A Quick and Moderately Entertaining Read

I am so used to the special effects and props of today’s TV shows like Law & Order, CSI and NCIS and movies like Braveheart and The Gladiator that The Bride Wore Black (a murder mystery published in 1940) actually came across as a “sweet” murder story! Haha! A black widow of a woman goes around killing men in various ways and while reading on I found the murders effective, but without the WOW factor. The first edition cover is scarier than the novel.



Also, I would categorize this book as more of a short story than a novel anyway. Each victim had his own chapter and no known connection to the other victims other than a woman who was going to kill him. The woman herself changed her name, appearance, etc. so with no one really connected to each other I didn’t get to know any background of the characters or really care all that much when they died. It wasn't until the last 20 pages that things came together and I gave the “OH…okay” head nod to wrap up this sweet murder story.

As far as having a place in the top 501 Must Reads I’m going to need to read more murder mystery novels to compare. The one thing a reader could walk away with was this little life lesson: Before you kill someone, make sure they are really the one you have in mind to kill and for the intended reason.

Morbid…but true.
(For people who do those sort of things - hopefully no one who reads this blog or knows my name.....haha)