a tornado, sweeping Susan off her feet, and back home to Hampstead, Kansas--new bride of the small town's police chief. Ten days later Daniel was killed by a sniper.

Determined to discover Daniel's killer, Susan, formerly one of San Francisco's finest, becomes the acting police chief of Hampstead.

Genres: Mystery, Cozy Mystery, Audiobook, Adult, Fiction

228 pages, Hardcover

First published February 15, 1992

About the author

Charlene Weir was born in Nortonville, Kansas. She grew up in Hutchinson, Kansas. After graduating from nurses' training she attended the University of Oklahoma and worked as a public health nurse. She is the creator of "Susan Wren", police chief in Hampstead, Kansas.

Reviews

[Julie]

Says it's a cozy mystery-but in the first eight pages there are more non-cozy expletives than I would tolerate in an entire novel that's categorized under this label. As a rule cozies should only use harsh language sparingly, if at all, in my opinion- so I'm off to find a cozy that fits that description.

No rating.

[January · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Winter Widow by Charlene Weir
Susan Wren/Kansas Cozy Mysteries #1
7h 58m narrated by Laura Jennings, 269 pages

Genre: Mystery Crime

Featuring: Kansas, San Francisco, Female Cop, Newlyweds, Murder, January, Police Chief, Small-Town, Sheriff Department, Kansas City, Cows, Cats, Bulls, Murder, Drama

Rating as a movie: R for adult content, language, and scenes of violence

Songs for the soundtrack: "Ramblin’ Boy" by Tom Paxton

My rating: ⭐️⭐️👮‍♀️🐃🐄

My thoughts: 📱19% 1:28:27 Chapter 6 - I'm pretty indifferent at the moment, I'm taking into account that it was published 32 years ago.
📱44% 3:28:04 Chapter 12 - There are so many unanswered questions and plotholes even for 1992. Like did she just quit her job and move to Kansas with no plans of continuing her career, why wasn't she already working for the police department? So far the mystery and leads are lackluster but I'm sticking with it. It also has a lot of swearing, violence, blood, and blatant mentions of sex to be cozy.
📱52% 4:09:44 Eight minutes into Chapter 14 twenty-two minutes from Chapter 15 - 🙄 MC is a 10-year police veteran turned police chief and she's still incompetent. I expect this type of stupidity from the baker turned sleuth but not a big city cop.

They should not be marketing this story as a cozy mystery it is completely a crime thriller. The only thing it has in common with cozy is that the main character makes a lot of stupid decisions. Overall I didn't like the story there wasn't really much of a mystery so all the clues were just stumbled upon And she always missed them the first time, that formula was repeated and got old fast.

Recommend to others: Nope. This just wasn't good to me.


Kansas Cozy Mysteries
1. The Winter Widow (1992)
2. A Lesson in Murder (1993)
aka Consider the Crows
3. A Prescription for Murder (1995)
aka Family Practice
4. Murder: Take Two (1998)
5. A Cold Christmas (2001)
6. Up in Smoke (2003)
7. Edge of Midnight (2007)

[Olivermagnus · Rating 3 out of 5]

Susan Donovan met and married Daniel Wren six weeks ago after a whirlwind courtship. The former San Francisco cop then moved to Hampstead, Kansas where Dan is the police chief. One night he's called away for an emergency and is shot in the back and killed. Susan demands to take over his job so she can investigate his murder.

The Winter Widow is advertised as "an enchanting, cozy mystery", but it actually was more of a "small town mystery". It wasn't too gritty and the mystery element was good. There were plenty of suspects and several storylines that came together in a satisfying conclusion. I didn't really like the main character, Susan, who let her rage lead her into numerous dangerous situations. She didn't seem to be too much of an experienced police detective and often made poor choices, putting everyone in danger.

"The Winter Widow" was written in 1992 but I didn't find it too dated. I wouldn't rush to pick up another book in this six book series, but if I needed a mystery set in Kansas, I would give it another look.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.9 - It took me a while to get into this story, 80 pages or so. It’s a very slow going story.

A big city police officer becomes acting Chief in a small town in KS. She is determined to find out who killed her husband. Basically the whole town is against her or making fun of her. She naively thought a small town would be easier to police than San Francisco.
I’m still not sure I understand the motive of the murder and who the culprit was. There were too many characters to keep up with and the dialog wasn’t clear. Maybe just me, but the back and forth conversations with people were confusing. I couldn’t tell who was talking the way the quotes were arranged.

Major pet peeve of mine also - the main character (the chief) sprained her ankle twice in action scenes. That move is so over done in books and movies. Women CAN run without hurting themselves.
Pro- I did lean a lot about bovine breeding and their diets.

This is the first in a series, but I have no desire to read the other books.

[Linda C · Rating 4 out of 5]

Susan Donovan meets Dan Wren at a law enforcement convention in San Francisco. After a whirlwind courtship they marry, honeymoon and go to his town of Hampstead, KS, where he is Police Chief. But 10 days later Dan is murdered and Susan agrees to take on his job and find his killer. So not only is she facing a new job, dealing with a staff that doesn't know her, and learning about the town and its inhabitants, but also looking to solve this crime. She definitely has some missteps at the beginning and has a single focus that needs to broaden, but she is dealing with grief. She did some foolish things by not relying on her staff, but I felt she had grown by the end of the book. Will definitely look for more.

[Debbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Taking a new job as the chief of police, and when prominent citizens beckoned, you came on the run.
Then the chief heard a sharp crack tore though the stillness. Someone was shooting at him. Who? That someone had just killed the chief of police. Bent on solving the murder, Susan takes over for her husband. Blinded by his death, will she be able to find out who murdered the Chief of Police, her husband?

[Kathy KS · Rating 3 out of 5]

Big city cop meets small town chief of police, marries and is widowed. San Franciscan Susan Wren finds herself alone in small town Kansas and convinces the mayor to hire her as the chief of police. Of course, Susan's real motivation is to find the murderer of her husband. With no real knowledge of the people in the town, she must struggle to come up to speed while living for justice and ignoring her grief.

I overall enjoyed this one and will continue with the next in the series.

[Inspector Penny · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is not a cozy mystery. The blurbs refer to it as one, and the cutesy book cover suggests it is one. It's not. It's a little dark, and some of the murder scenes are more graphic than they would be in a cozy.
The book isn't horrible, but the main character does stupid things. We don't get much in the way of characterization, and the plot was a little convoluted. Just sort of a basic book.

[Larry · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very strange story about a couple of police officers who were married for six whole weeks before he was killed. The characters were compelling from the start, even the police chief of a very small town before he was killed. The plot is straightforward and the premise is finding out who killed Dan and finding two missing women. I definitely recommend this book.

[Jeanne Anthony · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not As Advertised—Grim, Not Cozy

A cozy mystery has some lightness, humor and/or likable characters. This did not. Between the “cozy” description and the cute book cover it was very misleading.

[Suzette Edwards · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Winter Widow

I'm glad read the beginning of these series. The book tells you a lot about Susan character and her strength. She was persistent and wouldn't back down.. Never would have guessed who the killer was.!! Nice

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful book about a police officer who is trying to find out who killed her husband. They are only married a few weeks when he has been found murdered. She doesn’t know anyone there. She decides to look into it. What she finds out along the way is quite an adventure.

[Marti · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute story. Filling in a series, of course.

[Bonnie · Rating 2 out of 5]

A so-so mystery. By the end of the book I just didn't care who had killed the main character's new husband. I didn't care much for her either.

[Katherine Steele · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit predictable and slow at times, but a cozy detective mystery nonetheless.

[Jo Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5*

[Sue · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent mystery. This is s new to me author. I have the set and am thoroughly enjoying it.

[Beth Orr · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mediocre murder mystery with the only likeable characters being three very minor ones. I didn’t like any of the major ones especially Susan the protagonist and the head deputy Parkhurst. It was written in 1992 so it’s very dated. This book was #1 of a substantial series of which I have no interest.

[Nikki · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been doing a project to read a mystery by an author new to me from every state in the Union. Since I'd already read lots of Nancy Pickard's books, I couldn't "count" The Virgin of Small Plains for my Kansas book. So I chose Charlene Weir's first Susan Wren novel, and I'll definitely be looking for more.

The book opens with a Kansas police chief investigating -- what? We aren't sure, and then he is murdered. We then learn that he's only been back from his honeymoon for 10 days, and that his new wife is a former San Francisco detective whom he swept off her feet at a police conference. She's already enduring culture shock living in a small city in Kansas (I'd say small town, but it's evidently bigger than Small Plains in Pickard's book). Now her parents want her to come back to San Francisco, her sister-in-law is pressuring her to sell the half of the family farm she's just inherited, and the mayor asks her to be interim police chief -- and find her husband's killer. She plunges into the job and soon finds that she's dealing with a lot of stuff she never saw in SF -- pigs on the loose and giant bulls among them -- but also that greed, drug dealing, and general criminality exist just as much in small towns in Kansas as in big city California. Welcome touches of humor enliven what might otherwise be a too-grim story.

Occasionally in this book, Susan Wren is guilty of actions which some might term "too stupid to live," but her state of grief and a prickly relationship with one of her detectives, in addition to issues with her father, a high-powered attorney, go a long way to explain them. There are great characters in this book, such as Sophie the cat lady and Susan herself. It's a very good first novel, gives a fine picture of the land, economy and people of Kansas, and I look forward to reading more of the series.

[Maddy · Rating 4 out of 5]

RATING: 3.5

The two of them were cops, she in San Francisco and he a police chief in a small town in Kansas. Nobody would ever have predicted that they would meet and fall in love. And it’s for sure that nobody would have bet that Susan Donovan would leave her job to marry Dan Wren and move to that little town in Kansas. And who could believe that after only 6 weeks of marriage, Dan would be killed in the line of duty and Susan would convince the mayor that her nine years as a big city cop make her the logical candidate to temporarily take over her murdered husband's job as chief?

Politics and small town rivalries help her convince him and she takes on the task of solving the crime. She faces a lot of challenges in her new role, not the least of which is that she’s in a bit over her head in leading the department. Fortunately, most of them are willing to work with her. She needs all the help she can get, as she faces rampaging pigs, a stampeding bull and a town that doesn’t entirely trust her. On top of that, she has a sister in law who is trying to coerce her into selling her share of the old family farm, she’s cold all the time and there are other murders occurring along the way.

Susan’s sole motivation in life is to find Dan’s killer and return to San Francisco. She doesn’t give Hampstead much of a chance, but it begins to edge its way into her heart in spite of herself, her overwhelming grief and the frustration she faces investigating a complex case. Susan realizes the identity of the killer on the flimsiest of clues, and the resolution is somewhat anticlimactic.

This is a first book that shows promise of better things to come. In an effort to keep the reader guessing, Weir has made the plot a bit too convoluted. There are all sorts of things going on—cattle rustling, toxic waste dumping, housing development shenanigans—which lead the reader in too many directions. In an effort to mystify the reader, there are too many plot threads. Simplification of the plot would have improved the book.

[Allison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not a cosy mystery but something a little bit deeper in tone and storyline. Susan is not a mini-van driving soccer Mom solving crime in her spare time but a seasoned Police Officer from San Francisco who finds and marries the love of her life at a police convention and moves to Kansas to be with him. Six short weeks into their marriage Daniel, her husband, is killed and Susan takes over his job as Police Chief to solve his murder. Interesting details about breeding livestock and research into bovine eating habits are here as well. I would have liked a nice tidy ending but I assume some of the details I am looking for would be in the next book. For instance, does she stay in Kansas or go back to California? I would read the next book though as this was really good and I want to know what happened next.

[Lawrence · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wonder why Charlene Weir isn't more famous. She wrote really good non-noir mystery featuring a likeable protagonist and an imaginable American scene. Plus she was good at the details of scenes and at believable, real dialogue. The Winter Widow flows and is constructed in such a way that I didn't want to put it down. I was lured from chapter to chapter. She was an astute and professional writer.

She and I went to the same church. She was so modest that I had no idea she was a writer. When she died suddenly, I attended her memorial service which was a garland of tributes and of tears from a loving family. Piles of her books were at the back of the room. They were being given away for free in her honor!

Thank you, Charlene! Rest in peace.

[LJ · Rating 5 out of 5]

THE WINTER WIDOW - Ex
Weir, Charlene - 1st in series

Daniel Wren blew in like a tornado, sweeping Susan off her feet and back home to Hampstead, Kansas. The new bride of the small town's police chief became a widow ten days later when Daniel was killed by a sniper's bullet. Now city-slicker Susan is the new police chief, and finding her husband's killer is job one.

I enjoyed the concept and the protagonist. It's going to be interesting to see where the series goes.

[Nancyk · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked Daniel so much & they fell in love so hard & so fast for each other that it was depressing going forward. I didn't think it was right when she took over her husbands position either, I felt the story would of been better if his 2nd in charge had instead. Just because she is the main character didn't make it a given. And I was bothered when she said she couldn't remember what he looked like a couple of days after he died.

[Sep · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good mystery by a writer I hadn't met before. I grabbed this book for a plane trip and was very pleased with the mystery. Susan, a San Francisco cop, has been swept off her feet by sheriff from Kansas named Daniel. Daniel is killed almost immediately after they get settled back home after their honeymoon, and Susan stays in Kansas to solve find out who killed him. The characters are quirky and the weather severe, but logic wins in the end.

[Mary Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love a good fish out of water story. This first of a series offers us a San Francisco cop transformed into a small town Kansas housewife. With in two months of ther arrial in Kansas her police cheif husband is killed. Widow Susan applies for his job and sets about solving the crime. Amazingly she decides to remain in Kansas.

[Patty · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. Having a new husband dies "in the line of duty" is tough, taking on his job and finding his killer is even harder, especially when they target you next.

I'll keep reading this series, Weir makes Kansas feel real and yet gives an outsider view of it (the new Chief of Police is originally from San Francisco, transplanted to her husbands home, a small town in Kansas).

[Scoozer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a pleasant mystery. The lead character was tough, but weak ankled (she sprained her ankle at least three times during the 250 pages--not sure why). Written in the 90s, it was a bit dated. The entire book I kept thinking, "too bad they don't have a cell phone." But other than that, I liked it. I rate it a C+.

[Dale · Rating 4 out of 5]

ill bk 1st in series tight and fast moving Kansas small town married 6 weeks and her husband the sheriff is hsot and killed-- Susan a former police officer from SFPD ask to allowed to takeover her husband job-- she is aloowed for a short term basis

[Suzette Kunz · Rating 3 out of 5]

A series of mysteries about a woman police chief in Kansas. Very well written.