“Dolly Rawlins stood in her kitchen ironing the shirt collar and cuffs she had carefully starched, just the way Harry always liked them.”

From Lynda La Plante’s Widows.

Dolly Rawlins knows that her husband Harry is a smart criminal that manages to lead a successful life both as a thief and loving husband because he never mixes the two worlds.  However, when a job goes wrong and Harry and two other members of his four-man team are killed while trying to rob an armored car, Dolly’s world comes crashing down.  Suddenly, Dolly is a widow being heavily pursued by a police detective with a grudge (Resnick) and criminals (the Fisher brothers) looking to take over Harry’s old criminal dealings; she decides to do the only thing that will allow her to be free from almost all her troubles: pick up where Harry left off and rob an armored car.  In need of a crew, Dolly turns to the other two widows left from Harry’s failed heist (Linda and Shirley) and a street-smart hooker (Bella) offering them a chance at instant wealth.  While connected to crime, the widows are new to actually committing such a high-profile crime, but by following Harry’s plan they are able to steadily bring everything together.  As the heist draws closer, the women are plagued at every step by criminal lowlifes, relentless police, and the question of what happened to the mysterious fourth man that survived Harry’s last failed heist. 

While this book takes a bit to get going, the action of the story as a whole make it almost impossible to put down.  It is interesting to watch both the characters and the plan for the heist develop as the story progresses, but the twists in the story really make the book; the characters are believable, realistic, and easy to connect with.  The inspiration for the movie of the same name, Widows is a exciting read that is satisfying from practically start to finish.