May Cobb earned her MA in literature from San Francisco State University, and her essays and interviews have appeared in the Washington Post, the Rumpus, Edible Austin, and Austin Monthly. Her debut novel, Big Woods, won multiple awards. A Texas native, she lives in Austin with her family. You can find her online at MayCobb.com.
Sophie O'Neill left behind an envy-inspiring career and the stressful, competitive life of big-city Chicago to settle down with her husband and young son in a small Texas town. It seems like the perfect life with a beautiful home in an idyllic rural community. But Sophie soon realizes that life is now too quiet, and she's feeling bored and restless. Then she meets Margot Banks, an alluring socialite who is part of an elite clique secretly known as the Hunting Wives. Sophie is completely drawn to Margot and swept into her mysterious world of late-night target practice and dangerous partying. As Sophie's curiosity gives way to full-blown obsession, she slips further away from the safety of her family and deeper into this nest of vipers. When the body of a teenage girl is discovered in the woods where the Hunting Wives meet, Sophie finds herself in the middle of a murder investigation and her life spirals out of control.
I don't read a whole lot of mystery/thrillers, but I was gifted three of them that were featured in Book of the Month boxes in 2021, so I'm very excited to read and review them. First up is The Hunting Wives, which I found to be an incredibly engrossing read. I read it in one sitting. This book is great for people looking for a quick read, one that is easy to get through and that you can catch snippets of while on the train or in between other tasks. Part of this is because the chapters are incredibly short. Cobb knows how to utilize space on the page in each chapter for things to happen and to move the story along. I felt grounded in these chapters quickly, and felt like Cobb effectively moved the story along through the use of short chapters.
I actually didn't like any of the characters (save Jack and Graham, of course)—and I found that to be incredibly effective as well. I was frustrated by main character and narrator Sophie, who became obsessed with Margot for seemingly no reason and found herself abandoning her family in the face of some dangerous fun. I didn't like any of the nicknamed Hunting Wives for being too nosy, too full of gossip, and overall dangerous and toxic. But because of that, I found myself unable to stop questioning what happened next, what would happen to Sophie as she continued her involvement with them and their world. And then I found that despite the original and pervasive dislike of these characters, I became incredibly invested in how things would turn out for all of them. Would Sophie end up back with her family? Would Margot answer for her crimes? Near the end, I simply needed to find out!
Like I mentioned, I'm not a mystery/thriller reader, but I did find some of the plot twists to be predictable. That's not a bad thing, necessarily, and there was still a plot twist that was a surprise, but I found myself sort of nodding as I was reading, when my predictions came to fruition. I know this type of thing doesn't bother some people, but I sort of found myself wishing for more. Once some of my predictions came true, I also found myself wishing the book was just fifty pages shorter than it was. I felt like the end dragged unnecessarily, and that some of it could have been condensed. Even though Cobb used space effectively, I didn't feel like all of the space needed to be used.
Overall, The Hunting Wives was an engrossing, thrilling read, and definitely a great starter book for anyone looking to get into mysteries and thrillers. Despite the unlikable characters, Cobb knows how to weave a story that will make you want to know what happens next. You can find Cobb online at MayCobb.com.
*This review can also be found on my Goodreads page*
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