The Hunting Wives

Sophie O'Neill has traded a glossy, stressful Chicago career for a slower life in Mapleton, a small wealthy East Texas town, with her husband Graham and their toddler. It seems perfect. It is very, very boring. Then she meets Margot Banks — rich, magnetic, beautiful, and dangerous — who leads an elite secret clique called the Hunting Wives. They drink martinis, shoot skeet, and "hunt" for extramarital thrills. Sophie is utterly obsessed with Margot in a way that blurs obsession with desire, and she slides deeper and deeper into their world despite every warning sign. When the body of a teenage girl is found in the woods where the Hunting Wives gather, Sophie is suddenly in the middle of a murder investigation with her fingerprints show more on the murder weapon and her marriage in ruins. The Netflix adaptation changed the killer from Jill to Margo and made several other significant departures, with the author's blessing, to set up a Season 2.

[May contain spoilers]
In the book, the killer is Jill — not Margot. Abby was Brad's teenage girlfriend who'd had an abortion that Jill and Callie had secretly facilitated, and Jill killed her to keep the secret buried. Sophie gets framed, Margot ends up drowned, Callie is a red herring the whole way through, and Sophie — older and wiser and completely changed — decides to stay in Mapleton with her family. The adult women sleeping with teenage boys is a thread that makes many readers deeply uncomfortable, and the book itself doesn't fully reckon with it. Sophie is frankly maddening — an educated woman with a good husband who makes increasingly catastrophic decisions in the grip of her Margot obsession.
What I think: This is a very readable, very fast, love-to-hate page-turner. The Texas atmosphere is thick, the bad behaviour is gloriously awful, and you'll consume it in a day or two. But Sophie being so utterly spineless in the face of Margot's manipulation might drive your sarcastic sensibilities absolutely insane. And the underage subplot is uncomfortable. show less

**⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4 out of 5 Stars | *The Hunting Wives* by May Cobb**

Whew. 😮‍💨🍸🔫
This book is **messy, intoxicating, frustrating, and wildly addictive**—and honestly? That’s exactly why it works.

**The Hunting Wives** is a sultry, slow-burn descent into obsession, privilege, and bad decisions wrapped in martinis and small-town secrets. Sophie O’Neill trades her fast-paced Chicago life for quiet Texas suburbia, expecting peace… and instead finds *paralyzing boredom*. Enter **Margot Banks**—beautiful, magnetic, dangerous—and the elite inner circle known as the *Hunting Wives*. From that moment on? Sophie’s life starts slipping through her fingers. 🐍

Late-night target practice, reckless partying, show more whispered power plays, and an undercurrent of menace slowly tighten their grip—until a teenage girl is found murdered in the woods where these women gather. And suddenly, what felt like indulgent escapism turns into something much darker. 🩸🌲

Now listen—this book **did take its time**. The first stretch was a slower simmer, and I’ll be honest: it didn’t fully sink its claws into me until about **40% in**. BUT once it did? Game over. I stayed up late because there was *no way* I wasn’t finishing it. I *needed* answers. Who did it? Why? And how deep does the rot really go? 😬📖

And Sophie… oh Sophie.
Girl. 😩
So. Much. Could. Have. Been. Avoided.
I was *yelling* at her through the pages more than once. Her choices are infuriating, hormone-fueled, and questionable at best—but that emotional reaction? That’s how you know the story is doing its job. I was *invested*. I felt things. And I love a book that can do that.

Also—tell me I’m not alone—but the vibes? **Pretty Little Liars: Adult Edition.** 👀✨
Margot absolutely gives *Alison DiLaurentis energy*—that queen-bee pull where everyone either wants to be her or fears her. And honestly? That comparison only made me love it more.

If the pacing had hooked me sooner, this would’ve been a **5-star read**, no question. Still, **4 stars is solid**, and I’ll absolutely be picking up more from May Cobb. Highly recommend if you love your thrillers **toxic, glamorous, and morally messy**. 💅🖤

🔖 Tropes & Vibes

* Small Town Secrets 🏡
* Toxic Female Friendships 🐍
* Obsession & Seduction 🍸
* Rich People Behaving Badly 💎
* Mean Girl Energy 👑
* Domestic Noir
* Murder Mystery 🔪
* Pretty Little Liars (but make it adult)

✨ **Would recommend. Would scream at the characters again. Would read more.** ✨ show less

This was a great mystery! One that I did not guess at all! The story was well plotted and kept the tension high. The friendships feel ominous, the female friends just feel like danger as they start their night with guns, drinking and always end at some strange unknown location. The feel of disorientation, the constant drinking, kept me wondering if the narrator was reliable and who all I could actually trust in the story. I loved the small town, the isolated feel but also the luxurious lazy way of money with the lake houses and hired help. I thought this one was great! At 75%, I raced through the pages and held my breath the whole way. I loved it!

A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This show more does not affect my opinion regarding the book. show less

Well, well, well! Nothing like a smash up with Mean Girls and Desperate Housewives! These woman are the quintessential small southern town cougars that you love to hate but can’t help but want to read about! They love shooting guns and like their men young...well except their successful husbands of course!

So sexy and scandalous, and I hated that I loved it so much. Great murder mystery that will keep you on your toes!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5


I loved this book. Such a fast read. I loved the shock factor, the writing, the wives, all of it. It was a thriller and a guilty pleasure book. I definitely thought The Hunting Wives was truly a unique thriller. Yes, the “small town girl dies”, mystery is there but it’s so much more. I loved to hate Sophie and wanted to shake her throughout the entire book. I truly disliked every action by the wives but couldn’t stop reading. It was wild and I truly loved the horrible, self absorbed, awful wives. So, if you want a thriller with over the top, scandalous characters and a good twist, I definitely recommend.

✅ For Fans of:
- rich people
- housewife boredom
- domestic drama
- domestic thriller
- murder thriller
- sapphic elements

✏️ SPOILER-FULL Review
3.5 True Rating

You ever read a book where you want to punch the main character because they just continue to actively ruin their lives and hurt people they love? That’s the first half of this book.

I almost DNF’d because why doesn’t she just GET A JOB OR BETTER HOBBY instead of cheating? Get a part-time or do something else than social media if you feel like you’re restless. She had good friends and an incredible husband, so why? WHY? I understand the mundanity of life, but my goodness. She just keeps playing with fire then pretends she can’t understand why she’s still on fire.

The show more ending was a good one though so that bumped it up the extra half a star.

I don’t know if I’d watch the show willingly or if I would recommend it to someone else. show less

Thank you to the author and A Novel Bee (FB) for this book.

OMG. I'm speechless. I had no idea where this book was going and kept thinking about The Housewives shows (that I don't watch) or mean girls scenario and I was right. However, I'm sure that the housewives didn't go skeet shooting. But I'm sure they drank a lot of wine like in this book. Her descriptions of things especially about how the the wine tasted.

This book was crazy and I loved it. I want to read more from this author and I can't imagine what will be next if anything.