Murder mysteries are built on secrets, but Seven Wives wastes no time showing you just how ugly the truth can be. From its opening moments, the series drops readers into a brutal killing that feels both shocking and strangely deliberate, setting the tone for a story where silence, control, and survival are tightly woven together. What follows is less about who did it and more about why no one is willing to say a word.
After already speaking to series writer Zoe Tunnell, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to unpack the mystery-filled first issue after its release today, spoilers and all.
In this spoiler-filled conversation, we dig deep into the first issue with Tunnell, unpacking the choices behind the mystery, the emotional weight carried by the wives, and the layered storytelling that rewards careful readers. From the shocking final reveal to the careful balance of clues and misdirection, there’s a lot going on beneath the surface, and this interview pulls some of it apart to see how it works.
Courtesy IDW
AIPT: The issue opens with the murder itself, but obscures just enough to keep the reader guessing. At what point did you lock in the identity of the killer, and did you build the mystery outward from that answer or discover it along the way?
Zoe Tunnell: We knew who our killer was from day one. I feel like if you are writing a murder mystery, that has to be one of the very first things you sort out, y’know? While it won’t be revealed for a while yet, we’ve got plenty of juicy little clues that I hope readers have a good time digging through.
AIPT: That final twist, revealing the romantic connection between two of the wives, completely reframes how the reader interprets earlier scenes. When did that idea enter the story, and how carefully did you seed it throughout the issue?
ZT: The Lucy/Emma love affair was in my pitch from the earliest days. It just seemed natural to me, not as a queer woman, and offered a form of stakes-raising that didn’t cheapen the raw, real threat being presented. What is scarier than being trapped in a cult compound, married to a power-mad religious abuser? Being trapped in a cult compound, married to a power-mad religious abuser, and having a secret love affair with one of your sister-wives that goes against every tenet of your faith.
It also gives the reader something to root for, which I feel is so important in these sorts of stories. When you’ve got a cast of seven wives, two detectives, and one Jeremiah, it is a tall task to get people attached to more than your protagonist. Lucy and Emma risking everything to share their love and be together in fleeting moments is exactly what was needed.
Gasp!
Courtesy IDW
AIPT: The premise gives you seven wives, which creates a lot of potential for misdirection. How did you decide which characters would carry emotional weight versus which would function more as suspicion engines in the mystery?
ZT: It was necessary pretty early on. While each of the wives will get their time in the spotlight, some are definitely more substantial as presences in the story than others. 100 pages only allow for so much room to stretch! I tried to make sure that even the wives who are maybe more secondary to proceedings have very real roles to play in the family and bear their own scars from being married to Matthew. When it comes to a story like Seven Wives, which draws inspiration from real-life abuses, every character needs to be treated with that level of respect.
AIPT: One of the strengths of the issue is that the clues feel fair without being obvious. Were there any moments where you had to pull back or adjust a clue because it made the mystery too easy or too difficult?
ZT: I think the trickiest part was balancing between genuine clues and misdirection. One of my most hated things in mysteries is when the reveal leaves you wondering how you could possibly have solved that. I promise that by the end of Seven Wives, everything will click together and make sense. At least it will if I’ve done my job right.
AIPT: The setting of the church adds an extra layer of tension, especially with the murder happening at the pulpit. How intentional was that choice as a thematic statement about power, control, and belief?
ZT: It was vital! If Matthew was killed in his office or found hanging from a tree outside or the like, it would have sent a message of terror, of something striking from the shadows. Matthew being stabbed to death as he delivers his sermon, in front of his entire family, sends something else entirely. It sends a message of control and silence. Silence that we see as none of the wives are willing to talk about what happened, even ones like Lucy whose love for her husband was…tenuous at best.
That’s going to leave a mark.
Courtesy IDW
AIPT: The detectives both come in with their own baggage, and by the end, it feels like that will shape how they interpret the case moving forward. How early did you define their personal arcs in relation to the mystery itself?
ZT: While the original, very basic pitch of “cult leader killed in his own compound surrounded by family” was presented to me when editor Riley Farmer reached out about the series, Aguilar and Halwell were entirely cooked up and developed by me. I wanted them both to feel as real and messy, especially Aguilar, as any of the family members. Her past colors her just as much as any of the wives, and that’s something readers will learn more about as the series goes on.
Courtesy IDW
AIPT: There’s a strong sense that everyone in the compound is performing in some way, whether out of fear, loyalty, or survival. How did you approach writing dialogue so that readers are constantly questioning what’s true versus what’s being withheld?
ZT: It was easy, in a way. The Dunn family and their compound is so wildly far removed from my open upbringing and life that writing dialogue for any of them never quite felt natural or simple. They wrap their words in scripture and dogma, even their straight answers feel cagey and cryptic. But if you dig hard enough and learn more about the individuals in the Dunn clan, you start to see the truths buried in their words. Even if they didn’t mean to share them!
AIPT: Fun one: if you were one of the seven wives in this story, how confident are you that you’d survive the investigation without becoming the prime suspect?
ZT: Oh, I would be suspect number one immediately, are you kidding me? Aguilar and Halwell wouldn’t even have to question me; they’d find me having an anxiety attack in the bathroom and call it a day.
Seven Wives #1 is out today wherever comics are sold.
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