Book 17, 2023
Feb. 15th, 2023 09:22 pm
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Knocked back the rest of Fatal Fascinator, by Jenn McKinlay, last night. It's the seventh part of her "Hat Shop" mystery series, told in first-person pov by the main character Scarlett Parker.
When Piper May, the frenemy of Scarlett's cousin Viv asks Viv to design the bridesmaid's hats for her elaborate wedding, Viv is at first reluctant. It's Scarlett who talks her into it, primarily because the wedding venue is a castle, and Scarlett is scoping out potential sites for her own upcoming nuptials. Scarlett is excited to be spending the weekend at a medieval castle and hobnobbing with the wealthy elite. On the first evening of the festivities, however, Scarlett finds the groom dead in the library. Now all of the guests have been ordered to remain at the castle while the police investigate. Scarlett can't help but recall an argument she overheard between the groom and another woman, and her natural curiosity has her searching for means, motives, and clues. When someone else winds up dead, the pressure is on to catch a killer before anyone else is murdered.
This was a fast-paced story, considering most of the action took place over the wedding weekend. The setting was interesting, and I really loved the legend of the ghost of the McKenna bride. Minor complaints: I'd forgotten that whenever Scarlett's friends start making up puns and laughing, they all go deadpan when she adds one, too. I mean, it was funny the first time the author did that, but it's a running theme throughout the books, and frankly I find it rude. Second is the 'lather, rinse, repeat' of main character finds dead body and almost ends up a dead body herself. Change it up, authors! I am begging you! Finally ( Spoiler! )
Favorite lines:
♦ No one likes a limelight thief.
♦ "It's completely unacceptable to have a hatless bridal party. I mean, we're not savages."
♦ "There's always someone poking around looking for the McKenna bride where they're not supposed to."
♦ Give me a group of overweight, unfashionable, bighearted funny girls any day over these half-starved, haute couture-wearing, mean, miserable women.
Solid story, but I'm knocking a point off for the boring old trope of 'mc finds body at beginning, is almost killed by murderer at the end'. For the love of literature, do something different!