After loving The Doctor's wife last year, I couldn't wait to read this book.
It follows Fern having murdered her cheating husband and framing his lover, Alice for the crime and what comes next. It's hard to say too much as I don't want to give anything away but I was gripped and was intrigued if Fern would get found out.
I'm looking forward to reading the next book to see how Alice and Fern develop.
4 stars

The Doctor’s Widow (The Doctor’s Wife Book 2) by Daniel Hurst

Fern loved her husband Doctor Drew Devlin, but Drew had an affair. Drew was dead now and the secret should be safe until Fern met Roger.

Drew didn’t forgive the betrayal of her late husband. No lies anymore. When she met Roger, she felt his transparency. But what if she’s wrong? Fern trusted Roger and they fell in love shortly. Until one night Roger told Fern something that she knew the secret was not a secret anymore.

The twist and the smartly written story plot created the whole tension. This is one of the most enjoyable thrillers I have ever read (listened to). The narrators were letting all the character alive. Fern was a likable character even what she’s done…!

I truly look forward to the Book 3..!

Many thanks to NetGalley, bookouture audio and Daniel Hurst for the audiobook.

Format: Audiobook (6h54m)
Pub date: Aug 23, 2023

The king of twists, Daniel Hurst, returns following The Doctor's Wife (#1) with the followup in the Doctor's Wife series #2, THE DOCTOR'S WIDOW.

A doctor's wife gets away with murder, and now someone is on to her. Will he attain the evidence to put her away before The Black Widow strikes again in this latest wicked game of cat-and-mouse?

We met Fern in the last book—a dangerous, manipulative murderer - a psycho femme fatale out for revenge, killing her Doctor husband Drew because he was unfaithful, framing his lover, Alice— now in prison. Alice's husband, Rory, got too close, and she took care of him as collateral damage.

Now she has met Roger, a new guy at a bar. He is handsome, charming, attentive, and caring. Her friends and family like him. Fern was not planning on getting hooked on another man so soon after the murder of her husband. She does not want people to get suspicious. Roger is not a doctor; he is in sales with little money.

On the other hand, Fern has a lot of money since she collected it from Drew's life insurance. She is buying new cars, new clothes, and an expensive mansion with all the perks in an area with celebrities, the rich and famous. She is planning her parties and social events. She is delusional and crazy.

However, she does not know Roger is not his real name. It is Greg. Greg is a former cop, and he was a friend of Drews. He knows Fern killed Drew and set up Alice. Now all he needs is proof. To get close to her, get her drunk, make sure she trusts him, loosen her tongue, and record her.

Will Roger/Greg get the evidence before she strikes again? Or is he in danger? In the meantime, Alice is in prison, hoping someone will gather enough evidence to clear her name and release her.

Detective Tomlin is back on the case, determined to track down Fern so Alice can be released.

While the dangerous game of cat and mouse is played out, Alice and Fern each have new shocking surprises, leading us to a cliffhanger for possibly a #3 Doctor's Wife.

As always, Hurst keeps the twists coming with sociopath narcissistic characters that are shallow, greedy, and think they deserve it all, above the law. Fans will be looking forward to the next in the series to hopefully see Fern behind bars for good for some karma and justice.

Told from POV: Fern, Alice, Greg, and Tomlin. I hoped for more dark humor, as in Hurst's past books, to liven up Fern, Greg, Alice, and Tomlin's characters, especially Fern.

THE DOCTOR'S WIDOW is not a complex plot —it is more of a fun popcorn thriller for entertainment purposes and not to be taken too seriously. There were not a lot of likable characters here. From greed, obsession, lies, deceit, and murder. For fans of Valerie Keogh's The Widow.

I read the e-book and listened to the audiobook narrated by Sarah Durham and Luke R. Francis for an entertaining performance for all voices.

Thanks to Bookouture and Hachette UK for a gifted ARC and ALC via NetGalley for an honest opinion.

Blog Review posted @
JudithDCollins.com
@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks
My Rating: 3.5 Stars
Pub Date: Aug 23, 2023
Aug 2023 Must-Read Books

I absolutely enjoyed The Doctor's Widow. A perfect continuation of book 1 (The Doctor's Wife).Full of suspense, a few unexpected twists and an ending that leaves the door wide open for a third book in the series. I finished it in a day and was disappointed for it to be over with no continuation to run to. Highly recommend and will be (im)patiently awaiting the next!

A book that stands out from the crowd. The characters and the setting are written exceptionally well. Loved the first book more but still enjoyed listening to this one….perhaps it’s being left open for a third one?

Many thanks to Net Galley and Bookuture for an audio copy of The Doctors Wife.

This is about a doctor's betrayal, and the cost of it. Lots of twists and turns in this one!

I loved the first book, The Doctors Wife so I was thrilled to see there was a sequel, especially with how the first book ended.

Spoilers for the first book. Fern finds out her husband Drew is having an affair. Fern plans and gets away with the perfect crime. She kills Drew and frames his mistress Alice. The book ends with Alice in jail but a friend of Drew sees Fern in a bar and approaches her.

This book opens and Fern is enjoying Drew’s life insurance money and dating “Roger”, the friend who approached her at the end of book one. Roger is on a mission to prove Fern killed Drew and framed Alice.

I liked this book but I did like the first one better. The first one moved fast and I couldn’t stop. This one was much slower and a lot less happened. It seemed like a setup for the third book which I am just going to name The Doctors Mistress, I really will be shocked if thats not the name.

I am looking forward to seeing where this series goes, I recommend starting at the beginning if you haven’t already.

I hate series' books. Just hate them. Except for Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child, I avoid them like the plague. I do not have enough bandwidth to retain the history of characters through multiple books, and remain invested in their wellbeing.

And along came Daniel Hurst.

I was fortunate to receive The Doctor's Wife as an audio arc a few weeks (months???) ago and loved it. Loved the premise, the characters, the consequences well earned from bad behavior. When I saw The Doctor's Widow on Netgalley, I didn't even realize it was a sequel and just assumed he had a "doctor" thing going on. Boy, am I glad I requested this one too. Hurst has succeeded where few authors have and made me want to know more.

The female main characters (wife and mistress, duh) both drew me in to their current predicaments and I listened to this 7 hour book over the course of a day. And, spoiler/no spoiler, it ended on a cliffhanger.

Oh, Daniel, why you gotta do me like this? I hope you are hard at work at book #3.

THE DOCTOR'S WIDOW, was a great story to keep me entertained for the day. I liked that it somewhat summarized what happened at the end of book 1 in the series to refresh my memory. As the story continued, I was not surprised to see Fern get her way, once again. She's a very unlikable character and I think she will eventually get what is coming to her. I found it interesting that Greg/Roger cared so much to get involved with Fern in the first place. Sometimes it is just better to keep out of other people's business. I really didn't care for Alice either, but I was happy to see she got some justice. The twist involving Alice leads me to believe there will be a third book. I am looking forward to seeing what will happen with both of these characters. If you enjoy a good thriller series, I think you'll enjoy this one.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for my gifted copy.

This review will be shared to my Instagram (@coffee.break.book.reviews) closer to the pub date.

This is a short book and while it’s worth reading it’s not as good as the first book. I found the storyline to be simply impossible. The video wouldn’t hold up in court so it makes zero sense that a wealthy women like Fern would run.

Having experienced the sequel through its audio format, I was hopeful for another captivating journey like the first book. However, I found myself struggling to connect with the story. While the initial book had its charm, the sequel seemed to lack the anticipated depth and unexpected turns. The audio narration itself was well-done and added a layer of engagement to the experience. Nevertheless, the open ending and the plot's lack of coherence left me wishing for more. It's apparent that the author's ideas were present, but they didn't seem to fully materialize in this installment. Despite this, I'm appreciative of the effort that went into the production and remain optimistic about the author's future works.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

This was a decent sequel and I really enjoyed the multiple points of view. Having the detective’s, Alice’s, Fern’s and Greg’s perspectives throughout the book really added to the thrill of the story. I was on the edge of my seat wondering if Fern would be caught. It was also interesting that the door was left open for a third book.

Fern loved her husband, Drew, but he betrayed her and now he's dead. She just bought a luxurious new home with his life insurance money, hoping for better days. Her new man, Roger is just what she needs right now: spontaneous, romantic, and, most of all, honest. Everything is perfect until he says something that makes her think he may know her secret...
This psychological thriller is the sequel to The Doctor's Wife. First person multiple POVs (Fern, Greg, Alice, Tomlin). Was the sequel necessary? No. Could it have been a short story or an extended epilogue? Absolutely. Did I still enjoy it? Yes. It's a quick and entertaining read if you are willing to suspend disbelief and to accept that the characters are one dimensional. A quick note: I am not against a little foreshadowing, but things like "Little did, I know, but I wasn't the only one" at the end of a chapter are so unoriginal and really annoy me. The characters motivations were weak (at best). The first part of the book was much more interesting than the second. And I was also expecting a more mind-blowing twist, instead of that kinda meh one... The narration of the audio book was great. With the ending, I figure there will be a third book in the series, which I will pick up because although it doesn't necessarily end on a cliff hanger, I'm curious to find out how Fern will get out of that one.
I received an advance review copy of this book for free, and I'm leaving this review voluntarily.