An engrossing and well developed thriller, it was entertaining and enjoyable, a real page turner.
I like the style of writing and how the characters were developed.
The book is a real page turner, once you start you cannot put it down.
I look forward to reading other books by this writer.
Highly recommended!
Many thanks to Crooked Lane Books and Netgalley for this ARC. I voluntarily read and reviewed this book, all opinions are mine.

2.5 stars.
I had high expectations for this book but was very disappointed. I liked the base plot, that looked promising, the murders were interesting and intriguing.

Negative points for me were slow pace, weak main character and character development. Maybe because the pace is so slow at times, many of the twists towards the end are easily predictable. I was expecting crazy twists and a grabbing story but just found it very basic and predictable. Some important characters had a weak closure too, which was disappointing.

This is an average murder mystery thriller and despite all the problems it was still entertaining and readable.

Being a longtime fan of Sydney Sheldon, I was excited to read this book. I assumed by carrying on the legacy of such a prolific writer, I'd get the same Sheldon quailty. However I was slightly disappointed. While the writing was very good it wasn't great and while the story was entertaining it wasn't fantastic. I'd say new to this author readers will really enjoy this novel while longtime fans will have to adjust their thinking slightly. Those who frequently read this genre may not get quite the thrill but occasional readers will be entertained. Still very good novel and I'd definitely recommend.

Mr Sheldon was a prolific writer of novels, plays, T.V. shows and motion pictures. Unfortunately he passed away in 2007 but fortunately his family made arrangements with Tilly Bagshawe, a British author and one with her own stellar reputation to continue his legacy. She has already written several successful books under the joint name of both writers. The Silent Widow is her latest continuing the tradition of engrossing works in the style of Mr Sheldon.
The beginning of the novel concerns a young woman that has traveled to Mexico to become the summer Au Pair of a wealthy family living in Mexico City. At a point ten years prior to the opening of the story she disappears with no trace and cannot be found. In a decade from this event a series of murders are committed in Los Angeles. Psychological examiner Nikki Roberts is seemingly involved with all of these since the deceased were her patients. Nikki is going through her own set of trauma since her husband was killed in an auto accident and was at that point riding with a woman that fingers point to as her spouse's lover.
Nikki does a bit of background checking on the murders via hiring Private Detective Derek Williams, who coincidentally had worked on the missing girl's case from ten years ago. A good story is enhanced even further by bringing in ties to both the Mexican and Russian Mafias and their battle to take over the drug trade in Los Angeles. The permutations and complications of the factors involved keep the reader glued to the book trying to tie the loose ends together. Two policemen assigned to investigate the murders have ties to the events going on in addition to working to solve the crimes.
Action is the keynote from start to finish and the combination of Mr Sheldon's guidance and Ms Bagshawe's literary abilities make for a mesmerizing read guaranteed to make the reader returning for more. A well done book.

It has been several years since I have read a Sidney Sheldon novel, and this was my first Tilly Bagshawe, but this book had me guessing even through the entire thing. There was so much going on, it was hard to keep up with! From a grisly murder in the prologue to a disappearance in Mexico City to a "zombie" killer, this book has you hopping and questioning every character named. Although I enjoyed the book, it is hard to imagine one person being around all of the happenings in the book and not realizing or knowing it. It is definitely not a realistic type of book, but certainly something that you can get sucked into and truly try to solve the mystery of what is really going on.

Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for the opportunity to read this book. It was my first Tilly Bagshawe, but it won't be my last!

I was excited to get this book via NetGalley as growing up I was a huge fan of Sidney Sheldon’s books.

Unfortunately, it didn’t live up to my expectations.

The plot was predictable, you can guess the ending once you get through the first few chapters.

The characters were hollow and not very well developed. There is an attempt to have some twists but these are easily guessed.

I would not recommend it but likewise would not say “don’t read it”

2* = it’s OK.

Whef I downloaded “Sidney Sheldon’s The Silent Widow” by Tilly Bagshawe, I was merely looking for a thriller to feed my reading habit. I had read some of Sheldon’s earliest works many years ago and they did little to prepare me for this complex plot. Psychologist Dr. Nikki Roberts is trying to put her life back together following the death of her prominent husband. When people close to her are brutally murdered and there are attempts on her life, Nikki hires private investigator Derek Williams to find the answers that the LAPD either can’t or won’t be bothered with. The action takes place in Mexico City and L.A. and involves an intricately complex plot built around a drug clinic, drug lords, cartels, government corruption, dirty cops, and suspect charities. As the layers of deceit and corruption are revealed, Nikki realizes she can’t trust anyone except Williams. Not even the police. There is so much going on here, with such a huge cast of characters, you could easily OD on it. (No apology for the pun.) Added to that, the good doctor is self-centered and as much in need of a good shrink as her handful of patients, that it is difficult to connect or empathize with her. Believe me when i say, the psychiatric association does not want Nikki Roberts as their poster child. Seriously, the writing style is very good with some well-turned phrases and the pacing is strong and steady almost to the end. The last four chapters, however, seem almost an afterthought. Even so, I can still recommend this book if you’re looking for some escape reading.
#NetGalley #SidneySheldonsTheSilentWidow

I’m a long time fan of Sidney Sheldon. Tilly Bagshawe has always done an amazing job of continuing his legacy, writing in his style while also making it her own!
This book focuses on Dr Nikki Roberts and the death of her husband and one by one her patients are brutally murdered.
This book tells of the drug trade and travels between Mexico and L.A.
I absolutely couldn’t put it down and I was so excited to read this great book !

The Silent Widow is a murder mystery. Nikki is a psychologist, and her husband died a year ago in a car accident. Her patients start turning up dead, and the police see her as the prime suspect, even though her own life is in danger. Nikki gets involved with an investigator who somehow has an old case that might have something to do with Nikki's dead husband. Obviously, it's a twisting round and round kind of story. It's well written and keeps your interest until the end. Nikki is a flawed, sympathetic and intelligent character. Overall, the story is engaging and complex as the mystery slowly unravels. I recommend if you want a good mystery. Thanks to NetGalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

Sidney Sheldon does it again with this latest read.

Ever a fan; I was not disappointed with The Silent Widow.

Suspenseful read capturing my attention for the duration of he book.

Unfortunately, The Silent Widow is not the same caliber as Sidney Sheldon’s own books. Although Bagshawe has picked up on Sheldon’s unmistakable style somewhat, this book did not bring me on the same rollercoaster thrill ride that Sheldon’s books did, most notably my favorite, The Other Side of Midnight. Bagshawe used Sheldon’s form in giving us two somewhat unrelated scenarios in the very beginning, before delving into the heart of the story with Nikki. Of course I wondered who the tortured man was and how that and the brief story about Charlotte would figure into the plot. It was all rather formulaic in that I knew early on that Nikki’s patients would figure prominently in the storyline, having guessed very shortly into the book who Anne’s husband was. There were too many characters whose loose-ending story lines contributed to obfuscating the central story line. How did it add to the plot that Nikki’s husband had a pregnant mistress? We already knew how broken she was from the first scene in which she was about to take her own life, mentioning several names of people whom she had let down. Her husband’s death was superficial to the story line, in my opinion. Why was Brandon even a character? He contributed nothing to move the story along, except to illustrate the effects of the new drug Kroc. The book held my interest, only because I kept thinking it had to have some sort of classic Sidney Sheldon twist. Sadly, it didn’t.

Nikki Roberts is a LA psychologist whose husband died in a car crash about a year ago and there is a string of murders hitting LA with Nikki as a link to all of them. The police focus on her although an attempt has also been made on her life. Nikki reaches out to a local private investigator for answers to get her life back and find out who is behind all of this. The local PI is haunted by a decades old case that somehow gets linked into the events of what is going on now. The old case has to do with a missing au pair and involves the drug cartel and linkage to Nikki’s husband? She doesn’t know who to trust. This is very intricate and interwoven story. Definitely in the Sheldon formula. Engaging and gripping read. Well done.

The silent widow is another murder mystery by Sidney Sheldon. This books revolves around Dr Nikki Roberts a psychologist who is grieving her husband's death. there are several murders in town and the only link in the murder is that all of them are Dr Nikki Roberts patients . The plot thickens around this and gets very interesting. Highly recommend this book. Thank you Net Galley!

I read Sidney Sheldon years ago. Tilly Bagshawe has done a wonderful job in keeping his legacy alive. This was a really good book.

It is a long time since I read a Sidney Sheldon novel. At first I found it hard to get into it was about 2/3 in when I really started to enjoy it. I had no idea who one of the villains was.

Nikki Roberts is a psychologist and a patient is murdered, then her assistant. Husband had died in a car accident a year ago, who is the killer really after. Thinking of suicide, when an attempt is on her life, instead hires a PI Derek. A cold case of an au pair before had him baffled. Now the links connect to her husband’s involment. What of the assistant what did she know that caused her death. A sharp plot and guessing how it all connects, and who is really guilty. Given ARC for my voluntary review and my honest opinion from Net Galley and Crooked Lane Books

Thank you SO much for this ARC!

I absolutely love all of Sidney Sheldon's books, a true master storyteller. While this was a great story, it felt too long. However, even though it felt incredibly long, it did not feel slow moving.

Good story line, albeit, a whole cast of unlikable characters.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for letting me read this fabulous ARC in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 STARS

The horror started with the disappearance of Charlotte Clancy in Mexico City. A decade later it was Nikki Robert's husband, Doug, death that made Nikki's world comes crashing down. How can these two strangers be tied together?

Nikki Roberts is a psychologist in downtown LA. Her clients were nothing short of being famous and dangerous, especially when she doesn't exactly know why they are dangerous to her. Suddenly one of client was horrendously murdered outside of her office and a few days later her secretary was murdered the same way. Obviously, the two were connected but how?

Here entered detectives Goodman and Johnson. Good cop/Bad cop were their personalities. Goodman fell for Dr. Roberts as Johnson was calling her out as a suspect. As Nikki's world spiral out of control, the story open readers to a world of drug-cartels with a large mix of government corruption to a city that she can no longer called home.

The story was mesmerizing from the beginning with it's fast pace and twisting roads of characters. It keeps me hanging on until the end. There were at times where things were easy to predict, but that did not in any way ruin the story line. Although, I find that the character Lenka was unnecessary even after the explanation of how Lenka was connected. Nikki's obsession with Lenka was a weak point in the story line that never actually got explored at a in dept angle. It was barely on the surface and really more like a garnish on a main entree. It's just there and does nothing to push the characters along.

Tilly Bageshawe's new Sidney Sheldon novel is a juicy page-turner that provides excellent entertainment value. You can't approach this type of book expecting naturalistic realism; this is commercial entertainment through-and-through. So, suspend your disbelief, and settle back for a fun ride through a labyrinthine plot in which a beautiful psychologist, Nikki Roberts (the silent widow), becomes involved in a shady murder plot involving a Mexican drug cartel, a series of her patients's murders, and her secretive dead husband.

At first it is not clear why all Nikki's patients are turning up dead. Since she is the common link among the victims, the police naturally suspect her of being involved. But as with most of Bagshawe/Sheldon's novels, nothing is quite what it seems. She hires a private investigator to help dig up the truth, and the path leads to a case that occurred a decade earlier. Soon Nikki finds herself in a series of dangerous predicaments where no one can be trusted.

I have read a few other Tilly Bagshawe book, and I found them to be fun entertainment. Personally, I think she's a stronger writer than Sheldon in many ways. Sheldon was great at coming up with a hook, but sometimes when reading his books, I felt like I was reading the bare bones of a very entertaining plot without some of the details that would make the plot seem more realistic. Bageshawe's descriptions are a bit more colorful, which makes it easier for me to visualize what's happening.

overall, this is a fun book. It's not going to win any literary awards, but it does read like a bestseller--and that's good enough for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is a well developed story, a good paced thriller, cleverly written with good characters that will keep you on the edge of your seat.

I can recommend this book if you are looking for a thrilling read.

Thank you to Netgalley and Crooked Lane Books for giving me the opportunity to read this book.