The Black Widow: The true crime book of the year

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It's too bad the author had no idea what she's talking about because she had an interesting premise for a mystery novel.

From internationally bestselling author Christopher Brookmyre, Black Widow tells the potent story of a woman who thought she was too late for love, the man who falls for her ambition, and the secret selves that are poised, at any moment, to end everything.Yet it takes only hours for her life to crumble when her personal details are released on the internet as revenge for her writing. Finance is provided by PayPal Credit (a trading name of PayPal UK Ltd, Whittaker House, Whittaker Avenue, Richmond-Upon-Thames, Surrey, United Kingdom, TW9 1EH). A crime novelist with a flair for psychological thrillers tinged with a wicked pinch of black comedy, Chris (Christopher) Brookmyre made his name with a series of novels featuring detective Jack Parlabane (a character he said he based in part on Douglas Adams’ Ford Prefect). The actions I took in pursuit of my desires, to better my lot and to extricate myself from an intolerable situation, these were unforgivable, depraved. I do think the author did a really good job setting up the creepy premise, though, and there's not even that much bloodshed.

FREDDIE FOREMAN If you think you know everything about the East End's toughest gangsters, think again.Growing up in the East End of London, Linda falls in with local gangsters including the Krays, Freddie Foreman and Ronnie Cook. It is a slow burn of a story, with the past of each wife being revealed through chapters of alternative points of view. After 18 years behind bars alongside notorious names including Rose West and Myra Hindley, she is released. I’m not sure what the author should have done differently – perhaps it was taking too long to dole out the information?

The creator of high-octane, deliciously brash thrillers usually featuring no-nonsense investigative journalist Jack Parlabane, Brookmyre is also an accomplished satirist, at home skewering political and institutional authority.

It soon becomes apparent that there is tension between the wives and that they do not trust one another and are quite happy to point the finger. Brookmyre builds layers of intrigue like a chef crafting a multilayer cake, with each layer providing another tantalizing clue or red herring to keep readers guessing. I can see through the tangled threads enough to know that every bit of bad luck my friends have been having lately is no accident—and that each unfortunate “coincidence” is just one more arrow drawing ever closer to hitting the real bull’s-eye. I intentionally read a couple of Christmas mysteries during the Christmas season… and I absolutely loved it.