The Widow tells the story of hairdresser Jean Taylor, dutiful wife of Glen Taylor. Glen was charged -- but never convicted -- of kidnapping a toddler named Bella from her backyard. Following a nationwide search, Glen is charged, and jailed, but he is aquitted due to lack of hard evidence.

After his release, Glen and Jean are virtual shut-ins, hounded by the tabloid reporters and shunned and taunted by the neighbors. Jean keeps the house tidy and pops pills to stay "Jeannie" and to forget about "his nonsense", when Glen retreats to his study to download porn or chat with Little Miss Sunshine in his online chat groups. Their life comes to a sudden halt, though, when Glen is hit by a bus one morning while out shopping for their weekly groceries. The tabloid press descend on Jean's home, hoping she will finally come clean and tell them whether her husband killed Bella, and where the body lies.

The Widow is told from three viewpoints, Jean Taylor's (the widow), Bob Sparkes (the lead detective investigating the case) and Kate Waters (a reporter for a paper who interviews Jean). Each chapter is flagged either "The Widow", "The Reporter" or "The Detective".

I think a lot of people will find this book too slow-moving, but I think the slow grind and the inability to convict Glen is true to life, since so many times in child abductions the killer is never caught and the body is never found.

The author Fiona Barton is a career journalist, and this is her first novel. Her portrayal of the reporter and the rest of the press corps is not flattering -- Bella is just a story, and one that will be profitable for their paper and good for their careers. I like that she didn't pull any punches, and casts a weary eye on the press, the lawyers and the police in equal measures.

My only criticism is I'm not sure that the motivations of the characters are well-understood, but in some ways, that is probably realistic too.

...to van Biohazard