The Virgin Widow

Izzy Trotter is preparing to marry a perfect man. Carlton Trace is educated, rich, charming and generous. Izzy has saved herself for marriage. When Carl is murdered shortly after their wedding, by the way they never consummated, Izzy discovers her perfect workaholic fiancée has quite a few skeletons in his closet. He is actually deep in debt and has a love hate relationship with his brother. The plot thickens when Carl leaves everything to Izzy including his debt. Her hot shot lawyer sister Satchel explains Carl's will and begins an investigation. Between the pair they discover Carl has a mistress and a love child. His murderer framed his mistress and tried to frame Izzy. When the drama clears all of Carl's secrets are discovered including the identity of his son and his mother and who murdered him. I loved the twists and turns of the plot! It was not at all expected or predictable. I wanted Izzy to be stronger. It was really refreshing. I was expecting a "Jesus Piece" by the title. It ended up being more of a thriller. Reviewed by: Courtney L. Owens RWA Bookclub [...]

Twenty six year old virgin and blushing bride, Izzy Trotter is taken on a jolting roller coaster ride of emotions and scandal after her husband Carl Trace is murdered the night of their wedding. . . by his mistress! Up until his death Carl was the proprietor of the only African American owned hotel in Atlanta, the Shelby. Now it is in Izzy's hands but she has difficulty handling it while shocking revelations about her late husband are brought to the forefront. It appears as if the killer emerges from the launch of this novel but we can't be so sure. There seems to be a new twist revealed in every chapter which is unlike any piece of fiction I have ever read so it certainly held my attention. This twenty first century murder mystery is fast paced and unexpectedly exciting! The debt Carl leaves Izzy with is astounding so she makes a deal with his wealthy mistress behind bars, who claims to be innocent. If she forks over the money then Izzy's sister, high profile lawyer Satchel will defend her. Also, Izzy being a virgin widow strikes the city as enormous news and is plastered all over the newspapers along with Carl's death. Not only do we get to follow her unearthing unorthodox ways to pay off her major newfound debt, but in addition we get to throughly observe her in her interestingly pristine quest to finally lose her virginity. This novel definitely surprised me. It was sitting on my bookshelf collecting dust for months when I finally forced myself to read it. As soon as I started I couldn't put it down! I am kicking myself for not reading it sooner and am now planning to buy every other work by this author.

OK. I have to admit that I don't read very much fiction AND I tend to read books backwards. I started this book at the end and was so intrigued that I ended up going back, and back, and back until I had read the whole thing! The storyline is definitely an modern urban murder mystery. The main character is a young African American virgin who has fallen in love and married the man of her dreams. On her wedding night, he is killed. In revealing the murderer, you are introduced to a cast of very interesting characters, some who are her friends, some would have been her relatives. I kept thinking that I knew who the murderer was and was totally blown away by the result. Even though I had read the book from the end, I missed it. Nice read for a cold Saturday night. I will look for more from this author.