Blake Nelson is a Latter Day Saint with three wives – Rachel, Emily and Tina. Plural marriages are no longer acceptable in the Mormon religion and Blake buys an isolated piece of land, where they all live, at best barely tolerated by their fellow Mormons and at worst, ostracised by some.
When Blake is found dead, suspicion automatically falls on the three wives and the central plot in the novel is focused on which one of them did it. The chapters are short, some very short, and told in three voices, those of the wives. I had no trouble keeping hold of whose chapter I was in as the wives had very distinctive voices and characteristics.
The story moves along quite smoothly in spite of being fairly complicated as the back stories of the wives are revealed as well as the ongoing investigation into Blake’s murder. The background information on Latter Day Saints is meticulous and woven in so neatly that I never felt like I was being preached at.

The major distraction for me was Rachel’s background story. It was riveting and deserved a story of its own, but in this instance it pulled me away from the main story and didn’t really have any impact on the main plot except to explain Rachel’s attitude to her husband’s death. It lengthened the middle section of the book unnecessarily and slowed things down a bit.
There are quite a few ancillary characters, all of which are portrayed realistically, except for the police officers who, I felt, were less rounded than anyone else and only there to move the story along.
The ending disappointed me because it felt forced and too neatly wrapped up. However, it was one of the most enjoyable books I have read in recent months, not least because of the originality of the plot. I would recommend just suspending belief and just go with the flow on this one.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.