Wedding planner Annabelle Archer knew the wedding she was working on would be difficult, but she certainly wasn't expecting the mother of the bride to be murdered during the reception. The murder not only hurts Annabelle's reputation as a wedding planner, but her friend Richard Gerard, a caterer, is a major suspect. When there is a second murder which makes Richard even more of a suspect, Annabelle knows she has to work fast to clear his name. She has plenty of suspects but will she figure out who the killer is before she becomes the next victim?"Better Off Wed" is an uneven cozy mystery. The unevenness comes from the characters as some of them are well written and others barely register as characters. Annabelle is well done - good at her job and concerned about her friends. Caterer Richard is also well written and author Laura Durham deserves credit for having readers discover Richard is gay without stating the obvious. Too bad she doesn't do the same with Annabelle's assistant Kate and her habit of mangling familiar sayings - Durham points every single one of them out, which is too bad because it was one of the humorous aspects of the book. Outside of Annabelle, Richard, Kate, and Annabelle's elderly neighbor Leatrice, the rest of the characters aren't well written especially the murder victim's family. Because of this, the murder mystery aspects of the book aren't that interesting and it's hard for readers to try to figure out who the murderer is, which is part of the fun of reading cozy mysteries. And when the murderer finally is revealed, the motive for the murder is unbelievable."Better Off Wed" is just an okay debut cozy mystery novel.
Fun. When the mother of the bride is murdered at a wedding,the wedding planner decides to investigate. She fears that her first big society wedding will remembered as the most disastrous reception in history. Although I thoroughly enjoyed the story and the characters, I could not figure out what Anabelle thought she would learn in most of her investigative efforts. The suspicions she followed did make sense but sometimes it seemed as if she thought information was going to magically appear or that someone was going to confess just because she was there. Of course this is a cozy mystery where an amateur is expected to stick her nose where it doesn't belong. I loved the main characters. At first I figured Richard was going to be the stereotypical sidekick and clown. He did provide some humorous moments but he showed more sense than anyone else. I still don't know if Kate's malapropisms are intentional or accidental misuse of common sayings. Leatrice, the 80 plus year old neighbor, was a delight and once again managed to miss falling into a stereotype.I look forward to reading more of this delightful series and seeing if a relationship develops between Anabelle the Detective Reese.
Do You like book Better Off Wed (2005)?
A fun read, filled with engaging characters and enough mystery to satisfy any fans of the genre.Annabelle, Richard and Kate make an unstoppable, crime-solving trio, and the hot water that they're constantly in keeps the reader on their toes. Leatrice, Annabelle's nosey neighbour, also adds to the quirky fun in this novel. Girls will love the descriptions of all the disastrous weddings and frightening mothers-of-the-bride that is described here; many might even have experienced one or two of those. It's a real shame that Detective Reese didn't get to play a bigger role, however. I would've liked to see a little more development between him and Annabelle, beyond the few exchanges they had and one or two hints dropped by Durham that they're interested in each other. Perhaps the next book?Definitely worth a try! I'm off to find the next installment.
—Hannah
