Lead Review (The War Widow)
- Book: The War Widow
- Location: Sydney
- Author: Tara Moss
In The War Widow, by Tara Moss, the main character, Billie Walker, is a Private Investigator in post-world-war-two Australia. She is also an elegant dresser, a sassy and brave heroine, almost flirtatious, and bright enough to outwit the cleverest villain. Billie spent the war as a journalist, reporting from European cities as the enemy advanced. There she met and married Jack, but he was lost and she became the war widow of the title. Having returned to Sydney, Billie took up the reins of her late father’s PI agency. She hopes to keep the family fortunes afloat, as her aristocratic mother is reduced to selling family heirlooms to keep herself in the style to which she has been accustomed.
Work is sometimes hard to find for Billie but a Sydney businesswoman, also struggling to make ends meet, comes and asks her to find her son, who is missing. Adin Brown seems to have vanished without a trace, but the clues lead to a dance hall so Billie and her handsome secretary, Sam Baker, dress up in their finest regalia in order to investigate. It becomes apparent that this case is about much more than just a missing young person, and Billie and Sam find themselves in real danger.
Billie is a fantastic, modern woman in a man’s world – her character just leaps off the pages. From her Fighting Red lipstick and tilt hat to her sapphire jewellery it is evident that she’s a lady. And yet… her masculine conduct, and her resemblance to her gun-toting PI father, alarms both polite society and the criminals she pursues. This is a bold and determined lead character who is clever and can handle herself in a fight. She is also unconventional for the period, not just because she is working in a male role, but also because she is employing a man.
The plot proceeds at a fairly leisurely pace at first, establishing the characters and setting the scene. The book is nevertheless stylish and engaging, as indicated by the stunning cover graphics, and so we read on. And it is well worth persevering, as elements of a sub-plot are revealed and Billie’s investigation becomes even more intriguing. The author has no compunction about getting Billie involved in violent situations, some characters are bumped off and there is real peril for the key actors. Set against the drama is a certain amount of romantic tension between Billie and some of the male characters. If she were a man, she would be described as a ladies’ man!
Billie Walker is a brilliant character and I am happy to read that she features in a second novel, this time set in Paris and London.
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