Synopsis

The Hunting Wives share more than target practice, martinis, and bad behavior in this novel of obsession, seduction, and murder.

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 finds herself 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 farther 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 spiraling out of control.

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Review

Don’t mess with a Texas gal or her gun.

Welcome to the piney woods of East Texas in a small town where everyone knows everyone else and the rumors abound. Sophie and her family have moved back to this town where she spent two years in high school. She thought it would be a better place to raise her son compared to Chicago. She might be right and she may be wrong.

I will have to admit that the first half of the book (or so) was somewhat slow as we learned more about Sophie, Margot, Erin, Callie, Jill, and Tina. I learned that most of these women were catty and shallow, and liked to drink a lot. It seems like they were always getting drunk. I don’t know if they weren’t happy with their lives or if they were bored or something else. Sophie also has an obsession with Margot and it takes some time to really get down to the reason for the obsession. At the outset, it might be because she is bored with her life, and moving to this town may not have been what she was expecting.

Most of the characters are unlikeable but in a way, they draw you into their world. It is surprising what they manage to get away with and keep from their families, or are they? I think their spouses have an inkling about what is going on and either keep quiet or have their own agenda.

We learn at the beginning of one death, but you won’t get the details about that until much later. There is another death that shocks the small town especially when other information comes to light. One might think you learn who to trust or not trust, and just when you thought you had it all figured out there are some twists that will surprise you.

The moral of this story – don’t go looking for happiness in others because you will only find it in yourself.

Overall, I found this book to have some good suspense/thriller moments but it was hard to root for any of the characters except maybe Erin. We give it 3 1/2 paws up.

About the Author

May Cobb is a freelance writer from Austin, TX who won the 2015 Writer’s League of Texas Manuscript Contest. Her writing has appeared in Austin Monthly and the online edition of JazzTimes. Big Woods is her debut novel.

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