Agnes Sharp and the Wedding to Die For

Miss Sharp Investigates #3

by Leonie Swann

The Agnes Sharp mystery series ends with a bang in this explosive finale from the author of Three Bags Full.

The octogenarian housemates at Sunset Hall are busy preparing for the wedding of one of their own, the blind and blushing bride Bernadette, but as the big day approaches, they must fend off a mysterious killjoy from the past.

Love is blind. At least for Bernadette. But she doesn’t need to see the butterflies flitting around the springtime flowers. She feels them in her stomach whenever her fiancé, Jack, enters the room. Her friend Agnes, on the other hand, isn’t having any of it. “Once a member of Sunset Hall, always a member of Sunset Hall!” That’s how it’s supposed to be. Bernadette’s plan to leave the house share and its residents behind stings. Nevertheless, Agnes and the not-so-sprightly gang of pensioners launch into wedding planning mode after a last-minute spot opens at the high-class Foxglove Manor—in just two weeks.

The minimum number of guests to even get the champagne fountain bubbling is twenty—a tall order for a reclusive couple in their eighties—not to mention the high likelihood that their friend groups might not be compatible since Bernadette was once a police informant, while Jack used to make a living in organized crime.

Just when they think they have the guest list squared away—with some help from Charlie’s newfound expertise in online dating—a threatening note appears at the house. Agnes and the others decide to handle it themselves, not wanting to cause the betrothed stress. With some assistance from a private investigator (another person to add to the guest list!), Agnes digs into the case of the poison-pen letter, determined to ensure the wedding goes off without a hitch . . . aside from the bodies they’ve already had to hide from the bride.

Genres: Mystery, Audiobook, Contemporary, Fiction, Cozy Mystery, Humor, Cozy

353 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 22, 2024

About the author

Leonie Swann (b. 1975 Dachau near Munich, Germany) is the nom de plume of a German crime writer. She went to school at Ignaz Taschner Gymnasium Dachau. She studied philosophy, psychology and English literature in Munich.
Her author profile with Allison & Busby states:
Leonie Swann’s debut novel, Three Bags Full, was an instant hit, topping the bestseller charts in her native Germany for months. It has since been translated into 26 languages. She lives in Cambridgeshire.

Reviews

[Christina]

One of the worst endings possible. I don't like it when the author betrays the reader's trust in such a vicious and demeaning way. I cannot recommend this to anyone unless you want your heart ripped out. Really disappointed!

[Diane]

If you loved the first two books in this series, I beg you DO NOT READ THIS ONE. I’m going to pretend it doesn’t exist, honestly. What an absolute slap in the face from the author.

[books-on-a-wire]

I don't even know how to rate this. This was supposed to be one of my comfort series and it was shaping up to be a five-star read and you end it like that?! That's a huge NO for me.

[Shay]

What a horrible ending. I cannot imagine a worse possible ending. I enjoyed the mystery of this book and the characters as much as I did the other 2 books into the series. Only for the ending to ruin everything. I wonder what the heck the author was thinking.

[Nicole Korczyk]

Solid four stars until the last few chapters. I am LIVID.

[Elentarri]

The not-so-sprightly gang of octogenarian housemates at Sunset Hall are busy preparing for the wedding of their friends, but a poison-pen letter throws a spanner in the works... so do the corpses... and wedding logistics are never easy, even when the ring-bearer is an escaping tortoise.. The plot was a bit messy. The characters (tortoise and python included) were their usual eccentric and inadvertently funny selves. The ending... WOW! that's one way to go out!! I have mixed feelings about that ending.

A mildly entertaining listen while busy with other stuff.

[Maggie Clark]

The most calming page turner

[Kim]

Guess I won’t be reading the first two books in this series. Ugh! What a horrific ending. Truly. Author’s agent or publisher should have talked her out of it. Ruined the whole series.

[Erika M.B.]

Shock value does not a mystery make. Disappointing end.

[Kelsey]

Leonie what the heck!!!

[Madison]

Are you KIDDING me?!?! What an absolutely shitty way to end a series!

[tuck]

The author could have just stopped writing the books

[Hanna]

I enjoyed two previous books in the “Miss Sharp Investigates” series by Leonie Swann and was excited to learn that the third book, “Agnes Sharp and the Wedding to Die For,” is set to be published in 2026. Luckily, I got my hands on the advance copy, thanks to the publisher and Netgalley. It was so good to be reunited with the quirky, witty, although slow-moving, elderly residents of Sunset Hall. Their camaraderie and self-deprecating humor, even as they deal with their ailments, have been refreshing and uplifting whenever I read about their shenanigans while solving the latest murder case. They all have police, secret service, or military backgrounds, and any criminal would be mistaken taking them for just a bunch of harmless, confused seniors. There is also Oberon, the white boa constrictor, Hettie the tortoise, and Brexit, the happy wolfhound.

This time, the love is in the air as two of the Sunset Hall residents, Bernadette and Jack, are about to get married. Their paths crossed in the past when they were on opposite sides of the law, but at the end, they very much want those paths to converge into one road to married bliss in their golden years. Unfortunately, somebody very dangerous from the past has an entirely different idea.

Did I mention that it’s the final installment of the series? Without giving the ending away, I’ll say I was surprised by the final pages. One of the characters, a young girl who loves reading, says that her mentor friend, the verger, told her “you’re safe when you’re reading”, and in the way, we often get that feeling of reassuring familiarity, especially when we return to the series we’ve enjoyed in the past, almost treating the characters like people we know and like – something constant in the world full of uncertainties. But this is the final book in Agnes Sharp's series so that the rules might have changed.  Fortunately, there is another series, “Sheep Detective Story” with the lovely flock of sheep, which I adore and which, hopefully, the author will continue writing, giving readers that bit of escapism we all need.

[Artemisthepinkreader]

Thank you Netgalley, Soho Press and the author for free electronic copy. Reviews are my own.

Third novel in Agnes Sharp trilogy, Agnes Sharp and the Wedding to Die For follows love this time. Bernadette and Jack are getting married and the residents of Sunset Hall are in rush to make the wedding awesome and well, not so dangerous. With strange things happening, Agnes tries to solve the mystery before anyone speak or forever hold their peaces.

Agnes Sharp is Miss Marple meets dark humour, and I am glad I met Agnes. The other residents of Sunset Hall are also funny and not your classic pensioner. The story is fast paced with more darkness I assumed it to have, more of a mix of golden era and noir style. I cannot classify the novel as cosy mystery, with the events and the ending of the story. The ending is bold and not usual for a cosy mystery. I did not expect the ending at all, and it was a surprise.

For fans of cosy mystery, readers with reading slump and who wants to read about extraordinary humans of Sunset Hall.

#reklam Kitap tarafıma elektronik ortamda ücretsiz olarak gönderilmiştir.

[Kyrie]

This one frustrated me because I struggled to get interested for the first half. I liked the previous two, so I hung in there. Once the wedding began, it was much better, and things seemed to be happening quickly and in a way that made some sense. The ending, though, just no.

[Ashley Lombardo]

1.5 rounding down to 1. (Up until the last couple chapters, this was a solid 5 for me, as I have simply adored this series.)

...but that ending. Yikes.

I think I may be scarred for life. Don't think I've ever felt so disappointed in a book before. I am literally angry with the author.

ETA crappy ending aside why did Winston have to go like that?!?! He was the nicest, least offensive character in the series. I'm literally thinking Leonie Swann must be deranged herself.

[Andy]

Den Epilog hätte es nun doch nicht gebraucht.
Die Geschichte selbst war schon reichlich bemüht.
Doch mit so einem Ende kann ich gar nichts anfangen. Diese "Märchenstunde" hinterlässt in meinem Mund einen klebrig-süßen Nachgeschmack.
Das Niveau der Geschichte hat sich somit dem des Covers angepasst.
Wie schade.

[Jo Fitch]

Enjoyed the book, the ending SUCKED. I'm sure there were better ways to bring this series to a close if the author was done with it. Almost regret reading all three books now. Bitterly disappointed.

[Miki Jacobs]

This is the third and apparently last one in the series (due to the ending).
The residents of Sunset Hall are preparing for the wedding of Bernadette and Jack when a strange woman turns up in their hallway. She is someone that Bernadette knew when she was at school, before she went into hiding many years before.
The wedding changes location when Foxglove Manor suddenly becomes free.
Meanwhile Agnes has accidentally become engaged to Marshall, but doesn't want to say anything to take the spotlight from the Happy Couple.
Charlie unaware of this arranges an internet date for Agnes and decides that the man Agnes has christened Richard the Lizard should be her date for the wedding.
Because Foxglove hall has a minimum number of guests in order to use the champagne fountain, they have to be imaginative with who they invite, even inviting a private detective who Agnes quietly asks to look into Charlie's new beau.
There is a lot going on in this book and some of what happened in the previous book is still relevant.
I enjoyed reading this but was a bit shocked at the ending.

[Donna]

Lots of surprises , loved it

[Ellen Schoener]

Witzig und skurril- also genau so, wie wir diese Renter-WG kennen.
Diesmal muss nicht nur ein Jungesellenabend und eine Hochzeit organisiert werden, nein, dazu kommen auch noch Erpressung und Mord.
Hettie die Schildkröte und Oberon die Schlange haben auch wieder einige nette Auftritte.
Ich wurde sehr gut unterhalten, flott und amüsant geschrieben, dazu gibt es einige unerwartete Wendungen.

[Christina Sambale-Weber]

Gelungenes Finale im dritten Band! Das Vergnügen ist am Größten, wenn man mit dem ersten Buch der 3teiligen Krimireihe anfângt.

[Judy]

Thank you to #NetGalley and #SohoCrime for allowing me to read this book.

I am a sucker for an elderly sleuth. This cozy, dark, humorous mystery tackles the themes of aging and friendship. Showing up for each other (in many different ways) is paramount to one's physical and mental well-being.

.Agnes Sharp and her housemates (all who have VERY interesting backgrounds) must solve a murder before the wedding of one of their own. These eccentric characters put their collective experience to work as they simultaneously plan the wedding and solve the murder. Of course, it's not as simple as it seems. The past comes to visit and the retirees must keep planning even as the bodies start to pile up.

This is book 3 of 3. I hadn't read the first two books but easily picked up on the characters and their relationships. It is well-written, easy to follow, and has likable characters. I appreciate that the author left the door open for future Agnes Sharp books (you'll have to read it to see how). I will definitely read books 1 & 2 and any future Agnes Sharp stories.

[J Bridge]

I received a complimentary copy of this audiobook for review from the publisher—sort of? There was a download issue, but I was able to get it through the library anyway. So thanks to RB Media, next time I won’t accidentally request one outside my area.

Anywho.

Um this was kind of fun, really weird, and not what I expected. I don’t know how to recommend this to people without spoiling it, but I feel like telling people this cozy cute little mystery ends with 3/4 of the cast dying in an explosion is necessary.

[Domic]

Das war wieder ganz nett - aber was hat sich die gute Leonie bei dem Ende gedacht? Hatte sie keine Lust, noch weitere Bände zu schreiben oder was? Das Ende war absolut daneben, da kann ich meinen Vor-Rezensenten nur zustimmen, das hätt's doch it bräucht!

Bis dahin ist die Geschichte wieder ganz nett - wie die Senioren sich bemühen, Bernadette und Jack eine tolle Hochzeitsfeier zu organisieren, habe ich sehr gern gelesen. Allerdings war für mich Band 1 definitiv der stärkste, dann ging es bergab.

Die Teile, die aus der Sicht der diversen Tiere erzählt werden, waren jetzt auch schon weniger, das hat mir ja vor allem in Band 1 sehr gut gefallen. Dieser Band ist allerdings leider kein würdiger Abschluss - ich hatte ihn bei Audible als Hörbuch und überlege sogar, ihn zurückzugeben, denn gut gefallen hat er mir nicht wirklich und ich würde eher empfehlen, diesen Band nicht zu lesen, gerade WENN Dir Band 1 und 2 gut gefallen haben.

Wegen des doofen Endes gibt es nur 2 von 5 Sternen.

[Donna]

Five stars for most if it, two for the ending, so three in total. When you're writing about octogenarians (and slightly younger) and you want to end the series, I suppose it's one way to go. I didn't hate it as much as some of the reviewers. Being in my sixties myself it's rather the afterlife I'd hope for. And I suppose having them trapped in series afterlife in limbo with their failing bodies and minds might be considered crueler. I'm glad the villain got his comeuppance at the hands of the Sunset Hall residents anyway.

[Liz D'Amore]

I love Agnes and the gang who reside at Sunset Hall and was lucky enough to receive an ARC copy for an honest review. In this newest book in the series, Agnes and friends plan for the wedding of their beloved Bernadette and of course mystery, mayhem and murder ensue. A fun, rollicking ride with an ending that blew me away. This is the third in the series and I'd recommend reading them in order, you won't be disappointed.

[Felice]

So sad. I loved this series. Disappointing ending.

[Felica]

Ich hatte mich so sehr auf den nächsten Teil mit unserer liebenswerten Rentner Wg gefreut. Ich habe das Buch verschlungen. Das Ende war für mich leider furchtbar. Ich werde einfach verdrängen das es dieses Ende gibt.

[Amanda]

I loved the first two books. This one made me cry. Agnes and the gang are planning a wedding. Of course there’s murder. It was fun trying to guess who the murderer was and trying to figure out how all of then pieces fit together. The ending though. That was brutal.