Bride and Doom

Iris House B&B #7

by Jean Hager

Wedding bells will soon be tolling for Tess Darcy, who is finally going to tie the knot with longtime love Luke Fredrik. To celebrate the much anticipated occasion, Tess's Aunt Dahlia and Cousin Cinny are hosting a bridal shower at the Victoria Springs Country Club, the sacred domain of Julian Walker, super chef extraordinaire, who is as thoroughly despised as his culinary masterpieces are adored. So it is not a complete surprise when the dictatorial kitchen artiste is found filleted with one of his own carving knives. The real shock is when Tess's own Bed and Breakfast chef, Gertie Bogart is fingered as the prime suspect. This lethal brouhaha could easily ruin Tess's upcoming wedding and land Gertie in the slammer for a crime Tess is certain her friend did not commit. To rescue both, Tess will have to temporarily exchange her wedding veil for a sleuthing hat. But by doing so, she risks raising the ire of a killer which, in turn, raises the likelihood of Tess winding up dead before wed.

Genres: Mystery, Cozy Mystery, Cozy

174 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 1, 2000

About the author

aka Leah Crane, Marlaine Kyle, Sara North, Jeanne Stephens and Amanda McAllister.

Jean Hager is the award-winning author of two acclaimed mystery series. One features the half-Cherokee police chief, Mitch Bushyhead. The other stars an investigator for the Cherokee Nation, Molly Bearpaw, and includes her two previous novels, Ravenmocker and . Winner of numerous awards, Jean Hager lives in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Series:
* Mitch Bushyhead
* Molly Bearpaw
* Iris House B&B

Reviews

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Of course Tess would get involved in a murder investigation at her bridal shower. Nice little twists and turns in the story.

[Saraj Goldberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fast paced, easy resd

[Sarah A · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was the second book in this series u have read even though it's actually number 5. This focuses on the main lady getting ready for her wedding and also having to investigate the murder of the local country club chef.
The Story is fine. The mystery is fine - enough hints but no big giveaways.
My big problem which is why this book gets 2 stars is the lack of research the author did for a plot line. It's not directly relevant to the murder but is a side plot that takes up the detextive's focus on and off throughout the book. To not spoil the book for others, a lady has been having an affair and her husband finds out when she tells him she is pregnant. He says it cannot be his because he had a vasectomy. This becomes a subplot where the detective is hunting down the lover and so on. However with basic research the author should have found out that quite often vasectomies reattach themselves after a few years. So no vasectomy is permanent! Since the husband had the op before they got married (several years before the book is set), it is entirely possible for him to be the father. I'm afraid I got so irritated by this incorrect fact that I couldn't enjoy the book as much.

[Donna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tess is having her bridal shower at the country club. Gertie, the cook for Tess' B&B, has arranged to provide a buffet supper as a gift. When they get to the club, the country club's chef tries to throw them out of "his kitchen" although they had arranged for the use of the facilities weeks in advance. The chef is nasty to everybody, but when he is murdered, Gertie becomes the chief suspect as they had had an altercation in the past. Tess knows the chef's wife is pregnant by another man. She thinks maybe the wife did it or perhaps the wife's lover did to keep the chef from telling the lover's wife about the affair.
Clues abound and the tales winds and twists indicating first one suspect and then another.
A quick 2.5 hour read. No great thought needed but quite readable.

[Chi Dubinski · Rating 3 out of 5]

Matrimony or Murder Wedding bells will soon be tolling for Tess Darcy, who is finally to tie the knot with longtime love Luke Fredrik.To celebrate the much anticipated occasion, Tess's Aunt Dahlia and Cousin Cinny are hosting a bridal shower at the Victoria Springs Country Club, the sacred domain of Julian Walker, superchef extraordinaire, who is as thoroughly despised as his culinary masterpieces are adored. So it is not a complete surprise when the dictatorial kitchen artiste is real shock is when Iris House cook Gertie Bogart is fingered as the prime suspect.

[Jessica✨ · Rating 2 out of 5]

-Very boring
-Lots of characters that the author jumps around with. It's easy to get lost.
-One note characters that blend together.
-Cookie cutter perfection.
-A so-so mystery.
I really didn't root for anybody and I honestly couldn't find a character that I 100% liked. This is another from my "floor pile" that I'm not going to read the prequels or the sequels to.

[Helen Fleischer · Rating 3 out of 5]

decent for Iris House series