I had so much fun reading BLACK WIDOWS. Everything about it is simply terrific --- from the descriptions, characterizations and pacing to the structure of the novel and the mystery that pulses at the heart of the story from beginning to end.

Author Cate Quinn notes elsewhere that she wrote BLACK WIDOWS in a very different manner from her other books, but what she does here is extremely surefooted. The narrative ping-pongs among three women. Rachel, Tina and Emily have very little in common, except that they share Blake Nelson, their husband. The four of them belong to a fundamentalist and outlawed branch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS). Their home is far off the beaten path, some distance from Salt Lake City, Utah.

"Everything about [BLACK WIDOWS] is simply terrific --- from the descriptions, characterizations and pacing to the structure of the novel and the mystery that pulses at the heart of the story from beginning to end."

Rachel is the First Wife, an old soul in a twentysomething body, the homemaker and housekeeper who attempts to keep the mechanics of the family working. Emily is a sister-wife. She is too young, to put it mildly, but is not as naive as she might seem. Tina is the polar opposite of Rachel, a recovering addict with an interesting background and a skill set acquired on the streets of Las Vegas. She is not what you would think of as a typical LDS wife.

Things are hardly chummy among this trio as the book opens, and quickly become less so when Blake’s mutilated body is discovered on the homestead property by a passing motorist. It is clear to everyone --- from the three women and his family to the law enforcement personnel tasked with investigating the murder --- that one of Blake’s three wives did him in. As we hear from each spouse and get a new piece of the puzzle concerning Blake, it is obvious that he pretty much deserved the ending he received. Accordingly, we sympathize with Rachel, Tina and Emily, even when they turn their not-so-friendly fire on each other.

Each woman has a backstory that is tragic at best (Emily) and horrific at worst (Rachel), which explains to some degree why they wound up in their respective situations. These accounts are almost as fascinating as the mystery itself. The narrators are unreliable to varying degrees, so much so that when one of them confesses to the murder early on, readers are hard-pressed to believe her but find themselves doubting their doubt. The revelation of whodunit maintains the high standard attained by all that has gone before.

I did not know anything about Cate Quinn prior to reading BLACK WIDOWS. Her descriptions coupled with my own visits to Utah and encounters with its citizens led me to assume that she is or was a resident and has at least a nodding experience with LDS culture. The fact that Quinn is British and has never even visited the state makes the book a monument to her research skills, as well as her ability to incorporate what she has found into this mesmerizing tale that is all but impossible to put down.