Author: Erin Scroggins
Genre: Mystery
Trade Paperback; Digital Book
ISBN #: 9781953826046
Helium Press
264 Pages
$12.99; $3.99 Amazon
July 16, 2021
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Two rival towns. One decades-old feud. A copper pig named Earl. Can she pull off their dream wedding before bad blood turns deadly?
The citizens of Flat Falls love a good wedding, especially when it falls in the middle of their famed Founder's Day festival, affectionately known as the Roadkill Jubilee. But when wedding planner Glory Wells unearths a skeleton and cracks open a family mystery that points the finger squarely at her deceased father, family fireworks threaten the happy couple's nuptials.
As Glory closes in on the killer, her investigation takes a personal turn. Can she clear her father's name, avoid a team of matchmaking chickens, and bring two communities together before the bridal brawl puts a murderer on the road to revenge?
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Glory Wells owns Carolina Weddings, her bridal planning business. Right now she's got the biggest contract ever - the bride is the daughter of the mayor, and the groom is the son of neighboring town Big River's best chef. But when the bride disappears, it's up to Glory to find her -- which she does. But all does not go well when Ruby gets in Glory's car and seems to see something that sets her off -- she pushes on Glory's gas pedal and slams into the town's statue, a pig named Big Earl. But when Big Earl destroys Glory's car, it seems there's another surprise: a skeleton in its base, and it turns out to be someone that can make her father look like a killer.
Now, Glory is determined to find out the truth, even if it means facing her ornery grandmother who wants nothing to do with her, and a nasty chef who thinks he owns the world. But then another tragedy occurs, and time is running out on both the wedding and the murder investigation -- and Glory might just have known the killer all along...
This is the third book in the series and I loved it as much as the first two. Glory is one of the strongest female protagonists I've seen in awhile, but also one of the most clumsiest, which turns out to be pretty funny. Then there's the woman who raised her from age five when her parents were killed, her Aunt Beverlee, who's been married four times and always looking; loves gardening and cooking; and is more adventurous than anyone Glory knows...not to mention Matilda the chicken, whom Beverlee refers to as Glory's "sister." It makes for an interesting book.
Also an interesting place I'd love to visit if I could meet all these people, especially during the Roadkill festival...which brings us back to the wedding planning and the murder. The groom's father doesn't think anything is good enough and barks orders so much that Glory fights him against taking over the wedding planning; and then her grandmother actually speaks to her (which surprises her -- but that's another story); and she's just trying to keep the groom from absconding and the bride from calling everything off. Just another day in the life of Glory Wells.
The mystery itself is extremely intriguing; we have old secrets and lies that are coming to the forefront and someone doesn't want any of them known -- someone who would rather kill than expose the past. But Glory keeps digging, determined to find out the truth about her father and prove he wasn't a murderer; yet while all the evidence points to him, Glory is sure there's something else but she just can't find it. Desperate and knowing she's on the right trail, she almost misses the clues in front of her because she's focused on something else, and it may be an eye-opening but life closing experience for her in the end...
When the killer is found we realize that insanity can rear its head at odd moments, and we never know what lives in the minds of others, or what they will do to protect themselves. The book is funny, sad, action-packed, and filled with lively and likeable characters that I hope to visit with again. Highly recommended.
More on Erin Scroggins's Books: https://www.amazon.com/Erin-Scoggins/e/B08K3QN665?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_2&qid=1627151806&sr=8-2
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