SOURCE: A review of Wicked Women, in Kirkus Reviews, March 15, 1997, p. 417.

In the following review, the anonymous critic offers praise for Wicked Women.

The antagonists who populate these 20 stories [in Wicked Women] are indeed very wicked (no surprise to readers of Weldon's 21 novels, including Worst Fears, 1996), but they're not always women. Both sexes and all ages come in for some merry tweaking by this master of sexual satire—making this outing a familiar pleasure for old fans and a thoroughly satisfying introduction for newcomers.

When Defoe Desmond's middle-aged wife confronts him about his affair in "End of the Line," she's covered with white ash (she happens to be cleaning the fireplace), and when she kisses him she leaves the ashy mark of death on his cheek. What better indicator that it's time for Defoe to bail out with the fiendishly seductive Weena Dodds, a New Age Times journalist...