An Ambush of Widows

At the start of this taut thriller from bestseller Abbott (Never Ask Me), Kirsten North, a New Orleans freelance researcher, believes her husband, Henry, a software consultant specializing in computer security, is in New York City on a business trip. Then she gets a call from Henry’s phone that’s not from him. The indistinct voice, whose gender is unclear, informs Kirsten that Henry has been fatally shot in Austin, Tex., then hangs up. An online search yields a press report that two men were found shot to death in an Austin warehouse two days earlier. Only one victim has been identified: entrepreneur Adam Zhang. Fearing that Henry’s killer may have been the anonymous caller, the distraught Kirsten hops the first flight to Austin, unaware that her seatmate is shadowing her. After identifying her husband’s corpse in the county morgue, Kirsten begins digging on her own into the baffling tragedy. She later joins forces with Adam’s widow, Flora, even though she suspects Flora of being behind the murders. Abbott adroitly shifts perspectives to raise the suspense. Lisa Unger fans will be pleased. Agent: Peter Ginsberg, Curtis Brown. (July)