To Have and To Hold: Weddings Can Be Murder

Weddings. A celebration. Families gathering together. Lots of tension. And in mysteries there can be lots of murders. Is it the bride or groom who is lost? A guest at the wedding? Or is it shady Uncle Lou who always had some dicey business connections? As I gathered together titles for the To Have and To Hold: Weddings Can Be Murder book discussion for our book group Much Ado About Mysteries, I did not realize how many wedding mysteries there were. Almost every author seems to have written one.

Some books feature the sleuths themselves getting married. Other sleuths are merely attendees at the event, or are working the event. And in other stories, the murder seems as if it is just a random but tragic accident.

Weddings are a major life event for most people, and I think that is why there are so many stories about the occasion. If you want to join the discussion - come join our book group Much Ado About Mysteries on Thursday June 18th at 7:00 pm. We will be discussing our wedding mysteries and sharing tales of nuptial disasters. Come to the Reader Services desk to grab a bibliography for a list of titles to read or try out the ones below.

Murder With Peacocks  by Donna Andrews - Meg Lanslow, maid of honor for three impending weddings, returns to her Virginia small-town home for the summer in order to arrange the details. Amidst the near disasters, truculent brides-to-be, screwball relatives, and minutiae-filled days, someone kills the rudely annoying sister of her mother's fiance. Meg's divorced but amicable father, an insatiable busybody and doctor, begins investigating--with assistance from Meg.

The Wedding Shawl by Sally Goldenbaum - When Izzy Chambers' wedding plans begin to unravel after her wedding party's stylist is found dead, the Seaside Knitters must not only find some answers, but complete the wedding shawl they made for the bride.

A Curious Indian Cadaver by Shamini Flint - Inspector Singh is sick of sick leave, so when Mrs Singh suggests they attend a family wedding in Mumbai, he grudgingly agrees - hoping that the spicy Indian curries will make up for extended exposure to his wife's relatives. Unfortunately, the beautiful bride-to-be disappears on the eve of her wedding - did she run away to avoid an arranged marriage, or is there something more sinister afoot? When a corpse is found, the fat inspector is soon dragged into a curious murder investigation with very firm instructions from Mrs Singh to exonerate her family. But as he uncovers layer upon layer of deceit, he knows it isn't going to be that easy.