Widows’ Revenge
Reviewed By Ian Banks April 8, 2019
Author Linda La Plante
Distributor: Allen and Unwin
ISBN: 9781785768286
Publisher: Bonnier/Zaffre
Release Date: February 2019
Website: https://www.allenandunwin.com
Following on from Widows, originally published in 1983, Widows Revenge takes things one step further when the three women, Dolly Rawlins, who husband was a respected master criminal and mastermind of the robbery gone wrong, Shirley Miller and Linda Pirelli, decided to get even and stage a heist to end all heists.
They, along with new recruit Bella O’Reilly set out to complete the final plan drafted by Harry before his death, that of a security van robbery, but while going through Harry’s papers Bella finds the address for Jimmy Nunn, so she decides to pay him a visit. She discovers far more than she ever really wanted to know, which completely changes the rationale for the planned heist; it is now nothing but pure revenge that is the motivating force.
The four women pull off the heist and flee to Rio in the knowledge that they outwitted the Master himself, Harry Rawlins. The scales are balanced, or are they? But Harry is far from dead. When learns what has happened, his ego takes a devastating blow, and he sets out to discover just where Dolly and the others have gone!
And so, the storyline is set for another thriller of a novel from the Queen of crime writing Linda La Plante as she carefully plays out what happens next when the four women head back to London, intending to reclaim the remainder of het hidden money, and then go their own way.
However, Harry is furious he has been outsmarted, his bank accounts cleaned out; he wants revenge and is none too fussy about how he takes that revenge. He slowly pieces together where they have gone and so a very dangerous game begins.
Who will survive and who will not, is to be discovered as it is a ‘kill or be killed’ situation that finally plays out with surprising results!
The Afterword ties so much together turning what is obviously a well-crafted plot into something which could indeed be very real!
A gripping read that is best read after reading or rereading Widows, as it gives a lot more clarity to the Widows Revenge.