Berkley
Published March 3, 2026
Reviewed by Barbara Fister
Elsie, Margot, and Beverly are friends with only one thing in common: Their husbands are all in prison, charged with murdering women. Living in 1960s Los Angeles, they have bonded largely because they had lived with men, not knowing they were committing horrific crimes. Though they have different backgrounds and distinct personalities, they find common cause when women who are on the fringes of society begin to turn up dead. The authorities assume the murders are unrelated, just the usual fate that sex workers should expect, but they don’t have the insights into serial killers that these ex-wives have.
Each of them brings a set of skills to their inquiry. Beverly has obsessively tracked crime reports since her husband was arrested and has filled a scrapbook with news stories. Margot mingles with high society, scanning for gossip. Elsie works as a personal assistant at a newspaper and has ambitions to become a reporter herself. Together, they track information about women’s deaths, seeking points of connection. Margot tells Beverly, who is hypervigilant and determined to stop the murders “you are not personally responsible for the safety of other women just because of what your husband did,” but there is an element of redemption in their quest.
In a way, this novel inverts the standard serial killer storyline. While the three have insights into the psychology of men who kill women, they are more interested in uncovering the lives of their victims and insisting on their worth in the face of an indifferent police force. At the same time, they are fighting for their own worth to be recognized in a society that treats them as second class citizens.
While there is a mystery to be solved, the real heart of the story is the lives of the three friends and how, through their quest, they begin to disclose their secrets to one another and learn to trust themselves. This deep focus on character development comes at the cost of brisk pacing, but it has its own rewards.