I never repeat the blurb. Seems as though I'm late to the party as this is the first work from this prolific author I have read. I shall, however, be back for more. Only 4* as the 'baddies' were SO easily identifiable so early on.

Another hit for C. J. Lyons! A superb thriller that will entice readers of many genres.

Leah, an ER doctor, returns home from another 12 hour day to chaos and terror!

Additionally the threat of being under suspicion for murder, now Leah's life becomes even more complicated. Although, Lead Detective Luka Jericho is seeing many angles to the case - he has other ideas. Still, he must take all of the facts and apply them to make the case...

Definitely a thrilling page-turner! I had trouble putting the book down. All of those who enjoy suspense, thrillers and mystery will devour this read.

Many Thanks to Bookouture and NetGalley for a GREAT story.

now this is just brilliant . Leah is on her shift at hospital she rings her daughter so she can say goodnight her husband sounds as if something on his mind . Leah gets flowers left at reception just thinks of husband . she goes home sees all the blood in kitchen she needs to find her daughter and get her out .detective Luka is called to investigate . Leah just wants to keep her daughter safe some one got other ideas they think she killed her husband but Luka does not will say no more so recommend

A thriller that engrosses you from the first chapter. Although I couldn’t put it down, I was disappointed that I figured out “who done it”, three quarters into this book. I loved the characters Of Detective Sargent Luka Jericho and Leah Wright . I am looking forward to the next book in this series and will certainly recommend this author CJ Lyons to my book club friends

This is an outstanding start for a new series. A doctor returns home from a long shift to find her husband tortured and dead, and her 6 year old daughter hiding.
A mystery that kept me guessing to the end.
I will keep an eye out for others in this series!

This book starts of with immediate action- Leah, a doctor, goes home from work on Valentine's Day to find her husband horrifically murdered. The rest of the book centers around trying to find out what happened, and alternates between Leah's POV as well as the detective on the case, Luka.

Though the book starts out with a bang, many of the chapters told from Leah's point of view dragged as the story went on. I grew tired of reading about Emily and how traumatized she was- I felt like the point had been made. I also didn't understand some of the decisions Leah made, and could not believe that it took her so long to catch on to who was doing this to her. I found it unlikely that someone who was smart enough to become a doctor was not smart enough to figure out what is going on.

I did enjoy the Luka chapters, and liked him as a person, though thought his relationship with his sister was really sad. His decisions made sense to me and he felt like a believable, albeit flawed, character.

Though I had figured out who the villain was, it took me longer to figure out exactly why, and the end of the story was fast-paced and tied up all the loose ends. The premise does require the reader to suspend their disbelief a bit, but it's an interesting concept.

Overall, this book was just OK to me, primarily due to my dislike of the main character, Leah. The story itself was an interesting concept that lacked a little bit in execution but was overall a decent read. Thanks to Netgalley for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Fast paced,exciting thriller with some complex,interesting characters.Had almost worked it out but not all the details. Look forward to more.

I have been a long time reader of C.J. Lyons, her books are always in my "have to read" stack. She blew me out of the water with this new series! I starting reading at bedtime, I was so enthralled in the story ,next thing I knew it was 3am as I was turning the last page on my Kindle. The story was compelling, captivating, suspenseful, heart wrenching, all the good stuff you want in a crime thriller. Her characters were intense, diverse and complex, they had you roped into the story, going through their highs and lows with them. Excited to see where book two will lead us.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advanced copy of the book.
#Netgalley
#TheNextWidow

4/5🌟 #TheNextWidow
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Definitely a great start to new series. I truly enjoyed reading this book and cannot wait for the next one of these series.
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Kept me on the edge of my seat from the very beginning until the end. Wonderful development of characters and the writing style is so on point!
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One point off the overall score as the ending was quite easily guessed, then again, it really didn’t bother me and I enjoyed the book nevertheless.
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Thank you #NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Netgalley, Bookouture and CJ Lyons for this copy.

A very gripping story, a very edge of your seat read. Some parts dragged on a bit but other than that, very enjoyable. I'm looking forward to reading more in this series. I don't want to give too much away in this review so I'll be writing a more comprehensive review through my instagram page.

I will be purchasing this book when it's released.

Good book, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Well written, a real page turner, some very tense, anxious moments.

Thank you to Netgalley and Bookouture for the arc of The Next Widow by C.J Lyons.

Also thank you to C.J Lyons for writing such a gripping book.

This follows a girl named Leah who works late at the local hospital she works at, she ends up going home after her long shift she is excited to see her husband and a surprise in which he hints at? but what is this surprise.....? As flowers were left at the hospital reception for her! was this a romantic gesture as its Valentines day?

She heads home and gets to the house to see that the back door of their house is slightly ajar open and it is not locked which is strange? She has a feeling something bad has happened or is going to until..... she spots the sight of blood😱😱😱... then her nexts thoughts are about her husband and daughter... but where are they? and are they safe or not is the question.....

This book I really enjoyed and was such a page turner and gripping and so gritty I loved who the story progressed with all its twists turns and mysteries.

Well done C.J Lyons, will review on amazon or other retail sites when published

Definitely recommend this book
5 Stars⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

When Leah returns home to a blood filled house and her daughter hiding under the bed her world implodes. Who would cause such devastation to her and why? Luka Jericho is the detective investigating the case and more fingers pointed to Leah being the one in the firing line.
I really enjoyed this start to a series (I hope)
Great characters and a good read. Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

Really enjoyed this newest from CJ Lyons. Some parts dragged a little bit, but overall an enjoyable mystery/thriller. I would recommend this to anyone who likes this genre and I look forward to the next one in the series.

Thank you #netgalley and #bookouture for this eARC.

would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this gripping novel....

from the first chapter right till the last one you are hooked....and i am a big fan of cj lyons but this book is something else

leah is working late at the hospital where she is a doctor, after her shift ends she goes home in anticipation of seeing her husband and and finding out what the surprise is that her husband hints at...after all it is valentines day and a bouquet of flowers have been left for her at reception...


but the backdoor not locked and slightly open brings all sorts of foreboding and then the first sight of blood and her thoughts are for her husband and her daughter...where are they and are they safe...

wow what a rollercoaster of a ride this book is...red herrings galore brilliantly written and keeps you on your toes...

keep an eye out for this author and what a beginning to a new series..cant wait for the next book

This is the first book that I have read by CJ Lyons, The Next Widow is the first in a series by the author. Wow, this book grabbed my attention from the first chapter, it was so well written and kept me guessing till the end. I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves a good thriller, you won’t be disappointed. Can’t wait for the second book, am definitely going to read it. Thanks Netgalley for this ARC.

This is a real difficult book for me to review as I did enjoy it in parts but I found it very hard to connect with the characters especially that of Leah who I didn’t like at all. The plot line started off ok but I felt that it gradually seem to fall away and I found myself losing interest. I had suspected who the perpetrator was quite early on so the ending sadly was no surprise for me and I think perhaps others may enjoy the book more. The writing was was good and as this is the first of a series I will give any further books a try as perhaps this just wasn’t the right time for me to read this one as I know many of us as struggling with concentration in these difficult times. So a three star read and many thanks to the author.
My thanks also to NetGalley and Bookouture for giving me the chance to read the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

This is the first C J Lyons book that I have read. I loved it, it kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time. I read it is one day. I really enjoyed the story line and the characters

I received a copy of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley.

I liked this less and less the further I got into it. Leah's husband Ian is horrifically murdered in their home, but their daughter Emily is discovered unharmed hiding under her bed. There were chapters from Leah's perspective, which were dull and repetitive and made worse for me because I didn't really like Leah and none of her decisions made sense to me. Then there were chapters from the perspective of Jericho, the police detective, which were much more interesting and fast-moving.

All the characters seemed to be involved an a competition to have the most dysfunctional family and the identity of the baddie was pretty obvious to me, although the convoluted motivation and frankly sci-fi realm methods employed were a bit of a strain on my credulity.

Disappointing.