The Marriage Hearse

When her father comes to pick the bride up to take her to the church, he finds her naked body on the bed, with a cable wrapped round her neck. Was it random sexual violence or was it just posed to look that way? It turns out there were plenty of people who wished Kristen ill.

The author managed to lead me down the garden path in several different directions, just when I thought I was being clever and had worked things out.

SPOILERS

This one was a disappointment. The bogus wedding storyline was obvious from the opening pages, but it took the police 60% of the book to work it out. The extracts from the play which began each chapter were confusing and added nothing for me. The solution to Kirsten's murder was a bit ridiculous - surely it would have made far more sense for Dr Creston to tell his son what he had done and get him to break things off, rather than him telling Kirsten about it - how did he know she wouldn't report him?

And then there's Pam and Wesley and their unhappy marriage... They deserve each other, it's beginning to seem to me. And there was Neil being all disapproving, when he and Pam kissed in an earlier book.

This series rarely falls below an excellent relaxing read. This tome keeps the high standard going.

I am amazed that Wesley Peterson has not been picked up for a small screen presence.