Death at a Highland Wedding by Kelley Armstrong

July 26, 2025

Death at a Highland Wedding by Kelley Armstrong

Time traveling detective Mallory Armstrong has been stuck in 19th century Scotland for almost a year, working as the assistant to mortician Dr. Duncan Gray, the mixed race illegitimate son of an upper middle class family. She and Duncan are invited to the wedding of his best friend's sister at her fiance's highland hunting lodge. There is tension among the wedding guests and also with the locals, which only escalates when one of the guests is found murdered on the estate grounds. Instead of being a country holiday with friends, Mallory and Duncan find themselves tying to save the groom from the gallows.

The fourth book in the Rip Through Time series. The author gives enough background that this can be read as a standalone mystery if you haven't read the previous mysteries in the series, or if you're like me and it's been a while since you read the last book. Successfully evokes the customs, attitudes, and class distinctions, as well as police methods of the time. I loved how Mallory almost melted into a puddle when one of the characters finally shows up in a kilt. Looking forward to the next book in the series. Recommended for readers of historical mysteries like the Sebastian St. Cyr or the Lady Julia Grey mysteries, or the Outlander historical series.

Many thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for providing an eARC for review.

Hunting lodge in the Scottish highlands

The Wedding People by Alison Espach

June 11, 2024

The Wedding People by Alison Espach

It's right after the COVID-19 pandemic, and Phoebe is checking into a grand hotel in Rhode Island. She always wanted to stay at the hotel with her husband, but unfortunately he found a younger woman and divorced Phoebe. Between the divorce, losing interest in her job as an English professor, and the isolation of the pandemic, Phoebe sank into depression and decided there is nothing left for her. So she makes a reservation to visit the hotel by herself and end her life there - with her cat's pain killers, which taste and smell like tuna. But when she arrives, Phoebe discovers that the whole place has been booked for a week-long wedding event and that she has essentially crashed the party.

Some of the descriptions may lead you to believe this is a rom-com, but it's not. This is a delightful feel-good read, one of the best books that I've read this year, written with warmth and humor and a wonderful writing style. The storyline focuses on the connection that we all long to make with others, and that most of us are lonely inside, even when surrounded by other people. The characters are all likable, and you want them all to have a happy ending, even the self-centered bride and Phoebe's ex-husband. The dialogue has a genuine ring to it. And it's so much like a real wedding: all the weird family members, the friends that you suspect may actually be frenemies, the kids sneaking alcohol under the adults' noses, things going wrong, no matter how carefully you plan. Strongly recommended to anyone who enjoys a good story with great characters. A major studio has already picked up the film rights.

Many thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for providing an eARC for review.

A Rhode Island wedding

The Guest List by Lucy Foley

October 4, 2021

The Guest List by Lucy Foley

At an exclusive island resort off the coast of Ireland, a magazine publisher and a television star have planned the destination wedding of their dreams. But the wedding party and the guests are more like frenemies than real friends. Things start to go badly wrong shortly after the vows are said and the champagne is opened, when a body is discovered on the grounds.

An homage to Agatha Christie's "And Then There Were None." Like Christie's mystery, it's psychological fiction, slow-burning and slow moving, with many different narrators and everyone suspecting everyone else. Many of the characters are not who the others think they are. The solution to the mystery and the conclusion are satisfying. Pay attention to the change in narrators and the subtle clues that are dropped throughout. Revenge is a dish best served cold.

The Secret Bridesmaid by Katy Birchall

April 20, 2021

The Secret Bridesmaid by Katy Birchall

Sophie Breeze is a full-time professional bridesmaid - she is a wedding planner who poses as a bride's friend to help plan the perfect day without being obvious about it. When she is hired for the society wedding of the year, it's a chance for her to really shine. The family is uber-wealthy, uber-aristocratic (these are people who refer to the Duchess of Cambridge as "Katherine").

But of course, the bride turns out to be the bridezilla from hell. She doesn't understand why she needs to work with a wedding planner or why the wedding planner is going to pose as a bridesmaid. The main problem is, the bride doesn't have any friends, so other than the groom's sister, she has no one that she can ask to be an attendant. Sophie needs all her skill and charm to pull off the wedding of a lifetime. And maybe catch the eye of the bride's older brother.

What's out for a society wedding - like I would know something about that

I'm usually not a romance or rom-com reader but this was sweet and funny. It didn't have the usual rom-com hate-to-love plot, more like "wow, he's way above my pay grade, but I really like him and he likes me." Enjoyable, perfect summer reading.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an eARC.

Killing with Confetti by Peter Lovesey

July 2, 2019

Killing with Confetti by Peter Lovesey

Meh.  Part of a long-running series featuring Detective Peter Diamond, and not the strongest entry.

The premise is intriguing:  the son of a police chief and the daughter of a crime boss decide to marry, causing a security nightmare for the Bath police force.  Diamond finds himself assigned to act as unwilling bodyguard to the crime boss.  But too much time was spent in the first half of the book on characters who have nothing to do with the plot and essentially disappear in the second half.  The final plot twist was clever, but not that well supported, so no recommendation on this one.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an e-ARC in return for a review.