312 reviews for:

The Dark Wives

Ann Cleeves

3.96 AVERAGE

eshulok's review

4.5
mysterious sad medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Not just crime, also insightful about people and supporting youth and effects of greed.

I am a Vera Stanhope fan!
adventurous mysterious fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Yes

Another well plotted Vera.  

Purty good. I love Vera (and definitely am picturing Brenda Blethyn in my head)...this one was a good read, but I felt like the ending was a touch forced. Meaning it seemed a little strange, the reason that the first person did the thing that set everything in motion? We didn't get much character development of that particular person, and the other people involved at upper levels also seemed kind of flat. Enjoyed it, but not a yuge fan of absolutely nothing being clear until the very end..not even an inkling of how it was going to end, and then the explication at the end...purty good, not my fave.

This was my first Vera Stanhope novel and my first time reading a book by Ann Cleeves. I enjoyed the story and I feel like this is a solid detective novel. The setting was interesting and I enjoyed the imagery of the Witch Hunt. I wasn't as invested in the main characters as I would have liked, but I think this is mostly due to not having read any of the previous books in the series. I think if I had been with these characters through the first 10 books, I would be much more invested. The end was wrapped up nicely. My biggest complaint is that a lot of the detective work seemed to happen off the page and then the pieces were given to us at the end. I would have liked a bit more of the pieces to be given to us throughout the story instead of just spelled out at the end.

Thank you to NetGalley and Minotaur books for the eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Well written

tspalds's review

5.0

Thank you to St. Martin's Press, Minotaur Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this eARC in exchange for my honest feedback!

I adore [a:Ann Cleeves|56067|Ann Cleeves|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1262915904p2/56067.jpg] and was so excited to get to read another book by her in advance. I have read a few other books in the Vera Stanhope series and she is one of my favorite British detectives. I love the fact that is incredibly unconventional and that in reading the book you are able to get some insight into her thought process and feelings. The way that Cleeves unfurled this mystery was slow and steady in all the right ways and had me waffling back and forth on who could have done it, where Chloe could be and who to trust. The setting was suitably creepy and sinister and would make for a great late fall read. I will continue to shout from the hills just how good Ann Cleeves books are and loved this book.
mysterious medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

It was fun to have another book with Vera Stanhope as the detective, and I found it pretty readable overall. The characters didn't have as much life in this one, though. Also, I found the ending
to be disappointing - there wasn't really any way that the reader could have figured out who the killer was, so the reveal kind of felt like "huh?" It's also kind of annoying when the detective figures out who it is and even tells others in the book, but the reader is left intentionally out of the loop for many chapters.
. Still, it was a nice mystery break and a good distraction that didn't require a lot of concentration.

mindytemplin's review

4.0
slow-paced