The Widower

'The Widower seethes with atmosphere - I read the first half slowly, almost unable to bear the thrumming tension, and the second half at full pelt. Haunting and heart-wrenching, this book is reminiscent of Daphne Du Maurier' - Observer

He promised, until death do us part.

When bossy, loving, sensible Kate dies suddenly, her little sister Rose dutifully returns from a carefree life abroad to help Kate's widower and the two children Rose has never met. But she is unsettled to see no trace of her warm-hearted sister in the remote, dilapidated house, nor in Kate's cold, distant partner, Evan.

After stumbling across a message that only her sister could have left for her, Rose's unease around the circumstances of Kate's death turns to open suspicion, but she knows better than to ask the grieving widower for answers.

Determined to discover the truth of her sister's terrible last days, Rose has no choice but to keep looking. Eventually, she senses, the dark house will give up its secrets. But she is not prepared to admit that whoever threatened Kate's life might now be coming after her...

Praise for Christobel Kent and her novels:

'A highly superior slice of domestic noir' Mail on Sunday

'Spooky, gripping and affecting' Louise Doughty, author of Apple Tree Yard

'Echoes of Christie and du Maurier' Sunday Times

'Beautifully tense' Clare Mackintosh, author of I Let You Go

'Gorgeous evocative writing' Erin Kelly, author of He Said She Said

“Christobel Kent is one of our most assured thriller writers. The Loving Husband is a perfectly paced and plotted novel - Good HousekeepingPacked with well-drawn characters, full of atmosphere, twists, turns and menace, this dark psychological chiller has an ending that leaves the heart pounding - Choice on The Loving HusbandThe escalating fear in this female-in-jeopardy gripper is balanced with real emotional heft - Sunday Times on The Day She Disappeared”

Christobel Kent is one of our most assured thriller writers. The Loving Husband is a perfectly paced and plotted novel - Good Housekeeping

Packed with well-drawn characters, full of atmosphere, twists, turns and menace, this dark psychological chiller has an ending that leaves the heart pounding - Choice on The Loving Husband

The escalating fear in this female-in-jeopardy gripper is balanced with real emotional heft - Sunday Times on The Day She Disappeared

Christobel Kent was born in London and educated at Cambridge. She has lived variously in Essex, London and Italy. Her childhood included several years spent on a Thames sailing barge in Maldon, Essex with her father, stepmother, three siblings and four step-siblings. She now lives in both Cambridge and Florence with her husband and five children.

The atmospheric, chilling new novel from the Sunday Times bestselling author of Richard and Judy pick The Loving Husband Rose Bateman comes to an isolated house: a great echoing house alone on the Essex marshes, a house on what is almost an island at certain stages of the tide. A Victorian rectory, the church it once served long no more than a pile of rubble with rooms too big for its few inhabitants, a grand dining room, a drawing room, an overgrown verandah. A house where a woman has died, untended, isolated, in an upper room as the fog rolled in. A woman who died calling for help.She has come to look after her dead sister's family - a widower and children that she has never met. But as things unfold, she realises not all is as it seems in the dark, spooky house - and doesn't know who to trust.

This item is eligible for free returns within 30 days of delivery. See our returns policy for further details.