Good Reads / Community Library Notes
The Widower's Wife
​Cate Holahan
Review by Priscilla Comen

The Widower’s Wife by Cate Holahan is the gripping story of Ana, her husband Tom, and their daughter, Sophia. Ryan is the insurance investigator who must find out if Ana’s fall from a cruise ship is an accident or suicide. Murder? Tom has been unemployed for months, and his family is at the end of its savings. The insurance would pay millions of dollars, enough for them to keep their spacious house and Maserati car and child care for Sophia.
            Ana’s parents, who live in Brazil, need money to protect them from gangs who threaten them monthly. Tom and Ana decide on a plan as they book a vacation on a cruise ship. Ryan uncovers errors in their plan: Tom is seeing two women, Lana, the wine seller, and Eve the baby-sitter. Ana’s employer Michael, takes her to dinner and attempts to rape her, but she fights him off successfully. He earns millions in his venture capital agency, and can not afford to have Ana accuse him of rape. Would he kill her to keep her quiet? Would Tom push her off the side of the ship to make it appear accidental?
            They need the insurance money to maintain their lifestyle, and to help Ana’s parents in Brazil. Can Ana swim to Bimini islands if she dives off the deck? Will there be any witnesses for Ryan to interview? Tom claims he was in his room at the time.
            This story will keep you reading all night until you and the investigator find the answers. Author Holahan is a former TV producer, and shows us clear pictures in the words of this “who-done-it." Find it on the new fiction shelf of your community library.