This was a cover request for me. I highly recommend this unique thriller, really had me guessing and intrigued with the story and mystery in addition to who killed Blake. I also have lived in Utah and Las Vegas so I couldn't help but enjoy the setting.

We follow polygamist Blake, his homestead in Utah where he acquires 3 wives. In this story we follow the wives and figure out who killed Blake. The story unfolds as we get perspective from Rachel (the first wife). Tina (rebel from Vegas) and Emily (young wife). All three of these women have strong personalities that we see carry out in this story with secrets of their own. Blake is murdered, the only question is who did it? Or is it the only question?

I really enjoyed this unique thriller and found it fast paced and intriguing. I loved the women and the other plots that came into this story. It was a tad long for a thriller and found some parts to be repetitive. Like the reader forgot what was just said. I also realize this could be to articulate the story and background more so to connect you with the characters. This story had distinctive characters with great character development. What a wild ride that had me on the edge of my seat and guessing. My ebook had included a link to the history of the book and a reading group guide, which I absolutely loved!

Thank you to Netgalley, Sourcebooks Landmark Cate Quinn for this digital copy.

You'll be thinking of Sister Wives as you read this mystery! Set in remote Utah, a polygamous family with three very different wives is under the spotlight when the husband ends up murdered in a bizarre way. All three are dragged to the police station at one time or another, and although the youngest wife confesses, no one really buys her story. The story is told from the POV of the different wives in somewhat alternating chapters. Although all three are running from something that has led them to the current life they are living, the contrast in the characters of these three makes for a worthwhile read. There are a few parts that are distracting, but they do add to the unanswered questions that keep you guessing. Did not see the resolution in this one coming (which is always a good thing!). This is dark, but a quick read that kept me turning pages. Thank you NetGalley and publishers for providing a digital ARC for review.

The metal on the tip of the ax gleamed in the fading sunlight. She felt its weight on her shoulder as she carried it with her. The long grasses in the field swept around her ankles, gently reminding her of a softness she had forgotten about. She was close to the spot now. Just ahead was the location… a place she’d been searching for… graves.

Black Widows is a psychological thriller telling the story of a polygamous relationship and the three wives grieving the death of their husband, Blake. Told from the perspective of each wife, the reader is taken on a journey to discover who murdered Blake.

This book was absolutely wild and disturbing! The exploration of cults and polygamous relationships was fascinating, but also heartbreaking. The mystery surrounding Blake’s death was well fleshed out and the author gave everyone a motive to keep the reader guessing. The unraveling of each wife’s secrets also kept me entertained. This book starts off slow (and is a bit longer than it needs to be), but it’s definitely worth continuing, because by the halfway point I couldn’t put it down.

If you’re a fan of books about cults then I highly recommend reading this one, but please be careful as this book has many trigger warnings.

3.5 stars

This was an interesting thriller told from multiple POV of the wives in a polygamist relationship. I liked the shade that was thrown on each of the wives throughout the book, each time it would leave you wondering if this wife was the killer. I found the book a little bit long but I am also not sure how you could have pared down the story without losing integral information. I was able to guess who the killer was shortly before the reveal.

I would recommend this book to thriller fans.

Why am I so interested in polygamy? The author really dove into this concept and threw in some cult like vibes and this was really close to being an amazing read for me but it was too damn long.

I don't know why plural marriages fascinate me. It's not that I'm against them, but I just don't think it would work for me (well except the sharing the house work part). This book was excellent from start to finish. It sucked me in and never let go. I had an inkling from the beginning as to who had killed Blake, but it kept leading me off track. I will definitely be looking for books from this author in the future.

Blake is dead, his wife killed him but the question is which one?
This book had me turning pages, I could not stop reading. Once you start reading it sucks you right into the story. It is a slow burn of a story, with the past of each wife being revealed through chapters of alternative points of view. But it is so interesting and twisty that you just need to keep reading.

So which wife hated Blake the most? That is pretty much it... one of his 3 wives liked him very much and they don’t like each other either. Tensions certainly ran high in having three marriages. The women, Rachel, Tina and Emily, don’t trust each other and are quick to point the finger elsewhere. They all had their pasts, with secrets that would rather keep that way. It all comes to a thrilling conclusion and I loved it. Read it!

Thanks Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange. for an honest review.

This book is great! Would definitely recommend. Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

The premise had me intrigued from the moment I read it and it didn’t disappoint me. An exciting thriller that I recommend!

A murder mystery amongst polygamists. Who wouldn’t want to read that!? I thoroughly enjoyed this story about Blake and his three sister wives. There’s lots of surprise elements and extremely interesting characters.

This was a fascinating and exciting thriller for the first part of the book as we meet the three wives and learn their personalities and their roles in the marriage. The first wife was super creepy and a very devout LDS follower. It was so interesting to learn about some of the religious practices that I didn’t know about.

I did finish the book but it got very confusing as the story changed to more background on the husband, land rights, and a cult that the first wife was raised in.

A twisty, intriguing read by Cate Quinn. The title and synopsis of this book caught my attention right away, and i knew I had to read it! I'm very glad I did. Quinn's writing is beautiful and shocking, and I felt for each of these characters in very different ways. A thriller I'll recommend to friends.

Blake Nelson is dead and his three wives are the main suspects. All of them live in a remote corner of Utah, belonging to a small sect of Mormons, who approve of polygamous marriages. Rachel, the first wife, tries to keep order in the house; Emily, the second wife, who really does not understand much of what is happening around her and misses her Catholic family, and Tina, the third wife, who is a drug addict and a former realtor in Las Vegas, who fell in love with Blake at a rehab center. It was an interesting format: each wife would narrate separate chapters, but I thought the book was too long and tedious. The killer was a surprise, so that is a good thing in a mystery.

Black Widows
by Cate Quinn
Published Feb 9, 2021

I thought I had picked up a winner of ARC's. I liked the cover and it started great. However, it was entirely too long. It could easily have been 75-100 pages shorter and been a compelling read. By the time I got to the end of the book, I didn't care who "killed Blake." He was the least likeable character of the book and I just wondered how these women could have gotten in such a mess.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me the digital ARC.


3 star

This was a well written mystery. I enjoyed that the story was told from the perspective of the three wife's. It had me turning the page to figure out who did it.


Thank you NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for the advanced copy.

I read the first 3 chapters in this book and just wasn't feeling it at the time. I had just finished DARK HORSES and after that story sister wives just wasn't working for me.
I'll have to give this one a pass on reading, but sounds like an interesting "who dunnit" thriller.

Sister wives Rachel, Emily, and Tina don't seem to like their shared husband Blake (or each other) very much, so when Blake is found murdered, it would seem as if more than one wife had a reason to want him dead. The family lives out in the desert in a compound filled with broken-down equipment and not much else.
First wife Rachel keeps the family together and spends most of her time canning food in preparation for the apocalypse that Blake assures them is coming soon. Second wife Emily is flighty and immature, and not much help with anything. Tina, a recovering addict and former sex worker from Las Vegas, provides most of the family's financial support through her job as a real estate agent.

When Blake is discovered murdered, the police are convinced one of the wives is the guilty party. The problem is figuring out which one. Although their suspicious fall to Rachel, suspected of being upset that her place as favorite wife has been taken over by the others, Emily soon confesses. Based on this, the police have to let Rachel go. She and Tina decide to work together to figure out why Blake was apparently attempting to buy a deserted compound previously occupied by a polygamist cult that Rachel grew up in. They also plan to prove that Emily is innocent and that her confession is just another in a long series of lies she tells.

The story is told in alternating chapters by each wife, so we get to see the events unfold from various perspectives. We also see how each woman was drawn into the "sister wife" lifestyle. The author doesn't hold back on her disdain for this type of lifestyle, from repeated pointing out how most of the women and children living in such situations are heavily medicated, to emphasizing how domestic violence is actively encouraged in such households. The other, traditional Mormons, are also very contemptuous of people who live in such arrangements, calling it illegal, adulterous, and shameful.

It was interesting to read a book about an alternative lifestyle and to find out what might cause someone to choose that way of life. In reading the afterward of the book, it seems the author is British and had done a lot of research on this topic, rather than drawing from her own experiences.

I'm embarrassed to admit that sometimes I am so interested in a book based solely on the cover or the description or just the title, that I don't even know anything else about it. Including the author. When I requested this book from NetGalley, I actually thought this was from Kate Quinn. Kate with a K. But this is Cate with a C. Unbeknownst to me, I requested it. Then once I started reading, I realized that it didn't seem like Quinn's (with a K) typical writing. I pressed on.



Reader, it didn't matter who wrote it. Because I loved this book. While it might have gone on a little longer than necessary, overall, it is wonderful. It's about three sister wives whose husband dies in a suspicious manor and now all three of them are under investigation. The story is told through interviews and third person of each wife. It's really quite phenomenal.



The only negative, as I said, is that the book does go on a little longer than needed. Sometimes I think movies do this, to drag out the story. But it's really not a bad thing at all. You just get to spend more time with these dynamic ladies.



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4/5 Stars

I tend to try to read books that have a little more literary style. Not always, but I try. This book had a mystery club thriller appeal for mass market which is what I was looking for at this time. The plot more than made up for some of the simpler writing style depictions of characters. I probably would read the next book by this author. It's sure to be a very popular book.

Three wives. One husband. Oh, and by the way, he's dead. So which one of them murdered him. This one was a wild ride. Might not have been my favorite, but it was entertaining, none the less.