Helpful Score: 1
Engaged in Death by Stephanie Blackmoore is the first book in A Wedding Planner Mystery series. Mallory Shepard is engaged to Keith Pierce and busy planning her wedding with the "help" from Keith's overbearing mother, Helene. Mallory may not love Helene, but she does adore Keith's grandmother, Sylvia. Sylvia is 99 years old and has lived a full life (Mallory visits her frequently). One day Mallory receives an envelope (sent anonymously). When she opens it, she finds pictures of Keith in a compromising position with another woman. Mallory breaks off her engagement to Keith (talk about a lucky break). Then Sylvia passes away. Sylvia's attorney, Garrett Davies asks to speak with Mallory. Sylvia cared for Mallory as much as Mallory cared for Sylvia and had deeded (instead of leaving it to her in her will) Mallory her home Thistle Park in Port Quincy, Pennsylvania. Thistle Park is in bad shape, but the home has great potential. This really puts Helene's nose out of joint. Helene was counting on inheriting this home to sell the fracking rights (Sylvia was against it). Shane Harley of Lonestar Energy immediately approaches Mallory (she was just moving in) about selling the fracking rights on the property. Mallory refuses since it was not what Sylvia wanted. The next morning Mallory and her sister, Rachel (who moved into the house with her) finds Shane dead on the front lawn. Can anything else go wrong for Mallory? Well, it turns out that it is too late to cancel all aspects of her wedding reception (with all the hoopla that Helene wanted and Mallory did not). Mallory works to find someone that would like to use her reception (because Mallory was paying for the wedding even though Keith's family has money). Helene is not done with Mallory. Helene is determined to get her hands on Thistle Park and is going out of her way to make Mallory's life miserable (in her private and professional life). Mallory is going to have a busy time trying to get her name off the suspect list, find someone to take over her reception, and decide what to do with Thistle Park. Will she succeed? You will have to read Engaged in Death to get the answer.
Engaged in Death was a good cozy mystery. There are actually two mysteries going on in the book. They are both interesting, complex, and fun to solve. I liked the characters and the home of Thistle Park. There is also some romance in Engaged in Death. I look forward to seeing how it develops during the course of the series. I will be curious to see what happens with Thistle Park. Engaged in Death drew me in right from the beginning and I did not want it to end. I give Engaged in Death 4.5 out of 5 stars (I loved it but downgraded since I did solve the mysteries). I cannot wait (but I know I have to) to read the next book in A Wedding Planner Mystery series.
I received a complimentary copy of Engaged in Death from NetGalley (and Kensington) in exchange for an honest and fair evaluation of the novel.
Engaged in Death was a good cozy mystery. There are actually two mysteries going on in the book. They are both interesting, complex, and fun to solve. I liked the characters and the home of Thistle Park. There is also some romance in Engaged in Death. I look forward to seeing how it develops during the course of the series. I will be curious to see what happens with Thistle Park. Engaged in Death drew me in right from the beginning and I did not want it to end. I give Engaged in Death 4.5 out of 5 stars (I loved it but downgraded since I did solve the mysteries). I cannot wait (but I know I have to) to read the next book in A Wedding Planner Mystery series.
I received a complimentary copy of Engaged in Death from NetGalley (and Kensington) in exchange for an honest and fair evaluation of the novel.
Brenda H. (booksinvt) -
Engaged in Death is the first in the new A Wedding Planner cozy mystery series. Mallory Shepard is struggling hard to become a partner in the law firm of Russell Carey and trying desperately to regain control of planning her wedding to fiancé Keith Pierce.
Mallory "Mall" is having a difficult time getting along with soon to be mother in law, "Hurricane" Helene Pierce. Not quite up to Helene's societal expectations, the woman is doing everything she can to make Mall's life miserable. The only saving grace is Keith's grandmother Sylvia who can't stand Helene either.
Just three weeks before her nightmare of a Country Club wedding in Port Quincy, Pennsylvania, Sylvia suddenly passes away and Mall receives an unmarked envelope containing pictures of Keith in a compromising position with his mentee Becca Cunningham. Calling off the wedding to her cheating fiancé, Mall isolates herself in a hotel room until her sister Rachel appears on the doorstep. Mall is determined to attend Sylvia's funeral and following an ugly confrontation with Keith and Helene at the service, she and Rachel visit Garrett Davies, the executor of Sylvia's estate who had been leaving frantic messages on Mall's cell phone. It seems that Syliva has deeded her mansion, Thistle Park to Mallory.
Thistle Park has been abandoned for the past 4 years while Sylvia was ensconced in the nursing home and the house has gone to ruins. With nowhere else to go, Mall and Rachel move into the home in hopes of fixing it up to sell. There's quite a lot of interest in the mansion and it's land, Lonestar Energy wants to buy the property, raze the house and install drilling wells for fracking, Helene and Keith want the house to sell to Lonestar, and there is a shroud of mystery regarding paintings there were purported to be hidden in the house by Sylvia's mother, Evelyn McGavitt.
Sylvia had been adamant that she did not want the fracking company on her land, and Mall is determined to adhere to the elder woman's wishes. Instead, she and Rachel begin to fantasize about fixing up the mansion and turning it into a B&B that caters to wedding parties.
When Lonestar rep, Shane Hartley turns up dead in their front yard, Mall and Rachel set off on a whirlwind adventure to find the man's killer. Someone is determined to scare the girls away from the house, leaving threatening messages on their walls, and sabotaging their car. When another dead body turns up in the kitchen, the girls seriously begin to question their plans for the future.
A delightful cast of characters includes next door neighbor Garrett, his daughter Summer and his father Truman, who also happens to be the Chief of Police. The girls quickly make friends with local historian Tabitha Battles and seamstress Bev Mitchell. Nobody in town is fond of Helene or her son Keith and soon the girls discover that the locals are routing for her to keep the mansion out of their hands.
A fun filled mystery with separate plotlines that all tie together nicely in the end. A family of cats and a hint of romance. Definitely looking forward to the next in the series Murder Wears White releasing in 2017.
I received an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley via Kensington Publishing. While not required to write a review I am more than happy of offer my honest opinion.
Mallory "Mall" is having a difficult time getting along with soon to be mother in law, "Hurricane" Helene Pierce. Not quite up to Helene's societal expectations, the woman is doing everything she can to make Mall's life miserable. The only saving grace is Keith's grandmother Sylvia who can't stand Helene either.
Just three weeks before her nightmare of a Country Club wedding in Port Quincy, Pennsylvania, Sylvia suddenly passes away and Mall receives an unmarked envelope containing pictures of Keith in a compromising position with his mentee Becca Cunningham. Calling off the wedding to her cheating fiancé, Mall isolates herself in a hotel room until her sister Rachel appears on the doorstep. Mall is determined to attend Sylvia's funeral and following an ugly confrontation with Keith and Helene at the service, she and Rachel visit Garrett Davies, the executor of Sylvia's estate who had been leaving frantic messages on Mall's cell phone. It seems that Syliva has deeded her mansion, Thistle Park to Mallory.
Thistle Park has been abandoned for the past 4 years while Sylvia was ensconced in the nursing home and the house has gone to ruins. With nowhere else to go, Mall and Rachel move into the home in hopes of fixing it up to sell. There's quite a lot of interest in the mansion and it's land, Lonestar Energy wants to buy the property, raze the house and install drilling wells for fracking, Helene and Keith want the house to sell to Lonestar, and there is a shroud of mystery regarding paintings there were purported to be hidden in the house by Sylvia's mother, Evelyn McGavitt.
Sylvia had been adamant that she did not want the fracking company on her land, and Mall is determined to adhere to the elder woman's wishes. Instead, she and Rachel begin to fantasize about fixing up the mansion and turning it into a B&B that caters to wedding parties.
When Lonestar rep, Shane Hartley turns up dead in their front yard, Mall and Rachel set off on a whirlwind adventure to find the man's killer. Someone is determined to scare the girls away from the house, leaving threatening messages on their walls, and sabotaging their car. When another dead body turns up in the kitchen, the girls seriously begin to question their plans for the future.
A delightful cast of characters includes next door neighbor Garrett, his daughter Summer and his father Truman, who also happens to be the Chief of Police. The girls quickly make friends with local historian Tabitha Battles and seamstress Bev Mitchell. Nobody in town is fond of Helene or her son Keith and soon the girls discover that the locals are routing for her to keep the mansion out of their hands.
A fun filled mystery with separate plotlines that all tie together nicely in the end. A family of cats and a hint of romance. Definitely looking forward to the next in the series Murder Wears White releasing in 2017.
I received an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley via Kensington Publishing. While not required to write a review I am more than happy of offer my honest opinion.
