Veiled in Death
Series: Wedding Planner Mystery Book #6
Author: Stephanie Blackmoore
Publisher: Kensington Books
Page Count: 204
My Rating:
Book Summary
Wedding planner Mallory Shepard doesn’t have time to organize her own nuptials–because right now she’s engaged in solving a murder…
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…
More Facts for Readers about our Sleuth:
Main Sleuth: Mallory Shepard (age, early thirties)
Physical Description: White female, blonde hair, curly
Best friend: Bev Mitchell
Location: Port Quincy, Pennsylvania
Time of Year: June-July
Business: Wedding Planner (owns a mansion B&B “Thistle Park” with her sister)
Pet: 2 Cats. Whiskey, a tiny calico kitten, and Soda, a cream-colored cat.
Love Interest: Garrett Davies, he’s a lawyer and has a 14 year old daughter (Summer).
Family: Mom, Step-Dad, Younger Sister, Dad (left when she was just a kid and never came back)
Cussing? No
Diversity? Not really. Every character in the book appeared to be white Caucasian. There was no real mention if any of other types of folks. There was a bright spot for vegans though since one of the characters (Summer) prepared and offered vegan food for town festivities.
My Review
I was hoping for a little more mystery in “Veiled in Death” book 6 in the Wedding Planner murder mystery series by Stephanie Blackmoore. I enjoyed the rich historical landscape that was painted in this book, but there were times of monotony where I really wanted to hear about more than the veil that was found, the history of the town, the relationships between all the characters, and the wedding planning itself – it wasn’t until 50% of the way through the book that the murder finally occurred and the mystery began! I felt at times that the author lost sight of the mystery aspect. So while the pacing of this book was a little slow for me I can appreciate that all of the details mentioned will most likely form a solid foundation for future installments.
One of the great positives about this book was that both a cold case and a modern case of murder were solved together which is a more complicated plot choice that I greatly appreciate the author for taking on. This could account for the overabundance of relationship detail we received from the author. The descriptions for characters and settings were robust and fully formed so I had an easy time envisioning the scenes as they played out. And three cheers for representing vegans! I love that the fourteen-year-old step-daughter, Summer, is a vegan advocate and a solid example of newer generations taking on initiatives to be planet-friendly. This is an element in newer cozies that I love is coming out more and more.
** I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.**
