Veiled in Death (A Wedding Planner Mystery Book 6)

Author:    Stephanie Blackmoore

Genre:     Mystery

Mass Market Paperback; Digital Book

ISBN #:    9781496717559

Kensington Publishing

320 Pages

$6.79; $.99 Amazon

September 29, 2020

⭐⭐⭐⭐

When Mallory discovers some old lace at a Port Quincy antique shop, she knows it'll make a perfect headpiece.  But she's barely gotten it out of the store before Helene Pierce tears it from her hands.  Helene claims it's a family heirloom that went missing when her late husband died in a hit-and-run twenty-five years ago.

The conflict gets more complicated when the veil is attributed to none other than famed seamstress Betsy Ross.  Mallory may have a genuine museum piece on her hands, but meanwhile Independence Day is right around the corner and she has to host the town's Revolutionary War re-enactment.  then it becomes clear there's a bigger mystery behind all this history when a local woman is murdered with a musket -- and Mallory's investigation could set off some fireworks...

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Mallory Shepard owns and operates Thistle Park B&B, a mansion that was left to her by its late owner.  She's usually busy, but even more so since she's planning a wedding for the local bridal shop owner and catering the food for a Revolutionary War re-enactment, along with trying to find time to get married herself.  When she's out shopping for antiques for her friend Bev, she spots a length of lace that she thinks would be perfect for a veil, so she and her friend split the cost and leave the store.  Unfortunately, they come across Mallory's ex-mother-in-law-to-be, except for the fact that she broke it off with her son.  However, Helene Pierce isn't a woman who takes things lightly, and sees the veil, insisting it belongs to her and rips it from Mallory's hands.  When the police chief, Truman Davies, shows up, it's shown that the lace is legally Mallory's, and Helene insists this is not over.

But Mallory has bigger problems: her mother wants her married -- and pregnant -- now, and is setting about insisting she do so.  She's telling her that her younger sister can run the B&B while she's having babies, and is pushing her.  Mallory's at her wits' end, which doesn't help when there's a murder.  Now she's looking for a killer -- and a thief -- and trying to figure out how it all ties together...

I have read every book in this series, and especially enjoyed the last two, but this one seems different, almost as if the author was just trying to finish it.  There are inconsistencies -- in earlier books, Rachel was seven years younger, then six, and now she's only four years younger.  Huh?  And how could Rachel be part owner of the B&B when it wasn't left to her and she didn't put any money into it?  Rachel, in my opinion, is selfish, self-serving, and extremely vain.  Mallory's mother isn't much better; if I had a mother like that I'd ship her off to parts unknown to live.  I really don't like either of them at all.  (Besides, who wears jelly sandals?)

The murder didn't occur until the book was halfway over, so you had to read about a lot of 'filler' until you got to it, including her mother and sister hounding her constantly.  (If her mother wanted grandbabies so bad, why wasn't she hounding Rachel, too?).  It was starting to get annoying.  Not to mention, when did Summer become vegan?  

Now that I've got that off my chest, the identity of the murderer was a complete surprise, which I do like, and Ms. Blackmoore has been able to pull off in other books.  It's always nice to be as surprised as the protagonist, and this book was no different.  So there's the big plus in the book.  But I get the feeling that this book may be the last in the series, and I could be wrong, but there were some things which seemed out of place that made me think so.  I would have loved to have seen a different ending altogether, but oh, well.  I would love to see this series continue, as I do like Mallory and many of the other characters and enjoy spending time with them.  At any rate, the book was a nice read, and I am still glad that I read it.

https://www.amazon.com/Veiled-Death-Wedding-Planner-Mystery/dp/1496717554/ref

Goodreads:    https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3954519460

More on Stephanie Blackmoore's Books:    https://www.fantasticfiction.com/b/stephanie-blackmoore/

Marry Christmas Murder (A Wedding Planner Mystery #5)

Author:    Stephanie Blackmoore

Genre:      Mystery

Mass Market Paperback; Digital Book

ISBN #:    9781496717535

Kensington Publishing

314 Pages

$7.99; $5.99 Amazon

September 24, 2019

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Olivia's dreaming of a white Christmas -- as in a white wedding gown and all the trimmings.  But that's not the only event that's keeping everyone busy.  Olivia's family are in real estate development, and they're sponsoring Paws and Poinsettias -- a benefit for the Port Quincy animal shelter.  Meanwhile, Mallory's mom wants to use her daughter's connection to snag a job staging homes for the company...and the current stager is not filled with holiday cheer at the news that she might be replaced.

When the endangered employee downs some antifreeze-spiked punch at a party, Mallory has a murder to solve -- among other mysteries including a missing cat, a toy-drive heist, and a baby found in a manger thirty years earlier...

✽✽✽✽✽✽✽✽

Mallory Shepard inherited a mansion from her ex-fiancé's grandmother, and turned it into a B&B.  She left her law practice and decided to become an event planner.  Now she's exited to plan the wedding of her friend Olivia, who is getting married in the spring...or was, anyway.  Olivia wants her to move the wedding up to December 23rd, and while Mallory is busy with other commitments, she wants to help her friend, so agrees.  

But things aren't going the way she planned.  Olivia's family are in real estate, and they've decided to build in Port Quincy, where Mallory lives.  Not many people are happy about it, but the Marches don't care.  They run roughshod over everyone, and now Mallory has to deal with them, too.  As if that isn't bad enough, her mother Carole and stepfather Doug have decided to move back, too, and are staying with Mallory at her B&B.  

What's even worse is the fact that Carole wants a staging job with the Marches -- one that is currently held by Lacey Adams.  So it's a surprise when Mallory goes to check on her decorations for Paws and Poinsettias that she and Lacey designed, and discover her mother has redone everything to her own design instead.  When Lacey calls Carole out on it, she feels terrible, and when Lacey is later found poisoned by a drink that Carole handed her, she's the main suspect in the murder.

Now Mallory is planning a wedding and trying to keep her mother out of jail, which isn't easy since her mother keeps doing things that might put her in there.  With problems on the home front, and her boyfriend Garrett considering a move to a different job, she's heartsick, but hoping the wedding will keep her mind off it.  It might work since she's also trying to solve the origin of Olivia's birth, but someone doesn't want her to, and it might be deadly if she tries...

This is the fifth book in the series and I've read every one.  What I think about Mallory isn't that she's weak; it's just that she's used to her sister and mother being the way they are and she's given up trying to do anything about it.  I have said in previous posts that I didn't like Rachel because she's selfish and self-centered and doesn't help much around the B&B other than baking.  Well, now I see where she gets it from.  Carole is worse than Rachel.  She totally destroys Mallory's work, saying she 'didn't think she'd care.'  Excuse me?  You just go in and ruin what your daughter has worked hard to do and think it's alright?  What kind of mother is this?  Also, she says when Mallory and Garrett get married (and he hasn't proposed yet) that they can move out of the B&B and leave the apartment for Rachel.  Say what?  The B&B belongs to Mallory.  It's her home.  Why should she move?  Rachel should move instead.  She doesn't own the place.  Nothing like figuring out who the favorite child is.  Certainly not the one who works her fingers to the bone, but the one who's centered on her looks.  How shallow is this woman that she can't see Mallory's worth?  Tell Rachel to move her butt out.  That irritated me no end and made me dislike Carole even more.  (Also, I don't care for her tropical designs, but oh, well).

Anyway, with what I've said above, I just wanted Carole to go back to Florida but I suppose that won't happen.  So, while Carole won't keep her mouth shut Mallory is on the hunt to find a killer.  But she never thought it would trace all the way back to Olivia's birth.  It's an interesting story line, and I did enjoy reading about it.  I liked the way it all came together, and I will read the next in the series.  I did have to take away one star because of the other two Shepard women, who distract from the mystery.  

https://www.amazon.com/Christmas-Murder-Wedding-Planner-Mystery/dp/1496717538/ref

Goodreads:     https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3952268646

More on Stephanie Blackmoore's Books:    https://www.fantasticfiction.com/b/stephanie-blackmoore/

Gown with the Wind (A Wedding Planner Mystery #4)

 Author:    Stephanie Blackmoore

Genre:      Mystery

Mass Market Paperback; Digital Book (Other Formats Available)

ISBN #:    9781496717511

Kensington Mystery

336 Pages

$7.99; $1.99 Amazon

December 18, 2018

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Mallory's fine -- really -- handling the wedding arrangements for her ex, Keith.  But his fiancée, Becca, has at the last minute decided to switch from a Japanese-cherry-blossom theme to a Gone with the Wind theme.  She wants to honor her ailing grandmother, who owns an impressive collection of GWTH memorabilia -- and who is fiercely at odds with the groom's mother over the nuptial plans.

But among other complications, Becca gets into a fight with an old childhood rival over a replica Scarlett O'Hara wedding gown.  She wins the dress -- but soon becomes a murder suspect when the other woman is found dead in Becca's swimming pool.  And it's up to Mallory to solve the mystery behind this unhappy occasion, before a different kind of civil war breaks out...

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Mallory Shepard owns a large mansion she's turned into a B&B and runs it along with her younger sister, Rachel.  Currently, they have their hands full with a baby shower, Mother's Day tea, and two weddings coming up - those of Mallory's ex-fiancé Keith and Becca; and another couple who are arriving from Columbia, Eric and Piper.  

While wedding dress shopping with Becca, Becca spots a dress that looks like it stepped right out of the film Gone with the Wind, and decides she must have it for her wedding.  But then Becca's old enemy Felicity sees it and a fight ensues, with Becca winning the dress.  Mallory hopes that will be the end of it, but no such luck.  Things get worse when Felicity is found floating in Becca and Keith's swimming pool wearing the dress.  Now there's a murderer on the loose, and Mallory knows this could spell disaster.  But things soon dissolve into chaos, with arson, attacks, threats, and a shooting -- and Mallory is stuck right where she doesn't want to be -- in the middle of it.  Hopefully, police chief Truman Davies will be able to solve the crimes before Mallory becomes another victim...

I have been reading this series in order and so far this is my favorite book.  However, what I have never understood is Keith's malice toward Mallory.  He's the one who ruined their engagement, so he should be somewhat remorseful, and at least civil toward her, but he's more malicious instead.  How long can someone hold a grudge for something they did?

I did like that the plot was filled with several red herrings, and suspects almost everywhere you looked.  It left me to my own devices to see if I could ferret out the killer, and I was right in nearly everything, but still it was a bit of a surprise when the murderer was discovered.  The climax was as I would expect it to be, with peril to innocent people, but it all came about right in the end, as we knew it would.  I will continue to read this series and look forward to the next.  Recommended. 

https://www.amazon.com/Gown-Wind-Wedding-Planner-Mystery/dp/1496717511/ref

Goodreads:    https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3942661975

More on Stephanie Blackmoore's Books:    https://www.fantasticfiction.com/b/stephanie-blackmoore/

Murder Borrowed, Murder Blue (A Wedding Planner Mystery #3)

Author:    Stephanie Blackmoore

Genre:     Mystery

Mass Market Paperback; Digital Book (Other Formats Available)

ISBN #:    9781496704825

Kensington Mystery

353 Pages

$7.99; $5.99 Amazon

January 30, 2018

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Actress Dakota Craig is set to tie the knot with her famous musician boyfriend at Mallory's Pennsylvania B&B on the most romantic day of the year.  Best of all, the whole thing will air on the reality TV show I Do.  But the maid of honor has dropped out of the wedding party -- by dropping dead.

A lot of people insist the show must go on, so Mallory's investigation keeps getting sidetracked by everything from a meddling mother to a foot of snow to a side project making arrangements for a high school Winter Ball.  But if she doesn't catch the noxious culprit, the bride might wind up with a funeral wreath instead of a bouquet...

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Mallory Shepard is settling in nicely in her mansion, deeded to her by her ex-fiancé's grandmother.  She's turned it into a thriving B&B and wedding planning business, along with her sister Rachel, who does the baking.  She's agreed to host a wedding for a TV reality show called I Do, with the celebrity wedding to be actress Dakota Craig and her country-star boyfriend, Beau Wright.  But she was also strong-armed a while back to host the Winter Ball for a girls' academy by her almost-ex-mother-in-law, Helene Pierce, and it coincides with the show, so she's doubly busy.

When everyone arrives, she's happy to see that they're pleased with her ideas, making things go a bit smoother.  But when the maid of honor turns up dead the night of the Winter Ball in Mallory's office, suddenly things go haywire.  Now Mallory has another murder on her hands - to the consternation of police chief Truman Davies.  As if that's not bad enough, she's discovered that the host of the show is her boyfriend Garrett Davies' ex -- and mother of his daughter Summer.  Not to mention that her sister has a one-track mind and is hounding Mallory for another reason.  Now she's trying to figure everything out, including if running the B&B was such a good idea in the first place...

This is the third book in the series, and I felt that in many ways it was better than the second.  But, I still do not like Rachel.  She's manipulative, selfish, self-centered, and spiteful.  She attacks Mallory with snide remarks, and even thinks it's fine that Mallory suffers as long as she gets what she wants!  What a sister.  I wouldn't have anything to do with her.  I'd tell her to get out and hire another baker.  Especially since Rachel doesn't help Mallory with any of the cleaning duties, either.  She's practically worthless, as far as sisters go.

Unfortunately, that made parts of the book irritating.  Even so, I still enjoyed the story line, and Mallory definitely had her hands full with trying to plan a wedding -- several times over -- and keep everyone happy in the process.  Her relationship with Garrett is undergoing a few problems because of the ex, but she does try not to let it bother her.  And yes, we do have Helene Pierce throwing her weight around occasionally -- I wish she'd just go away, too.  I really abhor the 'evil nemesis' in books, almost as much as I abhor love triangles (and try to avoid books that have them).  

But finding a killer isn't all that easy when there are so many suspects -- a houseful of them, actually -- and trying to figure out who had motive to kill the woman is difficult, especially when Mallory thinks that everyone loved the woman.  But when it comes down to the wire, Mallory figures it out almost too late, and of course the murderer is apprehended (as we know they will be) and we're given a taste of what is to come next in the series.   Recommended.

https://www.amazon.com/Murder-Borrowed-Wedding-Planner-Mystery-ebook/dp/B0725F8BYD/ref

Goodreads:    https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3940446043

More on Stephanie Blackmoore's Books:    https://www.fantasticfiction.com/b/stephanie-blackmoore/

Murder Wears White (A Wedding Planner Mystery #2)

Author:    Stephanie Blackmoore

Genre:     Mystery

Mass Market Paperback; Digital Book

ISBN #:    9781496704801

Kensington Mystery

353 Pages

$6.51; $5.99 Amazon

January 31, 2017

⭐⭐⭐

Mallory hopes to unveil her new B&B just in time for her first ceremony as a wedding planner.  The renovations to Thistle Park -- the mansion she inherited in small-town Port Quincy, Pennsylvania -- are almost complete.  But what Mallory didn't plan on is the bride's aunt being poisoned at the wedding tasting and her perfect venue becoming a crime scene.

Adding to the mystery is the discovery that this is not the first murder in the bridal family, and as Mallory becomes engaged in her own investigation she learns the man convicted of the crime may not be guilty.  Now she has two crimes to solve before the bride walks down the aisle -- but a killer has other plans to ensure that Mallory forever holds her peace...

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Mallory Shepard is hosting her first wedding at her new B&B, that is, if it's finished in time.  The bride, Whitney Scanlon, has moved the wedding up because her father is dying and she wants him there.  So Mallory is on a crunched schedule to get things done, and she needs all the help she can get.  Her contractor, Jesse Flowers, and his crew are working overtime, and she's crossing her fingers everything will be done.

But Whitney requests a special menu because several of her family members have allergies, and Mallory and her sister Rachel are happy to comply.  At the wedding tasting, everything seems to be going fine...until Rachel discovers the body of Whitney's aunt, Lois, on the floor.  At first it's ruled an accident, but then the police chief, Truman Davies, tells Mallory it was murder.  Now Mallory wants to know who killed the woman and why.  But even though Truman tells her to stay out of the investigation, he finds himself leaning on her a bit, and if Mallory can stay alive, she just might figure this out...

But there's more going on behind the scenes: a ghost hunting crew has shown up because of the strange noises coming from the house; Mallory can't find time to spend with her boyfriend, attorney Garrett Davies, who is Truman's son; the construction crew doesn't want to work with ghosts; there are 'accidents' befalling several people; the planning commission is stalling on her request to open a B&B; and her ex-fiancé Keith has shown up with his girlfriend Becca (the one who broke up the engagement).

Mallory's also taken with the story of Whitney's mother Vanessa, who just disappeared one day and then her body was found ten years later.  Garrett believes the man convicted is innocent, and Mallory believes him.  But in looking at past history, she just might find herself in danger in the present...

This is the second book in the series and I have to say that I really enjoyed the first.  But this book somehow, as you can tell, has just Too Many Plot Lines.  All these subplots -- including her mother showing up with a secret of her own and an ex-girlfriend of Garrett's showing up (well, you get the drift) -- distract from the murder.  I would much have preferred if it only included the present murder and the murder of Vanessa, sort of a link from past to present.  But with everything else going on, it seemed just a bit too much.

What didn't make sense is that at one point Mallory said that Lois made an offer for a bribe when she meant a request for one.  I also do not like Rachel at all.  Yes, she's a good cook, but she steals clothes and jewelry from her sister which she just laughs off and Mallory allows her to get away with it.  (I grew up with a sister who did this to me, and it's not funny at all.  We weren't the same size and she split seams, stole my entire jewelry box -- which was never recovered -- and many other things from my room and closet and it was not funny.  It was downright mean.)  So Rachel needs to buy her own clothes and leave Mallory alone.  She needs to stop being so selfish and self-centered.  Not to mention growing up a bit about men.  Looks (cleft chins) aren't everything, as she's hopefully finding out.  Rant over.

Anyway, other than that, there was just too much going on all the time.  Automatically calling a ghost hunting team seemed a bit overkill, and there were too many scenarios that just screamed Over the Top.  Especially her mother, who somehow thinks a tropical setting is perfect for an old Victorian mansion.  Seriously?  I would not enjoy living in that space.

Anyway, these are the reasons I'm only giving it three stars.  Hopefully in the next book Mallory won't find herself in the middle of a frenzy.

https://www.amazon.com/Murder-Wears-Wedding-Planner-Mystery/dp/1496704800/ref

Goodreads:    https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3936659048

More on Stephanie Blackmoore's Books:    https://www.fantasticfiction.com/b/stephanie-blackmoore/