The Grass Widow

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Pub Date Aug 28 2023 | Archive Date Dec 19 2023

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Description

Ditched by her married lover Hugh on the day she was made redundant, Leonie plans to make life difficult for Hugh while she searches for a new job. She inveigles her way into his house as a cleaner, intending to plant fake clues to his new liaison for his wife Amanda to find. But instead she discovers real clues to Amanda’s secrets.

Meanwhile, fellow cleaners Brenda and Tina also have hidden agendas as they work: Brenda is counting on a spot of blackmail and Tina is looking for financial information to sell to her dodgy brother-in-law.

At the centre of this web is Amanda’s gardener Simon: handsome, ruthless and plausible, with a shady past and lofty ambitions.

A death in an apparent accident arouses Leonie’s suspicions. Can she put aside her animosity towards Amanda and use her impressive – if sometimes unorthodox – investigative skills to find the truth before someone else dies?

Ditched by her married lover Hugh on the day she was made redundant, Leonie plans to make life difficult for Hugh while she searches for a new job. She inveigles her way into his house as a cleaner...


A Note From the Publisher

Vanessa Edwards is a retired lawyer and legal translator. The Grass Widow is her first novel; an earlier version (Some Like It Cold) was long listed for the Bath Novel Award 2019 and short listed for the Impress Prize for New Writers 2019 and the Retreat West Novel Prize 2019.

Vanessa Edwards is a retired lawyer and legal translator. The Grass Widow is her first novel; an earlier version (Some Like It Cold) was long listed for the Bath Novel Award 2019 and short listed for...


Available Editions

EDITION Ebook
ISBN 9781805146469
PRICE £4.99 (GBP)
PAGES 416

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Average rating from 3 members


Featured Reviews

The Grass Widow is an engaging and suspenseful novel that guides readers on a thrilling passage through Leonie, Hugh, Amanda, and other interesting people’s lives. The tragedy starts at Leonie’s end when she is devastated and jobless following the separation from her married partner. Resolute to retaliate and discover meaning in her life again, Leonie decides to intrude into Hugh’s domain, masquerading as a cleaner.

Nevertheless, the more bottomless Leonie plunges into her endeavor, the more she unwittingly finds out about Amanda’s closely held secrets. The unforeseen twist deepens the complicated storyline by captivating readers and having them anxiously turn over the pages to reveal who Amanda is.

Brenda and Tina are other fellow cleaners who also have a hidden agenda of their own, just like that of Leonie. Leonie’s motivations begin to interact more and more with other characters as the story progresses, creating an atmosphere of suspense and mystery, which keeps readers curious until the last moment.

A dramatic event leads to a tragic death that questions the innocence of the characters involved in it. Leonie hated Amanda for a while, but this is precisely why she needed to get over it and get down to discovering the truth and saving further tragedies. This internal struggle enhances Leonie’s character since it involves her emotions, even though she tries to be objective.

In turn, the author cleverly develops each character, presenting them with sufficient shades for the reader to thoroughly get entangled in their life. The characters have a life of their own. Leonie’s will to survive is impressive. Who is this mysterious character, Hugh? Why is Amanda so strange?

The Grass Widow has an exciting storyline with correctly portrayed main characters and unpredictable twists, thus making it worth reading until the last page. Such suspense and tension steadily grow in the story, making it unavoidable. The story would hook readers as they ponder whether to unravel Amanda’s secret desires or uphold the call for justice.

To sum up, “The Grass Widow” is an excellent novel that portrays the issues revolving around revenge, secrets, and how far people can go to discover purpose in life. I adored this book, and I highly recommend it.

Thank you to Troubador, Matador and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review this book.

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What a thrilling mystery/thriller with female characters. This author was able to create an exciting mystery without making it a police focused book that so many mysteries have a tendency to do, and I really appreciate that.

Vanessa Edwards has an immense talent and I'm looking forward to her next book.

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A brilliant mystery thriller with a fantastic main character. I thoroughly enjoyed this and I could have never seen the twists in this story. Brilliant. Highly recommended xx

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