A fantastic 4-star thriller which offers a whirlwind reading experience, meet Black Widows by Cate Quinn.

Even that tagline – “His wife killed him. The question is: which one?” – SOLD.

The plot:

Blake Nelson moved into a hidden stretch of land – a raw paradise in the wilds of Utah – where he lived with his three wives:

Rachel, the chief wife, obedient and doting to a fault.
Tina, the other wife, who is everything Rachel isn’t.
And Emily, the youngest wife, who knows little else.

When their husband is found dead under the desert sun, the questions pile up. But none of the widows know who would want to kill a good man like Blake.

Or, at least, that’s what they’ll tell the police…

The plot – HECK YES

This book has my name written alllllllll over it. All it took was 1 word and that was it, nothing was going to get in my way of finishing it in one sitting.

Firstly, the plot – HECK YES. You get the main gist from the blurb, but there’s so much more than meets the eye. A lot of it is to do around religion, so pre-warning for that (it does seem fairly technical in the beginning), but I loved how this book unraveled.

Chapters are short, usually between 3-5 pages, and it’s also split between the three wives. I seldom like when these chapters are split, but I LOVED it here. You get a huge insight into the wives, and they have such distinct voices that you can clearly distinguish between them and see their points of view. You’re also constantly changing your opinions on them, adding to that thriller effect – you just don’t know who to believe and chapters ending where you *must* read on to find out what happens.

Now, I wouldn’t say this is predictable, as the way it’s written wonderfully throws you off the scent – big props to Quinn for this, as it’s something I didn’t realise until 300-odd pages in. Is it jaw-dropping? Hmm. This is a big debate I’ve had with myself, because I didn’t gasp and sorta knew it, but then did I? It makes sense, but not mind-blowing in its arrival.

One minor reason this didn’t make it to that 5-star rating is that I do think it could’ve been 50-pages shorter. Due to the mixed voices, I did feel like I was going around in circles a bit, and just wanted to get to the climax. I do see why this was done though!

I also wish that the ending, although really well done, could’ve been linked back to one aspect which would’ve just been the icing on the cake for me.

The voices, and the way this played out, will definitely stay with me.

An incredible thriller.

Black Widows, Cate Quinn, RRP £12.99 (hardback); Book Depository 

Pages: 429

Publisher: Orion

Genre: Thriller