Author: Lena Gregory
Genre: Mystery
Trade Paperback; Digital Book
ISBN #: 9781516110506
Lyrical Press Publishing
202 Pages
$15.99; $5.39 Amazon
October 12, 2021
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'Tis the season when Gia Morelli's holidays include both a wedding and yuletide festivities. Until someone naughty delivers a most unwanted Christmas gift -- murder...
For a native New Yorker, palm trees and warm temperatures don't equal winter, much less Christmastime. Nevertheless, Gia Morelli's friends have decked the halls and trimmed the trees to truly welcome her into their "family" with an old-fashioned Boggy Creek, Florida holiday season. Even more joyous, Savannah Mills is getting married on Christmas Eve -- the greatest gift Gia could ever wish for her friend.
But when Gia and Savannah stop by the caterer for a final tasting a week before the wedding, they overhear another bride arguing with her son about her husband-to-be. Moments later, the woman is sampling a piece of wedding cake -- gorgeously decorated with mistletoe frosting -- then suddenly dies.
Now Gia's caterer friends are the prime suspects in what appears to be murder by poisoning. To clear their names and ensure Savannah has a merry matrimony will require Gia to conjure up a Christmas miracle...
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Gia Morelli is almost as excited about the wedding of her best friend Savannah as the bride. Almost all the preparations have been taken care of, but they need to go to the caterer to finalize Savannah's choices for the rehearsal dinner and the wedding. When they arrive, a mother and her son run out of the caterer's building, arguing with each other. It seems the son doesn't like the choice of husband, and claims he's only after her money. They wait for the situation to die down, then they enter. The caterer is also a friend, and she tells them that these people have been arguing all day. But barely ten minutes pass when the women hear another woman scream, and they head to the source. The mother is on the floor motionless, and no one is doing anything to help her. Gia jumps into action giving the woman CPR, and Savannah calls her fiancé, police detective Leo Dumont.
When the police arrive the woman is taken by ambulance to the hospital, but Gia learns that she later died. Now Gia wants to know who killed the woman and why, but it appears that every one of the people in the room had a motive, perhaps even the caterers. Determined to solve the mystery before Savannah's wedding, Gia sets out to discreetly question the suspects, hoping one of them will drop their guard and say the right thing...which is that they committed the crime. That is, if the killer doesn't find Gia first...
This is the sixth book in the series and I have read all of them. Ms. Gregory is a talented writer that brings you into her stories easily, and you wander through the pages along with the characters, trying to figure out who Did The Deed. It's a pleasant romp through the mystery, and it keeps you interested while you watch Gia do her magic.
This book was especially fun because I love Christmas and everything surrounding it, so reading about all the preparations that took place before the wedding made me long for the holiday to arrive (but not too soon, mind you). The descriptions were delightful and brought us into the winter wonderland that stood before the two women.
The suspects all had secrets, and it brought to mind a Sir Walter Scott quote: Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive. (Marmion; 1808). All of the suspects are deceiving in one way or another, but Gia is trying to sift through the lies to discover the truth. Luckily, she has her friends to help her, and Savannah always has her back.
But it's not as easy said or done. No one wants to talk, and when they do, they accuse each other. So Gia and Savannah are on their own (they can't tell Leo or Gia's boyfriend Hunt what they are doing, obviously -- even though Hunt knows anyway); and it's a lot of fun to watch them race the clock to find out the truth.
When they do figure out the killer, it does come as a bit of a surprise, but that is always a good thing; and although it's a motive as old as time, it's still rather sad to watch deluded people who think their reasons are good enough to keep them from the law. In the end, I loved the entire book, including the final scenes, and I can't wait to read the next in the series. Highly recommended.
I received an advance copy from the publisher and NetGalley but this in no way influenced my review.
More on Lena Gregory's Books: https://www.fantasticfiction.com/g/lena-gregory/
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