Four Widows

by Helen MacArthur

Four widows. Dead husbands. Unfinished business.

When did deception and disappearance suddenly become so fashionable?

When Lori Walker discovers her husband's death wasn't an accident her darkest fears come true: the man she married was her greatest love and her biggest mistake.

Lori is thrown a lifeline when she forms a tight friendship with other widows who share their own stories highlighted with humour, heartache and mysteries. Questions are raised, answers are challenged and trust falls to pieces.

Emotional drama with suspense and intrigue, Four Widows explores the intricacies of love—its greatness and its acute complications.

Genres: Mystery, Thriller

355 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 16, 2011

Reviews

[Lynda Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved this story and I love the cover which was what caught my eye first but NOT the amount of mistakes in it throughout. Then at the end it tells us the writer used to be a copy editor. Well, that makes the mistakes I happened across even worse and lost it another star for me !!
Lent was used and not leant and VERY annoyingly pouring and not poring because late on in the book after getting it wrong a few times it was suddenly spelt correctly. Retched was spelt as wretched a couple of times as well and one times mention of an outer-body experience which, when described, was an out-of-body experience, I'd have thought !! Cannon was misspelt a few times as canon and axle is not spelled axel. Another horrible one was pack used when pact was meant. Of course, being an e-book there were apostrophe mistakes along with all the others. One REALLY annoying sentence read as follows "Hand brake, hand break. Cece, release the bloody hand break". So it COULD be spelt properly and just wasn't. Orthodontist isn't spelt orthodentist.
I found there was way too much product placement, too. A lot of "names" used when there was little or no need of them.
There were also a lot of words dropped in sentences like was or to or a. Then speechmarks were missed a few times, too. Just once Harrison's name was replaced by David quite bizarrely (and carelessly).
Then there were tranposed words in sentences so they read "wondering if I had picked up her right" and "It wasn't Cece's decision to you tell". Just sloppy.......
There were some very funny lines in, though, and I liked all the different widows featured. A prior reviewer had said we don't know much about the other widows' stories but I disagree. We got to hear quite a bit about them so I'm not sure why he/she said that.
All in all, it would have been way better without all the terrible errors which spoiled it for me.

[Karen Monahan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really loved this book. Most of the characters were likable and relatable. I've never heard of this author and I admit I only downloaded it because it was free on amazon. I will be looking at what else she has to offer!

[Charlie Allison · Rating 2 out of 5]

Badly written, needed a proof reader desperately as the story wasn't too bad!

[Michelle Gunstanson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely

The characters are true and believable. You want to know more about each woman as I read. The surprise was very unexpected. I would not have gone there. The author tells a very good story and I loved the friendship between the women

[Jack · Rating 2 out of 5]

A story with a lot of potential, about a recently bereaved woman. But too full of Americanisms, metaphors and some malapropisms.

[Jeanne Jenkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked this book. Cece, Suzanne, Kate and Lori met and became friends. What they had in common was that they all were widows. One husband killed himself, one died of natural causes, one died in a car accident and one left 7 years ago never to return, so guess he was dead. Three of the husbands did not die as everyone thought they did. I am a widow, so could understand a lot of what the women were going through. Of course there was some suspected foul play, so the police played a big part. I was surprised several times during the story. Certainly not the usual suspects. If you like crime stories, you will love this one. Have a cup of tea (or a glass of wine) and enjoy the book. Be warned though, you may forget to eat or sleep until you have finished the book.

[Suki Korp · Rating 5 out of 5]

An elegantly written mystery (first novel) by Helen MacArthur. Will wait eagerly for her next book! The four widows meeting, becoming friends and getting through the days of their lives could be a morass. In this book, all of the incidental events are brought to life and progress toward a very surprising conclusion.
I highly recommend it.

[Jason · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have to start with a must read for this one. I never saw that one coming and that is what made the book so incredible. The love, twist and turns really just left me clinching a fist and jaw dropped a few times. My girlfriend raved about this and she's given me some no so good books to read so I was a little apprehensive at first but glad read it. You will love it.

[Colleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Found the writing confusing at first,glad I held out a few pages.this is a good friendship story,sad,funny,inspiring,and interesting plot had it figured but not the way the story layed it out. Well written and an enjoyable quick read.

[B.J. Eveleigh-Bell · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the best self-pubbed books I've read. Not just because of the quality of the writing but because it has actually been properly copy edited; a bit of a rare bird.

Polished writing, well-drawn characters, perfectly paced and with excellent plotting.

Highly recommended.

[Joanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finished this, this morning. It was an interesting take, had a few twists which I didn't see coming but a bit too 'chick lit' and fashionista for my taste.

[Keira Rawden · Rating 4 out of 5]

For a freebie I was most pleasantly surprised. Lots of twists and turns and I did not guess the ending.

[Gail Driscoll · Rating 1 out of 5]

Eh! Chick lit is not my genre. Only gave one star versus none because it takes place in Edinburgh, Scotland.

[Patricia · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was confused!