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A Killer Wedding

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Wildly witty and wickedly fun, A Killer Wedding is a juicy debut whodunit about toxic family dynamics hidden beneath the surface of billionaire-level wealth that reads like The Devil Wears Prada protagonist played a game of Clue at a White Lotus Hotel.

Christine can’t believe her luck. The iconic Gloria Beaufort, founder of the billion-dollar beauty empire Glo, has personally chosen her to cover her grandson’s wedding for Bespoke, the cult fashion magazine that every A-list bride dreams of being featured in. A career-making scoop and a free trip to a castle turned five-star hotel on the Emerald Isle? It feels too good to be true…

Because it is.

Gloria is found dead on the very first morning of the celebratory weekend, and her entire family wants to keep her death a secret and for the wedding to march on. When Gloria’s heirs issue a chilling warning to Christine to keep things quiet, she can’t help but wonder if one of them is guilty. There’s the son who’s hiding a damaging lawsuit; the resentful daughter-in-law; the grandson who’s had a few too many run-ins with the law; the ambitious granddaughter who’s hiding more than one secret; and Gloria’s favorite grandchild, the too-good-to-be-true groom. As Christine navigates a world where glamour masks grimy secrets and everyone she meets is a suspect, she realizes that among this glitzy elite, nothing is as it seems.

Set against the dazzling backdrop of ultimate luxury and an endless reveal of surprises, A Killer Wedding is a fast-paced, humorous mystery that proves you’ll never forget your wedding day…especially if it starts with a murder.

336 pages, Hardcover

First published September 23, 2025

431 people are currently reading
45041 people want to read

About the author

Joan O'Leary

2 books92 followers
JOAN O’LEARY holds a Bachelor of Arts in English with an emphasis in Creative Writing from the University of San Diego. She spent many years working in the entertainment industry, starting as an NBCUniversal page and most recently as a producer for The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. A Killer Wedding is her first novel.

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5 stars
455 (13%)
4 stars
1,429 (42%)
3 stars
1,219 (36%)
2 stars
213 (6%)
1 star
58 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 764 reviews
Profile Image for Nilufer Ozmekik.
3,126 reviews60.8k followers
December 13, 2025
Well, this smartly layered murder mystery is a wickedly fun escape—set in an opulent Irish castle complete with secret passageways, family skeletons, and a wedding week soaked in scandal and suspicion. The story centers around the obscenely rich, wildly dysfunctional Ripton family as they gather to celebrate the marriage of Graham Ripton, a charming doctor, to Jane Murphy—a sweet, plain, small-town schoolteacher with her own quiet shadows. What should be a fairy tale event quickly unravels into something far darker.

Enter Christine Russo, our sharp, scrappy, and unapologetically ambitious protagonist. Just promoted to senior editor at Bespoke Weddings magazine (without the help of nepotism or generational wealth), Christine is the kind of character you root for instantly. When she’s chosen by none other than Gloria Beaufort—the legendary matriarch of a billion-dollar beauty empire—to exclusively cover her grandson’s wedding, Christine can hardly believe her luck. Or rather, her hustle—it wasn’t luck that got her here; it was a carefully calculated risk behind her boss’s back.

But as soon as she steps foot in the castle-turned-five-star-hotel, Christine is pulled into a pressure cooker of snobbery, tension, and perfectly curated chaos. Between navigating the icy Ripton clan, dodging the moods of the impossibly neurotic wedding planner Elliot, and trying not to step on centuries of inherited egos, she already has her hands full. Then Gloria Beaufort turns up dead, and things take a chilling turn.

The worst part? No one wants to call the police. Not with the Ripton family’s brand teetering under the weight of lawsuits and bad press. So they pretend nothing happened, even as secrets bubble to the surface and Christine starts receiving anonymous notes that hint at everyone's dirty laundry.

The suspects? Practically the whole guest list. Jane, the blushing bride—could she be more calculating than she lets on? Her brother-in-law Ben is bursting with rage and suspicion. His wife Lyle seems like she’s hiding something... or someone. Gloria’s disgraced son Trey is a walking scandal, and his wife Clementine appears to be unraveling. Even Father Kenneth, with his overly cozy ties to the family, gives off unsettling vibes. And Elliot, the wedding planner from hell? Christine saw him arguing with Gloria the night before she died.

Christine could pack up, file the story, and head back to the States. But someone—or something—is pulling her deeper into the mystery. And maybe it’s more than just professional curiosity. Maybe it’s the feeling that Gloria saw something in her—gave her a once-in-a-lifetime chance—and that the best way to repay her is to bring justice to light. Even if it means risking her career. Or her life.

Overall: While the multiple POVs and timelines slow the pace slightly in places, the execution is sharp, the suspense is addictive, and the finale ties it all together in a truly satisfying way. It’s clever, glamorous, and full of jaw-dropping family drama—a perfect blend of Knives Out energy and glossy high-society secrets. I devoured it and happily give it a strong four stars.

Huge thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for sharing this deliciously twisty mystery with me in exchange for my honest thoughts. I had a blast!

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Profile Image for TheConnieFox.
446 reviews
July 22, 2025
This novel is a glamorous whodunit novel and it was a fantastic debut! If you like a murder mystery, with cocktails on the side, this is for you. It is glamorous, charming, funny and full of family secrets. I laughed a lot while reading this! I felt like it was a bougie slasher, filled with humor and wit. This book is full of adventure and unputdownable. It is plot driven and character driven. This story includes a diverse cast of characters. It has multiple points of views, that contain flashbacks and different perspectives. I really wanted the characters to have more depth to them, so I could get to know and understand them better. I would say that the cast of characters were unlikable, except for the main character Christine. I really liked the plot and found it to be well executed!

“A Killer Wedding” is about a woman named Gloria who gets murdered. Gloria so happens to be the founder of the Glo empire! She is a BIG deal! She was found dead in her suite. Christine and others decide not to call the cops, but wait until after the wedding. This is where the multiple point of views begin to happen and they all start having flashbacks. Dark family secrets arise. This book kept me guessing who the killer was until the very last page! Overall, I give this book a 3.5 out of 5 stars rating!

Content warnings include death, murder, grief, alcoholism and emotional manipulation. I think fans of fancy whodunit’s, including a lot of family drama and dark humor, would really enjoy this book!

Thank you to NetGalley, author Joan O'Leary and William Morrow for this digital arc in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

This book is expected to be published on September 23, 2025!
Profile Image for Susan Carolynn.
487 reviews4,188 followers
September 15, 2025
A Killer Wedding is pitched as White Lotus x The Devil Wears Prada, and that could not be more accurate. If you're looking for a mystery where a Miranda Priestly-esque matriarch is found dead...and her family members are most definitely hiding secrets, read this! Plus a fall wedding set at an Irish castle? The perfect setting.

I loved how the beauty company and its budding scandals (and the role of the family members in said scandals) were at the forefront of the mystery. I was wholeheartedly invested in the wealthy people drama and secrets. And I loved the multi-POVs, though it was sometimes hard keeping track of who had what secret, because there were a LOT of them. The pacing was great, and I couldn't stop turning and turning the pages. While this is a mystery/thriller, it felt more like a family drama with lots of mystery elements. Definitely worth the read if you're a fan of those genres!

Thank you so much to William Morrow for sending me an ARC of A Killer Wedding. As always, my reviews are one hundred percent voluntary and all opinions are my own :)
Profile Image for Sarah.
229 reviews80 followers
October 6, 2025
DNF @ 25%

“Wildly witty and wickedly fun” is how the book is described. But I honestly got bored. Not even the beauty of Ireland could get me excited to move forward with this story, and that’s saying a lot. 😅

Granted, I didn’t get far in the book to see if the words were true, but I didn’t see a point to finishing it. I didn’t like the characters for some reason. Well, I know I didn’t like the wedding guests because they were arrogant, but I didn’t like how Christine, the main character, was said to be a woman who would do anything to get what she wants, yet her personality doesn’t portray that at all. True, it can be subtle, but the descriptions and her actions didn’t match. Which leads me to my next point: there was more telling than showing. I love a wordy novel; don’t get me wrong. But this felt too wordy for its own good. It felt unnecessary and, to me, the pacing felt slow and the plot dragged on. I’m not hating on Joan O’Leary’s writing, though. I think she’s very good at it, and I think she did a great job with her debut. 👏🏼

So will I recommend this book to you? I think you already know I will because it is my firm belief that everyone should find what works for them, whether other people like it or not. Who knows? Maybe I’ll try to read this again one day and I will be able to read it and love it. You just never know. 😉
Profile Image for Mystery, She Read.
329 reviews124 followers
October 1, 2025
4.5 🌟

Mood/Seasonal Reading: Autumn in an Irish castle

This may be one of the first “almost everyone sucks and are rich” thriller/mysteries I’ve enjoyed. It was a very solid read.

At first I thought our main character Christine would be a tad annoying but I actually found her very interesting.

I think my favourite part of this story was the writing style. I believe this is the author’s debut and I think she brought a really solid voice that flowed. I throughly appreciated the utilization of various POVs especially as the novel progressed.

The mystery was fun and twisty and kept me hooked the entire time. While I guessed certain aspects, I did have a few moments of shock which I think is the perfect combination for any mystery.

The only reason this didn’t get a full five stars from me is because the ending left me with a handful of questions I wanted answered.

Overall, I think this is a throughly enjoyable read with an interesting setting, fun cast of characters, and solid mystery.
Profile Image for Mandy White (mandylovestoread).
2,787 reviews853 followers
September 27, 2025
A locked room murder mystery at a castle in Ireland.. Um yes please!! Add to this a rich and powerful family who are all hiding dark secrets and Joan O'Leary has a hit debut on her hands. This was such a fun, dark at times, humorous read that I thoroughly enjoyed.

Ireland is one of my favourite places in the world so anytime I get to read a thriller set there ai jump at the chance. It is such a beautiful country, the people are amazing and there is so much history. I loved that this was set in a castle with lots of hidden tunnels, which really added to the atmosphere of the story.

Rich people behaving oh so badly!! Who can resist that in a book? This family were awful, so spoilt and obnoxious. This was the wedding of the year and no expense has been spared. The glamour and the extravagance of the whole wedding weekend, with expensive champagne, Tiffany gifts for guests, fireworks, ice sculptures… I could go on. While all of this is happening a member of the family is murdered.

Christine, the outsider and the journalist there to cover the story for her magazine was really the only character that I liked. She was insightful and curious, soon seeing through the facade of this wealthy family.

Thanks so much to William Morrow on NetGalley for my early copy of this book to read. It was highly entertaining. Published on September 23rd.
Profile Image for Kayla_Wilson.
514 reviews36 followers
June 27, 2025
Thank you NetGalley, Joan O’Leary, and the publishers for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

A locked room wedding mystery full of toxic family members and secrets. Christine can’t believe her luck. She works for a you would do anything to have your wedding covered in this wedding magazine and has been chosen to cover the wedding of Gloria Beaufort’s grandson. Gloria is a beauty icon. This will make her career and as a bonus she gets to stay at a castle in Ireland for free. But then there’s a murder and it’s not such a glorious trip anymore. Gloria is found dead and the family want her to keep it secret. It cannot get out that she’s dead before the wedding happens. Their life of luxury depends on it. But when told to keep quiet, Christine can’t help but wonder if someone in this family is responsible. Definitely an entertaining read and great debut.
Profile Image for Laura.
397 reviews100 followers
September 8, 2025
It was just okay. It does start slow and takes a while to pick up. There are also a lot of different threads from different characters that are at times hard to keep straight. But the story was good and entertaining. I'd recommend this as a solid thriller.

Thank you to Net Galley and Willam Morrow for giving me this ARC in exchange for my honest review.
Profile Image for Sheila.
3,110 reviews128 followers
August 2, 2025
I received a free copy of, A Killer Wedding, by Joan O"Leary, from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Christine is so excited to cover icon Gloria Beaufort grandson wedding, but then Gloria is murdered, did a family member murder Gloria? Im glad im not a member of this horrible family, the location was beautiful, the characters not so much,
Profile Image for Tini.
606 reviews31 followers
September 26, 2025
Eat, drink, and be murdered.

3.5 stars rounded up.

Journalist Christine Russo thinks she’s hit the jackpot when Gloria Beaufort, the glamorous founder of a billion-dollar beauty empire, handpicks her to cover her grandson’s lavish Irish castle wedding for "Bespoke" magazine. But the fairy-tale weekend takes a sharp turn when Gloria turns up dead on the very first morning of the festivities. Even worse: the Beauforts - each one harboring secrets juicier than the last - insist on keeping it quiet and carrying on with the wedding, and Christine quickly realizes that behind the luxury, everyone’s a suspect.

A very enjoyable debut full of murder and mayhem in a gorgeous, historic Irish castle, "A Killer Wedding" is a murder mystery that doesn't take itself too seriously, blending glamour with mayhem. The pacing starts leisurely but soon spirals into chaotic fun - true to the image of the Beauforts as a wealthy clan that stops at nothing, every member of the family has something to hide, with each secret revealed seemingly more outrageous than the last. Narrator Christine is over-the-top but mostly likable in her desperate attempt to keep up with the Joneses, or rather, the Beauforts, though her commitment to her craft, her loyalty to her employer, and even her career ambitions disappear quicker than champagne at the wedding reception. By the finale, the drama is so delightfully unhinged I half expected Gloria to pop up yelling, "Surprise!"

Between the juicy family drama, the opulent Irish castle setting, and the good-looking barman with a secret, this is a quick, witty escape. This being a debut novel, I sometimes felt like the author tried to pack too many ideas into one single book, but the sheer entertainment value makes it worth the RSVP. I’ll definitely be watching for what Joan O'Leary writes next.

Fun fact: the book featured a number of gorgeous invites for the various wedding festivities as interstitials, which could definitely inspire a bride-to-be!

Many thanks to William Morrow for providing me with an ARC of this book via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

"A Killer Wedding" was published on September 23, 2025, and is available now.
Profile Image for Sandy.
314 reviews34 followers
January 4, 2026
A locked-room mystery inside a fancy Irish castle as billionaires gather for a wedding. FMC Christine is excited to cover the swanky wedding for her publication, but she is quickly sucked into a real-life game of Clue when the family matriarch is found dead. Every family member and worker has a motive. Will she be able to help solve the murder... and stay alive?
Profile Image for Kelli W.
621 reviews171 followers
October 1, 2025
Looking for the missing pages in my copy. If anyone has them, please send them my way. My copy has about 80% and then skips to the last chapter.

oh wait....
Profile Image for Brandice.
1,253 reviews
December 27, 2025
A Killer Wedding is a story about Christine Russo, who secures her position as Bespoke magazine’s writer for the wedding of the century. Graham, the grandson of Gloria Beaufort, owner of Glo beauty empire, is marrying his bride, Jane, in an Irish castle turned into a luxury hotel.

While the family is well-known and very well-off, they’re not without secrets, or tension, and there’s much more than what meets the eye. When an unexpected event occurs early on during the wedding weekend, Christine is forced to play along and keep her guard up, if she wants to leave alive.

I could easily picture the setting in A Killer Wedding — A luxurious castle in Ireland, brimming with both opulence and secrets. I enjoyed the ride and appreciate that the story kept me guessing but in the end, it felt somewhat anticlimactic — 3.5 stars
Profile Image for Jessica Paige (Exercise_Read_Repeat).
1,805 reviews263 followers
August 28, 2025
4.5⭐️ Christine gets her career breakout opportunity when she’s assigned to cover the wedding of the year. But when Gloria Beaufort, the groom’s grandmother and head of a billion dollar beauty empire, turns up dead, Christine is thrust into a game of whodunit.

I had so much fun reading this wedding themed mystery, full of rich people behaving badly and plenty of family dysfunction. The Irish medieval castle setting was the perfect backdrop for a lavish wedding, and the big twist genuinely shocked me. I loved how all the pieces came together so cleverly. My only wish was for a bit more resolution with the side characters, wanting to know what happened to them afterward rather than leaving it up to interpretation. Overall, a fantastic debut.
Profile Image for Anissa.
1,000 reviews324 followers
July 29, 2025
This mystery set among a sequestered group at a Scottish castle for a wedding was just the setup I love. I have to say my three-star rating is mostly for the first third and half of the second third of the book. The first third felt bogged down in reinforcing that the family this story centers around are unfathomably wealthy, and the way it was conveyed was in a very distracting recitation of name brands. It was so heavy it took me out of the story. I get that the main character telling things from her POV was awe-struck and brand conscious, but I found it tedious, and it took away from the pace for me. Beyond that, there's some vibrant and snappy writing that I very much liked. I was able to suss out some pivotal points in the mystery but I didn't mind for the most part. The final third was the best, I felt, and I very much enjoyed the way it wrapped up. I would read another by this author.

Recommended.


Many thanks to the publisher & Netgalley for an Advance Reader's Copy.
Profile Image for Lizzy.
144 reviews7 followers
April 23, 2025
what a fun & witty murder mystery!! I loved how this book sucks you into a very fabulous and mysterious wedding weekend - I love all of the castle details & I was guessing until the end. perfect for fans of the wedding people, especially for the bridal era girlies!!
Profile Image for Susan Z (webreakforbooks) .
1,119 reviews116 followers
September 16, 2025
Giltz, Glam and MURDER

A locked room mystery set in an ancient Irish castle. Eerie and atmospheric full of rich people behaving badly. I absolutely loved this one! So addictive with a fantastic ending I didn't see coming. Perfect!

A standout debut!
721 reviews2 followers
October 21, 2025
I liked this story although I wasn't a big fan of MC. It was a perfect fit because the dates of the wedding weekend met up with the actual dates when I read the book. Most of the family was a bunch of spoiled whiney brats.
Profile Image for Maven_Reads.
1,301 reviews38 followers
December 25, 2025
A Killer Wedding by Joan O’Leary is a sharply witty, twisty whodunit about Christine Russo, a slightly overwhelmed fashion magazine editor who lands what feels like a dream assignment covering a billionaire family’s extravagant castle wedding in Ireland, only to have the whole celebration derailed when the matriarch of the clan is found dead on the very first morning of festivities and every attendee becomes a suspect as secrets, lies, and dangerous motives are peeled back with gleeful precision. It’s a modern, glamorous mystery full of gossip, wealth, and a wicked sense of fun that will keep you guessing until the very end.

When I first stepped into Christine’s world, I was charmed by how convincingly O’Leary captures both the absurdity and the pressure of trying to fit in among the ultra‑elite while staring down a potentially career‑ending scandal. Christine’s quiet mixture of ambition and imposter syndrome made her feel vividly human to me, especially as she tries to navigate a family that would rather bury a body than let bad press ruin the wedding weekend. The setting of a converted Irish castle turned luxury hotel felt atmospheric and a little claustrophobic in the best way, like a shadowed stage where everyone has something to hide, and the shifts in perspective helped me see how each character’s past choices might have led them to this eerie moment. I laughed at the social absurdities and winced at the toxic family dynamics that simmer beneath the glittering dresses and champagne, and the pacing kept my curiosity sharply tuned even when the multiple viewpoints got dense.

Rating: 4 out of 5. I’m giving A Killer Wedding this score because it made me feel like I was playing detective alongside Christine, laughing at the ridiculousness of privilege while genuinely caring who might be responsible, and left me with that delicious aftertaste of a mystery well served with style and surprises. If you love clever, character‑driven whodunits with sharp social commentary and a hint of glamour, this one is a thoroughly enjoyable ride.
Profile Image for Michael.
359 reviews44 followers
January 5, 2026
Yikes, tough reading start to the year for me. Another DNF. In the first three chapters there must be 10,000 mentions of brand names. It’s super weird, cumbersome and felt like bad product placement. It’s also super weird to know what everyone is wearing at all times, when you tell a story about your day to a friend, do you mention what every single person is wearing? No, you don’t. The rest, flat characters, it never became darkly comical as the jacket copy suggests.
Profile Image for Elaine.
2,082 reviews1 follower
October 7, 2025
Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of A Killer Wedding.

The premise sounded promising though not original; another tale of a wealthy family behaving badly with deep, dark secrets to hide.

** Minor spoiler-y spoilers ahead **

First, what I did like:

The castle setting, the hidden underground tunnels and the legend behind the castle.

Gloria Beaufort grew on me even though she appears mostly in flashbacks.

This turned out to be a more girl power narrative than I expected, minus all the loser men in the family.

What I didn't like:

Christine. Most of the narrative is from her point of view and she's neither interesting or compelling.

I don't agree with Gloria; Christine is not resourceful, smart and she didn't make an impression on me.

There are lots of POVs, most of them unnecessary and read as filler.

Do I really care what happened to Sebi, the photographer? Nope.

I realize most of the flashbacks was to demonstrate how wily and knowledgeable the matriarch is; she knows and sees all and readers need to keep that in mind.

I guessed most of the twists though I didn't expect one.

The narrative was hard to suspend disbelief for, but with this type of plot you need to go with the flow.

Everyone has something to hide and no one can be trusted, including Jane.

I was indifferent to Jane; her devious behavior didn't make her more interesting to me, just another person with something to hide.

The only thing I did like was the end and how Gloria recruited Jane and Christine, in a small part, as part of her plan.
Profile Image for Jackie.
1,336 reviews
July 27, 2025
3.25 ⭐️

When I come across a debut author—especially in the mystery-thriller genre—it’s an instant must-read for me. Joan O’Leary’s writing is clean, sharp, and multilayered. However, because the tone leans heavily into dark satirical humor, particularly in its portrayal of influencer culture and high-society absurdities, the story ultimately didn’t work for me.

A Killer Wedding followed Freelance journalist Christine Russo who was thrilled to be chosen by Gloria Beaufort, matriarch of the billion‑dollar beauty brand Glo, to cover her grandson’s castle wedding for Bespoke Weddings magazine. It was a glamorous assignment… until Gloria was found murdered on the first morning of the festivities.

I enjoyed the intricate plot, shifting structure, and the layered mystery at the heart of A Killer Wedding—the twists kept me engaged, and the pacing made it hard to put down. However, the sharp satirical tone and the focus on mocking elite culture didn’t quite work for me. It sometimes undercut the suspense and emotional stakes, making the story feel more cynical than compelling in places.

Although this story didn’t fully resonate with me, I think A Killer Wedding would be a great fit for readers who enjoy dark humor woven into a traditional mystery format.

Many thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for providing an advance copy in return for my honest review.
Profile Image for Trisha.
5,932 reviews231 followers
December 13, 2025
A wealthy couple is getting married and, in the midst of the preparations for wedding weekend - a journalist there to cover the wedding stumbles on the death of the matriarch and the family trying to keep the death a secret until after the wedding.

This was a fun, light, easy mystery. It's a little confusing, at first, because there are lots of POV and it jumps in timeline from past to now. But Christine, the main POV, was an easy grounding POV that always reminded you of the now and the mystery. She was an interesting character, digging for answers both from the past and now.

I did this as an audio and I liked the varied POV and the excellent narration. Fun mystery in the midst of a busy season. It was a nice escape.

A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.
Profile Image for KiKi.
152 reviews15 followers
April 21, 2025
Entertaining yet predictable murder mystery with a stable pace. I did feel like there were a few unnecessary characters written just to throw the reader off the scent, but overall the mystery was engaging. I did roll my eyes because I had to suspend my disbelief in order for the ending to make sense.
Profile Image for Kate .
663 reviews312 followers
September 25, 2025
Thank you, @williammorrow, for the free advanced reading copy!

Christine has landed the assignment of a lifetime: covering the wedding of beauty mogul Gloria Beaufort’s grandson for Bespoke fashion magazine. With a lavish destination celebration on the Emerald Isle, this feature is set to be a career-maker. But when Gloria, the billionaire matriarch behind the Glo empire, is found dead on the very first day, everything changes.

Instead of calling the police, the family closes ranks, deciding to cover up the death until after the wedding. Bound by NDAs, Christine and the wedding staff are forced to play along. But Christine is no fool. While reporting on the glittering festivities, she quietly begins investigating. The more secrets and lies she uncovers, the murkier the truth becomes - and soon, her own life may be on the line. (Rich people really are the worst.)

Think Succession meets Knives Out at an extravagant Irish estate…messy, dramatic, secret-filled, and impossible to put down. Told through multiple POVs and a dual timeline that shifts between past and present, readers are given a front-row seat to the drama. We know just enough to stay hooked, but the full picture doesn’t come together until the very end.

🎧 Audiobook Thoughts: Amanda Dolan does a remarkable job voicing a large cast, particularly when each chapter is from a different character’s POV. I really enjoyed her performance. (12h 29m)
Profile Image for Gigi Ropp.
458 reviews30 followers
December 5, 2025
I LOVED the bougie setting and even bougier characters in A Killer Wedding and the author kept me guessing for most of the book! I have already recommended it to many friends in the wedding industry! It's a classic shifting POV, but set in an atmospheric castle while also hosting a spectacle of a wedding.. SO fun!
Profile Image for Elizabeth.
555 reviews9 followers
September 23, 2025
A Killer Wedding by Joan O’ Leary

Thank You NetGalley and William Morrow for a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review! All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.
A Killer Wedding is Joan O’ Leary’s debut novel! Gloria Beaufort, family matriarch and founder of the billion-dollar company Glo, I not happy how her family and close friends have run Glo; after she took a step back from the limelight. The business is facing a lawsuit and each of the family members (and soon to be family members) are all hiding something. Her grandson, Graham, is soon to be married to Jane in a very high-end, classy wedding in Ireland. So, Gloria has requested Christine Russo, who works for Bespoke, a fashion magazine, to cover the lavish wedding. The immediate family has all arrived to begin the wedding weekend, but a few days before the wedding Gloria Beaufort is found dead in her room. The make matters worse, all the family members, the wedding planner, and the priest want to keep her death a secret. And they threaten Christine to keep her mouth shut. What ensues is a comedic, fast-paced, who-dun-it and Christine is set on finding our who is the killer! With secret passages throughout the castle where the wedding is to take place and cryptic clues being left in Christine’s room, she’s on the killer’s trail, but who can she trust?
Look for this comedic who-dun-it where nothing is at it seems when it comes out September 23, 2025!
Profile Image for Jen Ryland (jenrylandreviews & yaallday).
2,066 reviews1,036 followers
Read
September 18, 2025
Killer Wedding had a premise I was excited about: the destination wedding of a son from a wealthy family and his beautiful bride. Looming over the festivities, larger than life, is the groom's grandmother, who has also invited an ambitious young fashion and lifestyle reporter to cover all the events.

Then there's a murder and the family made such a bizarre choice that it threw the whole book off for me. That meant there was no murder investigation, except Christine, the reporter, kind of bumbling around.

I'm not typically a fan of books with more than a couple POVs, and this book had plenty. Given the weird turn of events, I felt the book needed to be much more comic, like The Glass Onion, or have a stronger amateur detective element. Instead, there were just unlikeable characters, endless wedding festivities, and a lot of just waiting around for the killer to be announced.

Thanks to the publisher for providing an advance copy for review!

2 reviews1 follower
June 28, 2025
A big thank you to Joan O'Leary, HarperCollins, and netgalley.com for providing me with an Advanced Reader Copy of this book.

A Killer Wedding by Joan O'Leary is a murder mystery following Christine, a reporter invited to cover a wedding by Gloria, founder of a billion-dollar fashion company and the generationally-wealthy matriach of the groom's family. But, as tends to happen with murder mysteries, she's soon found dead, leaving Christine to investigate the murder amidst the most extravagant wedding she's ever been to.

I enjoyed this book a lot. It didn't fit into the standard mystery formula I'm used to: having mostly read Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot books, which tend to pair an experienced detective with a hapless sidekick (usually the narrator)[1]; instead the main character of this book is the primary investigator but is also way out of her depth and certainly no Poirot or Holmes; the book was also unusual in that it used a number of POVs other than the main one, typically flashbacks to the pasts of various suspects.

Overall, I thought this was a really fun read. It took a while to get going: the first third of the book is quite slow, and takes its time with introducing the plethora of insufferable family members that form the majority of the cast. Personally, as someone who has a hard time reading unlikeable characters, it definitely took me a while to warm up to the characters. The beginning also felt extra-slow because of how much time we spend getting to know Gloria before the murder happened, with the inciting murder happening sometime between the 20% and 30% points.

Once we got into it, though, I had a blast—the book was so gripping that I read the final two-thirds of the book in just one day. And while at first I wasn't sold on the non-Christine (flashback) chapters, they definitely won me over by the end, offering snippets of interesting information that furthered the plot while also fleshing out the characters and their relationship with Gloria; each flashback gave some character a level of depth beyond "family (of friend) to the murdered billionaire". O'Leary also definitely perfected the art of chapter ordering: each flashback was perfectly placed to relate to the present-day investigation and drop important information just at the right moment, without having to provide a contrived reason for Christine to discover said information.

Perhaps the only major gripe I had with the book was it's cliffhanger-y nature. Most chapters, especially the flashbacks, end with a mini-cliffhanger, revealing some bombshell that we couldn't have predicted. It worked: I binged the book as a result of these cliffhangers, but they definitely frustrated me at times. It got a little much, ending each flashback with a twist, and in some cases I felt that information had to be unnecessarily withheld for the sake of the twist. For instance, early on in the book there's a character who laments a discussion he had with another character, and a couple chapters later someone else finds out about the conversation: in both chapters, though, O'Leary goes out of her way to not mention the identity of this other character, simply so it can be a twist later in the book. This happened a couple of other times in the book, which ultimately left me feeling a little strung-along.

Fortunately, though, the ending itself was well-crafted. I didn't manage to guess it, and wouldn't really expect many readers to do so, but it never felt implausible. There were some parts that stretched credibility a little bit, but overall I thought it did a great job of tying together all the numerous loose threads that had been laid out, bringing them together in a way that was cohesive and consistent, believable yet still a plot twist.

Final score: 4.5/5

[1] There are, of course, a couple of exceptions to this formula, but the only ones I can think of are intentional subversions by Agatha Christie herself.
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