I liked this book, once I got into it a bit. It focuses on Louise, whose husband is killed in an office accident, and Becca, the detective who broke the news and thinks that there is more to the story. The chapters alternate between Louise in current time, Louise on her quest to land her husband Patrick, and Becca in current time.

For the first half of the book, I didn't think any of the characters were likeable. However, Louise, with all her flaws, grew on me as the book went on. I don't know if the author intended it that way, but I hope she did. Becca, however, never grew on me and I found myself rooting against her.

The last 20% or so of the book ties everything together and did so in a great way. I found the end satisfying and couldn't find a loose end, even though there were things that happened earlier in the book that I initially thought wouldn't be revisited. I'd recommend this book.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Louise Bridges has the perfect life, by all outward appearances. She has a loving husband, 2 beautiful children, a nice home. She spends her days being the perfect wife and mother, and loves it. Then one day the police arrive and notify her that there was a fire at her husband's place of business and her husband is dead. One of the detectives didn't think Louise showed the appropriate reaction for a new widow and becomes convinced that Louise had something to do with her husband's death.
When I first read what this book was about, I thought it sounded like it would be a really good suspense/thriller book. I really wanted to like it. But I did not like the writing style at all. I felt it was too choppy, and I thought the chapters were often too short to really get into the story since the chapters were told in alternating parts by Louise (before she and Patrick were together), Louise (now) and the detective. I didn't find the dective likeable at all, and the parts about Louise before she and Patrick were together (and there was a lot of that) was mainly her gushing about how wonderful he was and how unworthy she was of him and how she didn't think she would ever get him to notice her. I will say, the final 10% or so of the book got really good. So I did really enjoy that part of the book.

I think this book has the potential of being really good but I gave up because it has not been edited. I spent most of my time rereading as the Chapters were defined in the middle of sentences, words were run together and I was at first confused who the characters were. As I read on I realized the plot takes place in past and present and the main character was speaking about her former life at times. If this was readable I would give it a second chance because the story line was good. I don’t know if this was an error due to Kindle.

Thank you NetGalley for the advanced copy. I couldn't get into this book. I went to the back to see who the killer was. Predictable.

Louise
Saw her man, waited, planned, waited some more, pounced, struck and snared him
And with him came everything she had craved, wealth, a family and prestige
But Louise hadn’t always been Louise
Her younger years had been turmolic ( made up word ) to say the least.....she has no intention of EVER going back to anything less than the perfect life she now has

Becca, a P.C. with her eye more on doughnuts than crime some days, she is the one to tell Louise her hubby has tragically died
She also gets a niggle that Louise hasn’t reacted quite as she would have expected

I loved both, narcissistic Louise and despairing Becca, 2 unequals that made a great pairing as the book went back and forth between past and present, 2 more different characters you couldn’t hope for in a book, both wonderfully played

I loved the almost diary style of the book, short snappy sentences, lots of ‘mulling’ ( some repetition it has to be said ) and much dark humour that goes on in their musings and came across ( for me ) really well, very clever descriptions of ordinary life/situations that had me smiling and wincing depending on the wording

Some of the other characters we meet are a tad lacklustre and almost extras but that doesn’t matter too much as these 2 are personality enough to carry them all

A good ending that brought the book and both main characters to a conclusion and once again I find myself saying about a book that I really enjoyed it and looked forward to reading it when I wasn’t!!!

9/10
5 Stars

Calling it quits at 17 percent. It’s been a chore to even that far. I can see why it has so many negative reviews on Goodreads.

It is very seldom that I read a book and can't connect with both the characters and story line. I finished it in the hope that I would become more involved in the story but it never happened.

This is a story about obsession. We see Louise's obsession in getting her husband & then keeping her social standing. We also see Becca's obsession in proving that Louise murdered her husband. I found this a bit slow moving, and in Louise's story, quite repetitive. However, the last 20% or so was really good & provided several good twists.

I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book started off with so much potential, the first few chapters had me hooked, but then it went off the boil...

Too many chapters about Louise sitting behind her desk at work, watching her future husband walk past her and whether he would wink at her or not.

Then we had PC Becca who thought Louise was responsible for her husband's death, but Becca spent too many chapters getting distracted by do-nuts.

It's not often I can't finish a book but this was just too slow with repetitive chapters really dragging the narrative out.

Thanks to Net galley for the opportunity to review this book, this is my honest opinion.

Book sounded like it was going to be very good but ended up being only ok. I was left feeling disappointed

I was so excited when I received a copy of this book....Thank you NetGalley and the Publisher for my advanced copy!! The blurb sounded so intriguing and right up my alley! What I got was a book that rambled on and on. Told between past and present and different between the main character and a detective. This book gave me a headache and the characters were just very unlikable. I hate giving bad reviews because I know how difficult writing is....but this one fell short for me.

This was a pretty good read for me , it kept me interested from start to finish , and I read it quickly . Louise seems to have it all , great marriage , house and children so when the police turn up to tell her that her husband has died in a terrible accident , Becca the pc definitely gets the feeling that something is amiss . She starts to dig into Louise's perfect life as we get the story from Louise's point of view also . I did enjoy it but I felt I had read it before , it wasn't really original . I found myself comparing it to other books . Still worth 4 stars though

LOVED this book! Fantastic read! I couldn't put it down. Thank you Net Galley and H.Q. Digital for an early copy of this book. Can't wait for another book by A. M. Castle.

Thank you Net Galley and HQ Digital for an early copy of The Perfect Widow. Unbelievably Great!!!! I Loved this book. I couldn't get enough reading about Louise, I just thought the whole plot was wonderful. I looked forward to finding out what was going on every time I picked up the book. Thank you A.M. Castle.

The Perfect Widow is a domestic psychological thriller that will have you pondering until the end.

Louise is living the perfect life. She has two children, a lovely home, wealth, and a husband she adores. When the police show up and tell that her husband has been killed, detective Becca Holt thinks Louise’s reaction to the news is suspicious. Becca starts to look into her suspicions further. The Perfect Window is told from the perspective of Becca and Louise. Obsession, secrets and lies interlace this thriller.

I give this book 3.5 stars. I really enjoyed the underlying plot and psychological aspect the book. It was interesting to have a close look at obsession in two different characters. I had to take off 1.5 stars for the flow of the book. I do think it could have been written more smoothly with more character development.
I would recommend this book to anyone who loves psychological thrillers.

Thank you, Net Galley, for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I so wanted to like this book especially as it is described as a psychological thriller, but it just didn’t ‘thrill’ me.
Sorry, not a ‘thriller’ for me.

I was really looking forward to reading this book and was pleased to be given an arc.
The story focuses on Louise, who trying to make better her future, due to a bad upbringing sets her sight on successful businessman Patrick, with whom she works with.
Louise goes to great lengths to get noticed by Patrick and when she does, things seem to fall into place and she looks to be getting the life she dreamed of. This is the main plot of the book.
I really wanted to like this book but I found it didn’t really pick up until at least half way through and when it did it was quite unconvincing :(
The story is told from both past and present of Louise and then added to the mix is a police officer called Becka, who i found hard to connect with and wondered why she was even in the book. Sadly it was a very disjointed book despite the plot.

Sadly this book just didn’t live up to its blurb. Slow and clunky at times, I gave up half way through.

This book was slow to start but once I got into it I couldn't put it down I would recommend this book it was well written and would give it a 3 star.

I had high hopes for this book as a reader and the premise made it sound chilling and creepy. However, this was not the case as you read the book. There are two different points of view that swap between past and present, which isn't completely as annoying as the short chapters. Some chapters were so brief it was irritating because the story could have built more but it just ended. I was actually bored reading this and just when there was a last minute twist towards the end, it really didn't seem as big of a deal

The story had its potential to be great but it is going to my mediocre shelf on Goodreads. Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and author for ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.