Bride and Doom

October 23, 2006
Stuffed with charm and zany characters, this frothy cozy from Donnelly delivers plenty of color but lacks the investigative oomph of its predecessors (You May Now Kill the Bride
, etc.). This may be due to the preoccupation of Seattle wedding planner Carnegie Kincaid with her own upcoming nuptials, or it could be the promise she made to her fiancé, Aaron Gold, to keep her nose out of harm's way. Whatever the reason, Carnegie spends more time thinking about cakes, flowers and why Aaron won't set a date for their wedding than she does tracking down the creep who murdered a sports commentator at her latest high-profile fete. Carnegie's friend Boris has been tagged for the crime, but she knows that it must have been one of the other attendees—and her suspicion points toward the groom, a pro baseball player. Carnegie's list of suspects is short and her sleuthing methods—calling the party attendees, visiting the victim's ex—less than impressive. However, appearances by cake maker extraordinaire Juice, the boisterous Buckmeisters and Carnegie's no-nonsense friend Lily, among others, fill this void with a rowdy and largely diverting din.