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    The Other Widow: A Novel
    The Other Widow: A Novel
    The Other Widow: A Novel
    Audiobook9 hours

    The Other Widow: A Novel

    Written by Susan Crawford

    Narrated by Madeleine Maby

    3.5/5

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    About this audiobook

    The author of The Pocket Wife explores the dark side of love, marriage, and infidelity in this sizzling novel of psychological suspense.

    Everybody’s luck runs out. This time it could be theirs . . .

    It isn’t safe. That’s what Joe tells her when he ends their affair—moments before their car skids off an icy road in a blinding snowstorm and hits a tree. Desperate to keep her life intact—her job, her husband, and her precious daughter, Lily—Dorrie will do everything she can to protect herself, even if it means walking away from the wreckage. Dorrie has always been a good actress, pretending to be someone else: the dutiful daughter, the satisfied wife, the woman who can handle anything. Now she’s going to put on the most challenging performance of her life. But details about the accident leave her feeling uneasy and afraid. Why didn’t Joe’s airbag work? Why was his car door open before the EMTs arrived? And now suddenly someone is calling her from her dead lover’s burner phone. . . .

    Joe’s death has left his wife in free fall as well. Karen knew Joe was cheating—she found some suspicious e-mails. Trying to cope with grief is devastating enough without the constant fear that has overtaken her—this feeling she can’t shake that someone is watching her. And with Joe gone and the kids grown, she’s vulnerable . . . and on her own.

    Insurance investigator Maggie Brennan is suspicious of the latest claim that’s landed on her desk—a man dying on an icy road shortly after buying a lucrative life insurance policy. Maggie doesn’t believe in coincidences. The former cop knows that things—and people—are never what they seem to be.

    As the fates of these three women become more tightly entwined, layers of lies and deception begin to peel away, pushing them dangerously to the edge . . . closer to each other . . . to a terrifying truth . . . to a shocking end.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperAudio
    Release dateApr 26, 2016
    ISBN9780062444578
    Author

    Susan Crawford

    Susan Crawford grew up in Miami, Florida, and graduated from the University of Miami with a BA in English and a minor in psychology. She later moved to New York City and then Boston before settling in Atlanta to raise three daughters and work in the field of adult education. A member of the Atlanta Writers Club and the Village Writers, Susan teaches at Georgia Piedmont Technical College and dabbles in local politics. She lives with her husband and a trio of rescue cats in Atlanta, where she enjoys reading books, writing books, rainy days, and spending time with the people she loves.

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    Reviews for The Other Widow

    3.5/5

    91 ratings16 reviews

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    • 3/5
      Great build up all through the book, but really dissapointed about the ending.
    • 4/5
      I enjoyed this audiobook. The narration was really well done which is an important part of an audiobook. This book had a little bit of everything and you come to really care about the characters, even "the other woman". I am not sure I would be as forgiving (not sure that is the right word) as Karen was.
    • 2/5
      This is the first book I have read by this author and will probably be the last. It was just slow and boring.
    • 4/5
      Enjoyable who done it. Husband dies in car crash, lover with him, but gets out alive. Wife had just taken out large insurance policy which leads insurance company to investigate. Much more then just this going on behind the scenes.
    • 5/5
      I thoroughly enjoyed this first book I have read by Crawford...except....I wanted just a little more at the ending?? As usual, I often want a sequel to novels that have several characters and one wonders....what would happen NEXT to many of them? Sometimes an author handles this with an epilogue. I will definitely try more of Crawford's books.
    • 3/5
      Dorrie and her boss Joe have been having an affair. He is in the process of breaking it off when his car slips off an icy road and hits a tree. Joe is killed and Dorrie flees the scene. Maggie is the claims adjuster looking into the insurance position before paying out to Joe's widow, Karen. Both Dorrie and Karen feel there is some one watching them and Dorrie begins to realize she is in danger.The story switches between the viewpoints of Karen, Maggie and Dorrie, although the narrative voice doesn't vary much. Maggie was vaguely likeable, but Karen and Dorrie just appeared cold and self-obsessed. Neither seemed capable of warmth and I just didn't understand how Dorrie operated in her home. She had a husband and a daughter, but seemed to treat them as roommates she barely knew. Joe's character was a cipher - what were his feelings for Karen and Dorrie?Most of the book focussed on how cold the weather was, how slippery the streets were (does no one in Boston use snow tyres?), and whether characters chose to drive or take public transport. The ending was underwhelming SPOILERSand the little "twist" failed to shock as I had never really got to the bottom of Karen's character anyway. So who tampered with Dorrie's car? If Tomas, how did he get to the key? Also, how much money can you really save, re-using wiring??
    • 3/5
      Dorrie was in the car with Joe the night his car skidded off the icy road and hit a tree. She doesn't want anyone to know she was there, that she was having an affair with her boss. She wants to keep her job and her family intact. So she flees.

      Joe's wife, Karen, knew he was cheating but she didn't know who with. Now that she's on her own she can't shake the feeling that she's being watched.

      Maggie Devlin is the insurance investigator handling Joe's claim, but she's suspicious - a man dies shortly after buying a big life insurance policy. The former cop can't help but dig around to see if she can figure out what really happened the night of the accident.

      I was so looking forward to reading this. It was good, but it wasn't as gripping and fast-paced as I was hoping it would be. It was all kind of anticlimactic and when I thought back to the book the word that came to mind was "forgettable"
    • 3/5
      The story of two married lovers, death and the aftermath. My favorite character was Maggie, the insurance investigator who worked with the wife who was anxious to receive her insurance money. Light, quick read if you're looking for a break from deep and gritty reading.
    • 4/5
      I really enjoyed Susan Crawford's debut novel - The Pocket Wife. The Other Widow is her new novel.Dorrie has been having an affair with her boss Joe. On the night he decides to end it, the car they are sitting in is hit. Desperate to not have her husband find out about the affair, Dorrie runs. Sure that Joe is dead she calls 911, but when the EMTs arrive, there is no Joe.Joe's wife Karen is on her way home after a night out with a friend, sharing her suspicions that her husband has been having an affair, when she spies what looks like Joe's car - smashed.Maggie, a former cop turned insurance investigator, is assigned the claim. She thinks there's much more to it than meets the eye.Well, she's right - there are secrets bubbling beneath the surface for all three women. Will they stay hidden or come to light? What happened to Joe? Why? He too kept secrets. And someone out there knows them.Crawford keeps the reader guessing as we see the story through three pairs of eyes, each with their own agenda. Crawford delves deeper into relationships in this book, giving these subjects equal time with the mystery plot line. Personally, I prefer a faster driven novel when I think 'psychological suspense.'I just didn't like either Dorrie or Karen and felt no sympathy for either of them. Maggie I liked very much. She seemed 'real' and I empathized with her struggles with PTSD. I liked her dogged determination to solve the crime, falling back on her old professional skills. I think Maggie has more stories to tell and hope that Crawford considers bringing her back in future novels.I had my suspicions as to 'whodunit' and was proven correct by the end. The run up to the final pages seemed a bit rushed. I found the plot a little convoluted and overly convenient in parts. But that didn't deter me from turning pages to see where Crawford would take things.
    • 4/5
      This was a well written, great read. Dorrie is unfortunately in the same car as her lover when he is killed in an accident. But was it an accident? Her life seems to be spiraling out of control as her husband starts to behave strangely, her life appears to be in danger, the numbers aren't adding up at work. Her lover's wife Karen and the insurance investigator Maggie also have significant roles in this complicated book with a major focus on relationships.
    • 4/5
      Two women, an accident- one man, one husband dead, one persistent investigator and one helluva twist at the end. Susan Crawford has written a book with characters that all readers will find something to relate to, sympathize empathize SOMETHING! I particularly enjoyed that the story-line takes place Boston, where my roots are. ( Joy St. where my dad grew up is mentioned!)Overall this is a great page turning read that doesn't get bogged down, and has quite the surprise ending!
    • 4/5
      It was great to get a book that I was interested enough to keep reading until completed. The Other Widow starts out with a car crash which happens just after Joe tells Dorrie that it's not safe to see each other. After the accident, Dorrie leaves the scene with only a slight injury. Why didn't Joe's air bag go off? Karen knew her husband, Joe was seeing someone else but his death leaves her with a lot of unanswered questions and the feeling that someone is watching her. Maggie Devlin, the insurance investigator, doesn't think this was an accident. She's a former cop and soldier with problems of her own but wants to know what really happened. The fate of these three women become more and more entangled as the book races to the conclusion.
    • 3/5
      Dorrie is embroiled in an affair with her boss, Joe, which ends abruptly one cold and snowy night when Joe picks her up. He tells her the affair is over, that "it isn't safe," and then moments after, their car skids on the ice and crashes into a tree. Joe dies at the scene, but Dorrie's airbag deploys and she makes a split moment decision to walk away from the crash (undetected). But she's haunted by that evening and Joe's death. Further, what did Joe mean that it wasn't safe? Why didn't Joe's airbag deploy like Dorrie's? Did Dorrie really see someone near the car moments after the crash?

      Meanwhile, Joe's wife Karen is left reeling from his death as well. Also wrapped up in Joe's passing is insurance investigator Maggie Devlin. A former cop, Maggie is suspicious about the circumstances of Joe's death--and the women involved in his life. But can she put together the pieces of what really happened? And are Karen and Dorrie truly in danger?

      This novel was interesting and suspenseful, though it didn't fully grab me. Still, I read it in about two days, so it was certainly a fast read with a captivating plot. For me, I liked Dorrie and Karen well enough, but I wasn't deeply pulled into either of their lives. Neither character was fully drawn enough for me to fully relate to them. In fact, I really liked Maggie the best, but we learn the least about her. I could almost see Maggie getting a sequel--she was a very intriguing and likable character.

      Crawford's novel is well-written, but seems to suffer a little bit from "who am I" syndrome... in some ways it's a thriller, but in other ways, it's purely psychological women's fiction. As such, the mystery seems to take a backseat to the women's lives, at times, and becomes convoluted and confusing by the end. There's a backstory with Joe's business that I almost couldn't fully tell you what happened, because it's not given complete attention, even though it's supposed to propel so much of the action. That duality was tough, because the book never really focused on either the thriller aspect, or the women, and you felt like you were left hanging on both plot points by the end.

      Overall, this was a quick read, with an original plot, but seemed confusing and pulled in a few directions: 3 stars.

      I received an ARC of this novel from Edelweiss (thank you!); it is available for publication on 4/26/16. You can read reviews of this book and many more at my blog.
    • 4/5
      I received an Uncorrected Proof from the publisher, William Morrow (an imprint of Harper Collins Publishers), via The Reading Room. Thank you.Three women are entwined in this suspense novel about loss, grief, deception, lying, and guilt. A man is killed in an auto accident and it profoundly affects them: (1) his wife, (2) his girlfriend and co-worker, and (3) an insurance investigator. Stalking is involved and, while the plot doesn't move as quickly as I like in a suspense novel, it was an interesting story and I enjoyed it very much. It kept me guessing and I liked the twists and turns.Susan Crawford is a talented author who made these characters seem down-to-earth and their lives seemed real. I have seen great reviews of her book, The Pocket Wife, and hope to read it soon.
    • 3/5
      I know this is supposed to be a suspenseful thriller. Well it really wasn't that suspenseful and not that thrilling either. I received an advanced readers' copy of this book, and I was looking forward to reading and reviewing it after I read the book's summary. It was an ok book, but it was a disappointment for me. The story is built around three women. The women are connected by their relationship to one man. One is the man's wife, the other is the man's mistress and the third is the investigator looking into the death of the man. He is killed in a single vehicle car accident on an icy road in January in Boston. All of the women have secrets and it's up to Maggie (the investigator) to wade through them and try to figure out which ones will have particular bearing on the case. I must admit that I had determined who the killer was, and who did the planning for the murder about halfway through the story. I'm not sure that I can recommend this book. Maybe if you enjoy romantic suspense, you may enjoy the book.
    • 3/5
      Multiple cheating spouses aren't really my cup of tea, but it could have worked. There were too many people involved with each other in an ever more entangled web, and then a suspicious death of one of them. I couldn't get engaged with the main character or the wife as they were just not very well developed. The detective and the insurance investigator were somewhat more fully developed and therefore much more interesting. The suspense was OK, but rather less than urgent. All in all, I was disappointed.This ARC was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of Goodreads Giveaways.