The Bishop’s Wife (Linda Wallheim Mystery, #1) in Around the World in 80 Books

Jun 15, 2016 Pam rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2016-books-read

AUTHOR Harrison, Mette Ivie
TITLE: The Bishop's Wife
DATE READ 06/05/2016
RATING 4.5/B+
GENRE/ PUB DATE/PUBLISHER / # OF PAGES Mystery/ 2014/ Soho Press / 341 pgs
SERIES/STAND-ALONE: #1 Mormon wife Linda Wallheim
CHARACTERS Linda Wallehim -- Mormon Bishop's wife
TIME/PLACE: Present/ Utah
FIRST LINES Mormon bishop's wife isn't an official calling. "Bishop's wife" isn't a position listed on ward documents; there's no ceremonial laying-on of hands or pronounced blessings from on high. But if the bishop i ...more

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Feb 11, 2015 alana rated it it was ok

Shelves: females-and-feminists, crime

The Bishop’s Wife felt like it wanted to be more than a crime novel set in a Mormon community, but the anticlimactic resolution to the mystery situates the book squarely within Criminal Mindsy territory. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy a bit of psyco killer qu’est-ce que ce as much as the next thirtysomething American woman, but you know what you’re getting into with one of those shows or books.

Mette Ivie Harrison crafts an interesting character with Linda – a stay-at-home mother of five boys and w The Bishop’s Wife felt like it wanted to be more than a crime novel set in a Mormon community, but the anticlimactic resolution to the mystery situates the book squarely within Criminal Mindsy territory. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy a bit of psyco killer qu’est-ce que ce as much as the next thirtysomething American woman, but you know what you’re getting into with one of those shows or books.

Mette Ivie Harrison crafts an interesting character with Linda – a stay-at-home mother of five boys and wife to a man “called” to be ward bishop in addition to his accounting job. I can only guess at the accuracy of this glimpse into Mormon leadership but can understand how such a job would put a spotlight on Linda in addition to adding the expectation of helping all those in their community. Many of Linda’s struggles will be familiar to women who are removed from the workforce while their husband’s career still moves forward. Harrison uses Linda’s own ponderings to question the gendered roles within the Mormon church and within a small, gossipy community in general. I thought the story would serve to say something bigger…but the mystery devolves into evil man hate. (view spoiler)

Since the protagonist and setting provide a vivid glimpse of life within the leadership of the Mormon church, the book unfortunately carries the weight of representing that community to outsiders. Consequently, the murder mysteries at first seem a way to explore complex family relationships through the lens of Mormon beliefs. However, wampwamp, it’s just a murder mystery with a Mormon theme. My expectations were too high, I guess. A lingering question: is being sealed to someone in the afterlife really that big of a deal?
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Jan 28, 2016 Diane rated it it was ok

I went into this one expecting to just learn a little more of the Mormon community. I found the protagonist unsympathetic, and nearly didn't finish it. I'm not sure if I didn't like her or the Mormon community, but everything seemed very strongly misogynistic and misandronistic. It was not the greatest mystery, either, and took a long time to move along. Wouldn't recommend, but glad I finished. 1.5 stars ...more

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