The Next Widow (Jericho and Wright #1) by C.J. Lyons

This first in a new series introduces Detective Sergeant Luka Jericho of the Cambria City Police Department and Dr. Leah Wright, a physician who works at Good Samaritan Medical Center in the Emergency Department. One night, while she was on duty, Leah's husband, Ian, is murdered at their home leaving behind their very frightened 6-year-old daughter, Emily, who had survived the massacre by hiding under her bed. With plenty of red herrings and only a tenuous guess at a motive for this terribly personal attack, the police start an investigation but are still looking very closely at Leah even as she only wants to protect her traumatized daughter. NO SPOILERS.

This was typical crime thriller genre fare that basically sets the stage for future installments. There are hints of backstory to the main characters, Luka and Leah, and though the author tries, I really didn't develop any attachment to either of them at this point. I am not a fan of a lot of angst and tell in a novel, and there's a lot of repetition of thoughts and feelings. I surely hope there will NOT be a romance here between the pair. I was able to guess immediately what was going on so it seemed like a long wait for the action in the story to catch up. I'm not convinced that I will continue on with this series as there was really nothing fresh and new within. It was a quick read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for this e-book ARC to read and review.

This is the first in a new series.

Genre - crime thriller, revenge, murder