The Young Widow

Publishers Weekly

Chan's sprightly debut, a contemporary homage to Dorothy L. Sayers's classic Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries, introduces an appealing pair of sleuths. Jack Gibbons, an ambitious Scotland Yard detective sergeant, investigates the fatal poisoning of successful businessman Geoffrey Berowne, aided by his best friend from university days, Phillip Bethancourt, who's a wealthy man-about-town with a nose for crime. The chief suspect is Berowne's attractive wife, Annette, whose previous two husbands, both much older than she, also died under odd circumstances. When Gibbons rather predictably starts falling for Annette, he seeks another solution to the murder, despite everything pointing to the young widow as the killer. Even if Gibbons and Bethancourt are hardly original as a detective duo, traditional English mystery devotees should look forward to their further adventures. Agent, Jennifer Jackson at DMLA. (Aug.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

School Library Journal

Adult/High School-This novel brings together two different strands of the classic English detective story by taking two men as its protagonists: Phillip Bethancourt, a well-born dabbler with an interest in and aptitude for crime solving, and Jack Gibbons, a hardworking and dedicated up-and-comer on the police force. They must solve the murder of a wealthy industrialist, which allows Chan to give readers a modern take on the old English country-house murder tale through the two lead characters, one of whom falls in love with the dead man's widow. 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.-Ted Westervelt, Library of Congress, Washington, DC Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

Oxford-educated Detective Sergeant Jack Gibbons and wealthy amateur sleuth Philip Betancourt become embroiled in a murder too hot for the local Surrey constabulary to handle. When elderly Geoffrey Berowne is found dead, it's not from the expected heart attack but poisoning by lilies of the valley. Not only is Annette, his much younger wife, in for a lot of lovely lolly, but Geoffrey is the third older husband she's lost, and gossip is rife. Another likely prospect is Geoffrey's son Paul, who besides the obvious motive is stuck in a loveless marriage. Paul's wife Marion has an alibi but stands to inherit a sizable sum. Maddie Wellman, Geoffrey's sister-in-law from his first marriage, is resentful of his marriage to Annette. Even the servants are in for legacies. Annette is the type men love and women hate. Not especially beautiful, witty or intelligent, she nevertheless has an inescapable allure, and things really get chancy for Jack when he succumbs to her wiles. Aware that his friend's career is at stake, Betancourt uses all his skills and social connections to help solve the case before Jack's infatuation leads to disaster. Despite his pretensions, Betancourt is no Lord Peter Wimsey, and it's a bit of a stretch to picture ambitious, career-minded Jack falling for Annette. But Chan's debut does keep you guessing until the end.

From the Publisher

"Chan's sprightly debut, a contemporary homage to Dorothy L. Sayers's classic Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries, introduces an appealing pair of sleuths...

[T]raditional English mystery devotees should look forward to their further adventures." —Publishers Weekly