‘The War Widow’ by Tara Moss

Published by Verve Books,
7 March 2024.
ISBN: 978-0-85730867-2 (PBO)

Journalist Billie Walker is back home in Sydney Australia after spending the War years in Europe.  It is now 1946 and Billie is struggling to come to terms with the disappearance of her husband Jack and the loss of her father who after a career in the Police Force became a Private Investigator in Sydney. 

Billie finds that her reporting skills are being undermined by the prioritising of jobs for returning soldiers and decides to reopen her father's investigation agency.  After the usual run of cheating husbands and routine investigation work Billie is given the task of finding a young man who has gone missing. 

The ensuing drama and danger involved in this chase to discover the whereabouts of the young man is really thrilling and the story is enhanced by the secondary characters  - Billie's secretary and assistant Sam, her aristocratic mother Ella and a host of criminals, police officers and damaged war veterans. 

The atmosphere of 1946 is beautifully created not least by the careful descriptions of Billie's stylish clothes and an attention to period detail.  The action involves breathtaking car chases, an uncovering of horrific abuse of Aboriginal girls and stolen property from Jewish people in Europe at the time of the Holocaust. 

A clever and intriguing book which I feel would make a great film.  I can thoroughly recommend this book as a great read!
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Reviewer: Toni Russell

Tara Moss is an internationally bestselling author, human rights activist, documentary host, and model. Her crime novels have been published in nineteen countries and thirteen languages, and her memoir, The Fictional Woman, was a #1 international bestseller. She is a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and has received the Edna Ryan Award for significant contributions to feminist debate and for speaking out for women and children, and in 2017 she was recognized as one of the Global Top 50 Diversity Figures in Public Life.

Toni Russell is a retired teacher who has lived in London all her life and loves the city.  She says, ‘I enjoy museums, galleries and the theatre but probably my favourite pastime is reading.  I found myself reading detective fiction almost for the first time during lockdown and have particularly enjoyed old fashioned detective fiction rather than the nordic noir variety.  I am a member of a book club at the local library and have previously attended literature classes at our local Adult Education Centre.