The Widows: A Novel (The Kinship Series, 1)

Inspired by the true story of Ohio’s first female sheriff, Jess Montgomery’s powerful, lyrical debut is the story of two women who take on murder and corruption at the heart of their community.

Kinship, Ohio, 1924: When Lily Ross learns that her husband, Daniel, the town’s widely respected sheriff, has been killed while transporting a prisoner in an apparent accident, she vows to seek the truth about his death.

Hours after his funeral, a stranger appears at her door. Marvena Whitcomb, a coal miner’s widow, is unaware that Daniel has died and begs to speak with him about her missing daughter.

From miles away but worlds apart, Lily’s and Marvena’s lives collide as they realize that Daniel was perhaps not the man that either of them believed him to be.

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Jess Montgomery (Author)

JESS MONTGOMERY is the author of the Kinship Historical Mystery series, inspired by a true-life 1920s female sheriff in Appalachia. Under Jess's given name, she is a columnist for Writer's Digest, "Level Up Your Writing (Life)," and for the Dayton Daily News, focusing on the literary life, authors and events of her native Dayton, Ohio.

Her first novel in the Kinship Historical Mystery series, THE WIDOWS, won the Readers' Choice in Fiction for the 2019 Ohioana Awards. Jess is a three-time recipient of the Individual Excellence Award in Literary Arts from the Ohio Arts Council, and has been a John E. Nance Writer in Residence at Thurber House (Columbus, Ohio).

She lives in her native Ohio, and in addition to writing, loves spending time with family and friends, reading, crocheting, baking (especially pies), spoiling her cats and houseplants, hiking and occasionally fishing.