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tiffanynoel's review against another edition
2.0
I’m not sure how I feel about this book. The storyline was fairly interesting if not.. gruesome. But I did enjoy the storyline. However, I’m not sure that I like how the main character refers to things in the church. Some of it was just the way it’s worded but I feel like some of it is a little much.
kimreadz's review against another edition
3.0
I saw this one at the Random House ‘Keep Calm and Read On’ event held at our local library last fall and immediately decided that I wanted to read it. The cover pulled me right in. So I put it on reserve as soon as I had the chance and finally got that chance last month. Unfortunately, the book was a bit of a disappointment!
The book is a mystery and as a story, it is a pretty good one. Some may feel it is a predictable whodunit, and I will admit that when the culprit was revealed, it did not surprise me. However, it could have ended with several others being the perpetrator, and I would not have been surprised. There were plenty of twists and turns and plenty of false leads that left me thinking throughout the book “oh, so HE’S the killer!”. My problem isn’t with the story but with the ‘mormon’ elements brought into the story. Please let me explain that.
I felt like the author was unsure of who her audience might be, so she tried to cover all her bases. She often explained Mormon terms and ideologies. As a non-Mormon, I found these definition helpful at times, but often, if it was more than a simple definition, it was treated superficially and I felt like it didn’t add to my knowledge. At times, Linda, the main character, would begin to explain a concept and end with an ‘I don’t really understand it either’ (paraphrased!). I can’t really speak for a Mormon reader, but I suspect they would be just as frustrated with this superficial explanation of something they already know. I felt like sometimes these explanations got in the way of moving the story along. And even worse, at times I felt ‘talked down to’.
I also was annoyed by the main character, Linda, the Bishop’s Wife. She was a classic busybody, always getting into someone else’s business. She often appeared to resent her role as the ‘bishop’s wife’, yet at other times she relished the excuse it gave her to mind someone else’s business. She was judgemental and seemed to distrust and dislike men; at times this even included her husband. She interfered with a police investigation more than once, apparently because she thought she was better at doing their jobs than they were….and of course, they were men!
I think had Linda been toned down a bit, and some of the explanations left out, this could have been a really good story. If you enjoy mysteries, it is still a good story….it just could have been better!
The book is a mystery and as a story, it is a pretty good one. Some may feel it is a predictable whodunit, and I will admit that when the culprit was revealed, it did not surprise me. However, it could have ended with several others being the perpetrator, and I would not have been surprised. There were plenty of twists and turns and plenty of false leads that left me thinking throughout the book “oh, so HE’S the killer!”. My problem isn’t with the story but with the ‘mormon’ elements brought into the story. Please let me explain that.
I felt like the author was unsure of who her audience might be, so she tried to cover all her bases. She often explained Mormon terms and ideologies. As a non-Mormon, I found these definition helpful at times, but often, if it was more than a simple definition, it was treated superficially and I felt like it didn’t add to my knowledge. At times, Linda, the main character, would begin to explain a concept and end with an ‘I don’t really understand it either’ (paraphrased!). I can’t really speak for a Mormon reader, but I suspect they would be just as frustrated with this superficial explanation of something they already know. I felt like sometimes these explanations got in the way of moving the story along. And even worse, at times I felt ‘talked down to’.
I also was annoyed by the main character, Linda, the Bishop’s Wife. She was a classic busybody, always getting into someone else’s business. She often appeared to resent her role as the ‘bishop’s wife’, yet at other times she relished the excuse it gave her to mind someone else’s business. She was judgemental and seemed to distrust and dislike men; at times this even included her husband. She interfered with a police investigation more than once, apparently because she thought she was better at doing their jobs than they were….and of course, they were men!
I think had Linda been toned down a bit, and some of the explanations left out, this could have been a really good story. If you enjoy mysteries, it is still a good story….it just could have been better!
eje15's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
2.5 would be 3 besides ending
jpustka's review against another edition
2.0
I really looked forward to reading this book and appreciate how the author set the story as taking place within a Mormon community. Ultimately, however, I wasn't that interested in the characters and didn't find the story or "mystery" compelling.
utahmomreads's review against another edition
3.0
Linda Wallheim is a homemaker; a mother of five mostly grown sons; and the wife of the Bishop of an LDS ward. When a neighbor and member of the ward, Carrie Helm, suddenly leaves her husband and young daughter, Linda suspects foul play. Under the guise of the caring neighbor, Linda begins snooping around hoping to find the truth about her missing neighbor. At the same time, Tobias, another neighbor and ward member, is dying. Linda serves his grieving wife but there is something suspicious about the dying man. Now seeing herself as an amateur sleuth, Linda hopes to find evidence about just what happened to Tobias's first wife.
Set in Draper, Utah ("Mormon Country"), The Bishop's Wife by Mette Ivie Harrison intends to shed light on the church, it's customs and uniqueness while introducing a busybody character with an insatiable desire for digging up other people's skeletons.
I've waited for a few days after reading The Bishop's Wife to try to write a careful review of my thoughts. A review is only that--how I felt personally about the book. Reading about my own religion, even in a work of fiction, adds a complicated element. In the case of The Bishop's Wife, it's like looking at your religion through a microscope lens that is also distorted by the opinions of the author. While Harrison is a member of the church, it is clear that she and I have very different opinions and beliefs regarding a number of church doctrines.
I actually appreciated Linda as a main character (not sure I'd want her as a neighbor). A bishop's wife is not privy to all the information that her husband knows; so much is shared with the bishop in confidentiality. Yet, because of the close proximity in which she lives with the bishop, she is often aware of pieces of information. As a bishop's wife it would be hard not to try to put the clues together and fill in the gaps. Harrison's bishop's wife takes that a gigantic leap further and becomes an amateur detective--going through her neighbors' basements and sheds looking for clues. Seeing the mysteries unfold from this rather incompetent detective, allows the reader to enjoy the plot twists as Linda often gets it wrong. I really liked this aspect of the novel.
The mystery involving Carrie Helm was intriguing. There are several possible suspects and readers will probably recognize the similarity to the disappearance of Susan Cox Powell. The secrets being kept by Tobias about the death of his first wife are a bit far fetched--at the very least, the ultimate explanation is peppered with holes. The dramatic conclusion is hard to swallow and Harrison takes some liberties with reality.
The novel is definitely anti-misogynistic but strays awfully close to being anti-man. Most of the men are downright awful. The bishop is portrayed as a pretty decent guy. He appreciates his wife's opinions and frequently acts on her advice. He only slightly attempts to reign in his wife's nosiness, mostly when concerned for her safety. Yet, after a horrible discovery involving her neighbors, Linda has the following reaction: "Kurt tried to hold me, but I batted him away. This was his fault somehow. He was a man, a surrogate for Jared and Alex Helm, for Tobias Torstensen. I wanted to scratch his eyes out, and kick him in the balls again and again" (pg 209-210). Would she have a similar reaction if she had just read in the paper of a mother drowning her children in a bathtub? Would Linda have blamed all women for the atrocity?
I have no issue with some members of the church being portrayed as villains. We see the big cases in the news and we don't know what truly goes on behind the closed doors of our neighbors. Members are human and imperfect and sometimes really bad. However, most members of the church--the vast majority, I dare say--are trying really hard to live good lives; do not abuse their wives and daughters and genuinely love their neighbors.
The mystery surrounding the disappearance of Carrie Helm was intriguing and if it hadn't been so interrupted by the obvious agenda and a desire to include all the curiosities of the religion, it would have been rather entertaining.
Set in Draper, Utah ("Mormon Country"), The Bishop's Wife by Mette Ivie Harrison intends to shed light on the church, it's customs and uniqueness while introducing a busybody character with an insatiable desire for digging up other people's skeletons.
I've waited for a few days after reading The Bishop's Wife to try to write a careful review of my thoughts. A review is only that--how I felt personally about the book. Reading about my own religion, even in a work of fiction, adds a complicated element. In the case of The Bishop's Wife, it's like looking at your religion through a microscope lens that is also distorted by the opinions of the author. While Harrison is a member of the church, it is clear that she and I have very different opinions and beliefs regarding a number of church doctrines.
I actually appreciated Linda as a main character (not sure I'd want her as a neighbor). A bishop's wife is not privy to all the information that her husband knows; so much is shared with the bishop in confidentiality. Yet, because of the close proximity in which she lives with the bishop, she is often aware of pieces of information. As a bishop's wife it would be hard not to try to put the clues together and fill in the gaps. Harrison's bishop's wife takes that a gigantic leap further and becomes an amateur detective--going through her neighbors' basements and sheds looking for clues. Seeing the mysteries unfold from this rather incompetent detective, allows the reader to enjoy the plot twists as Linda often gets it wrong. I really liked this aspect of the novel.
The mystery involving Carrie Helm was intriguing. There are several possible suspects and readers will probably recognize the similarity to the disappearance of Susan Cox Powell. The secrets being kept by Tobias about the death of his first wife are a bit far fetched--at the very least, the ultimate explanation is peppered with holes. The dramatic conclusion is hard to swallow and Harrison takes some liberties with reality.
The novel is definitely anti-misogynistic but strays awfully close to being anti-man. Most of the men are downright awful. The bishop is portrayed as a pretty decent guy. He appreciates his wife's opinions and frequently acts on her advice. He only slightly attempts to reign in his wife's nosiness, mostly when concerned for her safety. Yet, after a horrible discovery involving her neighbors, Linda has the following reaction: "Kurt tried to hold me, but I batted him away. This was his fault somehow. He was a man, a surrogate for Jared and Alex Helm, for Tobias Torstensen. I wanted to scratch his eyes out, and kick him in the balls again and again" (pg 209-210). Would she have a similar reaction if she had just read in the paper of a mother drowning her children in a bathtub? Would Linda have blamed all women for the atrocity?
I have no issue with some members of the church being portrayed as villains. We see the big cases in the news and we don't know what truly goes on behind the closed doors of our neighbors. Members are human and imperfect and sometimes really bad. However, most members of the church--the vast majority, I dare say--are trying really hard to live good lives; do not abuse their wives and daughters and genuinely love their neighbors.
The mystery surrounding the disappearance of Carrie Helm was intriguing and if it hadn't been so interrupted by the obvious agenda and a desire to include all the curiosities of the religion, it would have been rather entertaining.
prettyphantastic's review
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.5
miscamy's review against another edition
3.0
I liked it much more in the beginning, and then it just fizzled for me a bit, and I started to lose interest.
tophat8855's review against another edition
4.0
Believable characters, good twists, 2 mysteries to solve. Could do with less explanation of Mormon stuff, but I know that a general audience probably needs it. A couple places felt like they could use more "show, don't tell" but not bad in general.
angelamichelle's review against another edition
5.0
A deceptively simple hapless-everywoman-gets-sucked-into-murder-mystery a la Murder She Wrote, but with a depth and ring of truth. Really well done.