Wednesday Night Whites

Marci Lin Melvin
Her Island Press (2025)
ISBN: 978-0995012554
Reviewed by Sheri Hoyte for Reader Views (10/2025) 5*- Power, Privilege, and a Reckoning

There’s simply no other way to start this review other than by saying Wednesday Night Whites by Marci Lin Melvin is one of the most powerful historical thrillers I’ve read in years.

Chester is an idyllic village in Nova Scotia. But don’t be fooled. Entitlement flourishes, and evil hides in plain sight. On the surface, it’s a war against women, but deep down, it’s even more insidious. There’s a network called the Wednesday Night Whites, which operates under the guise of an elite social club for men who use their power and privilege to conceal a number of different crimes. As the group grows and becomes more emboldened by its own power, the rate of domestic violence rises, along with the number of missing or murdered women.

Local authorities are overwhelmed and, for the most part, at a complete loss, as much of their investigation is obstructed by corruption and just plain old fear. At the same time, a private investigative team is brought in by a top-secret task force with the directive to look into Ruben Hollywood, a prominent attorney with Christmas, Hollywood, and Bear. Hollywood’s extremist ties and growing political influence make him a key person of interest. As the investigation deepens, however, it seems less about finding a single killer and more about exposing an entire system of power and privilege.

Okay, WOW doesn’t even begin to cover what I was feeling when I closed this book. Honestly, I had to let my thoughts sit for a few days before I could even try to articulate everything running around in my head. I’ll try now to do the book justice.

When I started to consider what this book is really about, contrasts kept coming up. Wednesday Night Whites is all about contrasts such as wealth and poverty, power and vulnerability, justice and corruption, prejudice and equality, and sanity and delusion, to name a few. To be clear, though, we’re talking extreme contrasts. For example, one of the billionaires in the story has a fully equipped bunker underneath his mansion. We aren’t talking about a hole in the ground to ride out a storm. No, this one is complete with a movie theater, priceless art, bedrooms, bathrooms, a kitchenette, and several years’ worth of food and supplies. Meanwhile, poor folk just down the road live in shacks without even the benefit of indoor plumbing. Extreme.

Melvins’ writing had me fan-girling from the start. I’m always amazed by the craft of writing, and we all have the same words available at our disposal. But Melvin has a way of putting them together that is eloquent and seemingly effortless. Every sentence has a mission, whether it’s to advance the plot, hit home on a point, provide insight into a character, or hold a reader’s attention. It’s also fascinating the way Melvin can present a clear picture without using shock value. Sometimes the plain statement behind a truth is enough to comprehend. I found myself admiring her sentence structure as much as I enjoyed the story itself. Melvin takes the art of writing and raises the bar. It’s haunting. It’s powerful. It’s beautiful.

And the characters! They are amazing in their originality, and this intricate story excels because of them. There’s a diverse cast from all walks of life, fitting with the study in contrasts. The first thing that caught my attention about the characters was the names! No “Joe Shmoe” here. Instead, we have lyrical, poetic names like Azalea Augustine, Crandall Christmas, and Summer Storm. They aren’t all alliteration, though. We also have Ruben Hollywood, Jamie Bear, and Aponi Christmas, to name a few. All the names are fun and fabulous and add a bit of levity to a dark tale.

All the characters are built with depth, giving readers a real sense of who they are, even the minor players. I do have a few favorites. Ruben Hollywood is the quintessential narcissistic, rich, privileged, entitled, racist white male, and oh, Melvin built him up perfectly. As much as I hated who he is and everything he stands for, I couldn’t help but admire his determination and focus. He’s definitely the character you’ll love to hate in this story. Another character who brings a totally different energy is Aponi Christmas, whose transformation will wow you. She talks nonstop and provides the comic relief in an all-too-tragic story. Cryptic, yes, but I can’t say more without giving away something big.

While many of them take their turns at center stage, I had a hard time pointing out the main protagonists and antagonists, as Melvin stealthily shares the spotlight amongst her characters. This gives the story its “I’m bigger than any one person or event” type of quality that suggests the real story isn’t about who did what and when, but how all the people and events connect. I will say you’ll be as mesmerized by the characters as you are by the tensions and plots that drive the story.

Wednesday Night Whites by Marci Lin Melvin is what happens when morality needs a reckoning. With twisty plotlines and characters you won’t soon forget, fans of multi-layered, sophisticated historical thrillers will eat this story up.

“Wednesday Night Whites” by Marci Lin Melvin