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The Black Widow: The Catherine Nevin Story
Number One Bestseller The incredible story of the murder which gripped the nation. When Tom Nevin was brutally murdered in Jack White's Inn on the morning of 19 March 1996 there was widespread mourning for the man known as a 'gentle giant'. And none seemed as grief-stricken as his widow, Catherine. She stood by the graveside holding a single red rose, the classic symbol of a lost love. But even as that picture occupied the front page of the nation's newspapers, the rumours had started.
Four years later Catherine Nevin stood in the dock and listened impassively as a jury found her guilty of murdering her husband, and guilty on three counts of soliciting others to murder. The trial had kept the entire country enthralled, as every day more bizarre stories contract killers, money laundering, the IRA, sexual affairs, plastic surgery, contacts in high places. It had all the ingredients of a bestselling thriller, but this was real life, and with a real victim.
The Black Widow is the story of a woman who wanted it all and didn't care how she got it. Niamh O'Connor, a journalist who sat through every day of the record-breaking trial, explores the personality behind the glamorous mask, the real motives for the murder, and, in a series of revealing interviews, unravels the web of intrigue, deception and violence that brought the woman who once gave deportment classes to schoolchildren to the cells of Mountjoy.
Four years later Catherine Nevin stood in the dock and listened impassively as a jury found her guilty of murdering her husband, and guilty on three counts of soliciting others to murder. The trial had kept the entire country enthralled, as every day more bizarre stories contract killers, money laundering, the IRA, sexual affairs, plastic surgery, contacts in high places. It had all the ingredients of a bestselling thriller, but this was real life, and with a real victim.
The Black Widow is the story of a woman who wanted it all and didn't care how she got it. Niamh O'Connor, a journalist who sat through every day of the record-breaking trial, explores the personality behind the glamorous mask, the real motives for the murder, and, in a series of revealing interviews, unravels the web of intrigue, deception and violence that brought the woman who once gave deportment classes to schoolchildren to the cells of Mountjoy.
- GenresTrue Crime
255 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 20, 2000
15 people are currently reading
39 people want to read
About the author
Niamh O'Connor
23 books25 followersNiamh O'Connor is one of Ireland's best known crime authors. She is a crime reporter with the Sunday World, Ireland's biggest selling Sunday newspaper, for whom she has written five true crime books which were given away with the newspaper. Her job, in which she interviews both high profile criminals and their victims means she knows the world she is writing about.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
April 28, 2020
True crime is not a genre I frequent often. This showed both why I don't and why I probably should.
This did contain a lot of details about the case, the perpetrator and other people close to the crime through no fault of their own. It recalls details from long before the crime happened and how Catherine Nevin operated a web of lies which eventually led to her conviction. I appreciated the level of details and research that went into this book. It created a clear picture and timeline to follow.
However, I found the writing to be uninspired and bland in places. There was no excitement in the words and it was hard to emote about any of it. It lacked something that would bring me straight back to the genre. The structure wasn't clear at the beginning either. I can see that making some readers turn away.
I liked this more than I disliked it. I try to vary the genres I read and this genre is one I could possibly get more into.
This did contain a lot of details about the case, the perpetrator and other people close to the crime through no fault of their own. It recalls details from long before the crime happened and how Catherine Nevin operated a web of lies which eventually led to her conviction. I appreciated the level of details and research that went into this book. It created a clear picture and timeline to follow.
However, I found the writing to be uninspired and bland in places. There was no excitement in the words and it was hard to emote about any of it. It lacked something that would bring me straight back to the genre. The structure wasn't clear at the beginning either. I can see that making some readers turn away.
I liked this more than I disliked it. I try to vary the genres I read and this genre is one I could possibly get more into.
March 5, 2018
No empathy
The author had lots of facts and details relevant to the Catherine Nevin story. However after reading it, I still have very little understanding of what made Catherine Nevin tick. The author is hostile to Catherine Nevin throughout the book. Perhaps if she had tried to show some understanding or empathy, bazaar as that may sound, the reader might have gained a little more understanding of who Catherine Nevin was: where she came from; what made Catherine Nevin become the person she was. In essence a sense of the person who made the country stand still in disbelief while her trial was on going was missing from this book. It was well researched and a huge amount of work went into writing this book. It fell short on empathy.
The author had lots of facts and details relevant to the Catherine Nevin story. However after reading it, I still have very little understanding of what made Catherine Nevin tick. The author is hostile to Catherine Nevin throughout the book. Perhaps if she had tried to show some understanding or empathy, bazaar as that may sound, the reader might have gained a little more understanding of who Catherine Nevin was: where she came from; what made Catherine Nevin become the person she was. In essence a sense of the person who made the country stand still in disbelief while her trial was on going was missing from this book. It was well researched and a huge amount of work went into writing this book. It fell short on empathy.
May 11, 2017
Very well written and interesting.
October 27, 2019
Couldn't get into it ....
December 18, 2021
Couldn’t finish unfortunately, had to speed read to the end. I found it repetitive and boring. I need a book that I can’t wait to get back to and this wasn’t one of them.
July 25, 2013
I was a bit disappointed with this book, but I picked it up in the sale rail so I cannot complain!
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April 6, 2016just started
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews