Deadly Wedding

Deadly #2

by Kate Parker

Why murder a dying man?
Olivia Denis is hesitant to help an old family friend get ready for her wedding outside London. The so-called friend is a master at using people. As a young widow trying to find her way through a new romantic relationship, Olivia would rather avoid the large party.
She definitely didn’t plan to find the bride’s grandfather stabbed to death. The cruel, enormously rich aristocrat had changed his will only the day before, angering all his children.
But as Olivia is forced to investigate the murder, she’s called away by her employer, the owner of an influential London daily newspaper. She must carry out another secret assignment, one that will take her to Vienna, now part of Nazi Germany.
With war on the horizon and attacks on the old man’s family increasing, can Olivia find a way to save lives in two countries?

Genres: Mystery, Historical Fiction, Historical Mystery, Historical, Cozy Mystery, Audiobook, Fiction

315 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 11, 2016

About the author

Kate began reading Agatha Christie mysteries and the Nancy Drew books while her classmates were reading Dick and Jane. She particularly likes historical mysteries and the feeling of time travel a good historical book can give the reader. Combined with her love of late Victorian to World War II architecture and fashions, she found an outlet for the stories and characters that fill her head by writing The Victorian Bookshop Mysteries, The Milliner Mysteries, and The Deadly series, as well as taking part in the Christmas Revels anthologies.

So far, Kate has put out four free short stories, The Missing Brooch (Victorian Bookshop Mystery), Emily's First Case (Milliner Mysteries), and The Missing Maps and A Christmas Mystery (Deadly Series), to her newsletter list. The Mystery at Chadwick House is a novella that is free for newsletter subscribers or can be purchased at retailers. Sign up at www.KateParkerbooks.com to get free copies.

Reviews

[Barbara Rogers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Barbara’s rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Series: Deadly #2
Publication Date: 4/25/17
Period: 1936 Inter-War London
Audiobook Narrator: Henrietta Meire for Tantor Audio

As a fan of this author’s Victorian Bookshop Mystery series, I wanted to try her Deadly series as well. I’m so glad I did as I enjoyed the time I spent with Olivia as well as her obnoxious wealthy cousins, her budding significant other – Adam, her employer at the newspaper, her photographer Jane, and, of course, her overbearing, disapproving father. My library didn’t have the first book in the series available, so I started with this one and it was no trouble at all to step right into the series and feel at home. I’ll definitely read the first book whenever my library has it available.

I ‘read’ the audiobook version and the narrator did an overall nice job. The pacing was nicely done, but, for me, the voice was too high-pitched and whiny when doing ‘posh’ aristocratic voices.

Widowed Olivia Dennis didn’t want to move back to her father’s house after her husband, Reggie, was murdered, so she got a job at The Daily Premier as a society reporter. Her father was incensed at the idea of his daughter actually working. Luckily, he doesn’t know she’s also done some more clandestine reporting for her boss. He does know, however, that she is the one who solved her husband’s murder, and that is a bone of contention between them as well.

Olivia has a love/hate relationship with her distant aristocratic cousins and she can’t believe she’s let Celia talk her into arriving early and helping Celia prepare for her wedding. With a rude, curmudgeonly patriarch, his equally rude adult children, and their adult children all living in the same household, there is little enjoyment in their company.

The old patriarch is found murdered on Celia’s wedding day, but the discovery is hushed up until the wedding is done. Since it is Celia and her groom’s third try for a wedding, her mother wanted to make sure it happened this time! When Celia announces she doesn’t trust the police to find the correct murderer and tasks Olivia with investigating the crime, things get pretty tense. Nobody wants Olivia sticking her nose in their business – but – none of them are convinced the police will get it right either.

At the same time, she is investigating the family murder, her boss assigns her a clandestine mission for him. That mission is truly dangerous since she must travel to an Austria that has just been annexed by Germany. Nazi’s have taken over and the drums of war can be heard in the distance. Can Olivia and Jane safely complete their mission and make it safely out of Austria? Oh! My!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and am looking forward to continuing with the series.

[LORI CASWELL · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dollycas’s Thoughts

This is another fabulous story from Kate Parker.

Olivia Denis is back and getting ready for a wedding of an old family friend. The problem is this friend is treating her more like a servant than a life long friend and Olivia just goes along with it to keep the peace just to get through a wedding that had already been postponed more than once. When the bride goes to her grandfather’s room before the service Olivia is dragged along. What they find is the man dead with a knife in his chest and the bride tells her to keep it mum until after the wedding. Thankfully one of the real servants notifies the authorities. The bride begs Olivia to find the killer and we readers are off on another investigation with Olivia Denis.

The main plot is strong and compelling, the subplots are excellent and just as compelling. Kate Parker sets the scene, introduces the characters and draws us right in from the very first page. Olivia also makes a very dangerous journey for her employer and that part had me holding my breath. That coupled with the death and subsequent drama made for a book that was impossible to put down.

I discovered Kate Parker through her Victorian Mystery Series where she kept topping herself in each new book and now with this Deadly Series she is doing the exact same thing. I loved the historical aspects to the story along with the great mystery. The characters are colorful, unique and realistic for the time period. I love what a strong woman Olivia Denis is and the way she takes on whatever is asked of her. She doesn’t do anything halfway.

Deadly Wedding can be read as a stand alone but I strongly suggest you read Deadly Scandal first. I can’t wait for book #3.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

This mystery I liked much better than the first and found myself truly perplexed about how the events could unfold. The Vienna side story had some truly chilling elements all the more so because they were based on historical fact.

[Pamela Shropshire · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book 2 of this series: it was even better than the first one. The recurring characters were more fully developed. In particular, Livvy’s relationship with her father has improved as Livvy has matured since her husband’s death, and she learns several things about him that’s helps her see him as a person and not just as an overbearing father.

Livvy is attending the wedding of a childhood friend and family connection when the bride’s grandfather is stabbed. This is merely the first of several attempted murders/attempted murderer. In addition, Livvy’s boss once again asks her to take a special assignment, this time to Vienna, to help his late wife’s Jewish relatives escape the Nazi regime. Once again, Livvy has a meeting with Oberst Bernhard.

I enjoyed the resolution of both plot lines, and look forward to seeing how Adam and Livvy grow as a couple.

[Jeanne Adamek · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think that I enjoyed this story more than the first book in this series! I found that Olivia has grown and turned into a person that I would like to know.

Strangely, my interest was more in the secret assignment Olivia took on and the historical time that the author portrayed than the mystery of who killed the Earl (although the mystery was also well done). I really think that Kate Parker did exceptionally well describing the late 1930's and I really found myself immersed in history, so much so that I cannot wait for the next installment of this series.

[Laura Edwards · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kate Parker hits all the right notes in "Deadly Wedding". An interesting and somewhat complex mystery (though I had a hunch either Walter or Margaret was the guilty party) has the reader picking up clues and piecing them together towards a solution with Olivia.

Not only do I like the main character, but I enjoy the secondary characters as well (Jane, Adam, Mr. Benton, the German Bernhard, even Olivia's father is more nuanced than I first thought). No one is without faults or all bad, all are three-dimensional instead of cookie cutter characters.

Ms. Parker does a good job with setting and place. The reader gets a feel for London during the late thirties when war is looming on the horizon. At first I thought switching from the situation in England to Olivia's travels to Vienna might interrupt the flow of the story, but Ms. Parker pulls it off well. Olivia's trip to Vienna held a great deal of suspense and the author wove it all together very well.

I am really enjoying this series and hope it continues for many more volumes.

[Barb in Maryland · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars
Not a sophomore slump, but not quite a great leap forward, either--just more of the same.
This time Livvy (and her father!) are wrangled into investigating the murder of the Earl of Millhaven. He's a very distant relative and a nasty piece of work. Suspects abound! Alas, 90% of them are family. Lots of twists and turns in that plot, with a kicker of an ending.
On the romance front Livvy and her beau Adam spend more time apart than together. He's off doing his super secret stuff, she's making another perilous foray into Nazi territory--this time Vienna.
All in all, quite satisfactory. I kept turning the pages with a need to know what happens next. The Vienna portions of the story were nail-bitingly tense--easily the best part of the book.

Bring on Book 3!! While it certainly helps to have read the first book(Deadly Scandal), it is not absolutely necessary to have read it in order to enjoy this one.

[Evelyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I missed book one of the series, so I don't know whether this one is better. Olivia visits her somewhat distant relatives for her "cousin's" wedding. Unfortunately, Celia's grandfather, the present earl and a nasty old man, is murdered just before the ceremony. The family decides that the wedding is too important to risk, so they don't call the police until afterward. Celia is going off on her honeymoon and makes Olivia promise to investigate the murder for the family. I was a bit confused at times with everyone's names and titles, but soon figured out the family dynamics. I liked Olivia and her father. The rest of the family ranged from the spoiled (Celia) to the downright mean (her mother, Lady Beatrice). I enjoyed the buildup of the investigation. It was a little disconcerting to have Olivia travel to Vienna to help rescue some family members of her boss. (She works as a society writer for a newspaper.) I did enjoy the history being told about Vienna, Austria, and the Nazis, but I think it may have been better in a separate book. The ending was well done. Overall, a good book.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set right before WWII, Germany has taken Austria, a patriarch is murdered in an English family, and although unrelated, the two threads are interwoven.
Second in the “Deadly series,” it’s an engaging mystery- adventure.

[Pamela · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow….

As I mentioned in my review of book 1, I have loved reading all the series’ written by this author. In the second book, it was very close and personal to Livvy, and as the deaths kept happening, you can put a guess as to the motive but it isn’t u til the ending that you find out if you are right
Or wrong…no spoilers here. The characters are so alive and their camaraderie in solving the mystery is as natural as if they were goi g to step out of the pages. I am thrilled to say I will be starting Book 3, and know there are more to come after
That. Thank you, Kate Parker. This series is making my holiday season!

[Gail · Rating 4 out of 5]

Olivia is a young widow in London just before WWII. She is called upon to solve the murder an elderly distant relative. This is second book in this series. They are pretty good, although I am getting tired of WWII books.

[Karen Levay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoying Livvy’s journey. Unsympathetic characters really have no real redeeming qualities although her fathers character becomes a less one note character in this book.

[Katreader · Rating 4 out of 5]

DEADLY WEDDING By Kate Parker
The Second Deadly Mystery

Olivia Denis is called upon to help her distant cousin Celia prepare for her wedding. Although act more like a servant than help an old friend and relative is a more accurate description. The residents of Millhaven House are the epitome of a dysfunctional family, but who would kill the ancient patriarch when he was already dying? And kill him the morning of the wedding? Although Olivia is a strong woman she always gives in to Celia's demands, from packing her trucks for the honeymoon to agreeing to look into the murder of Celia's grandfather.

With murder on the home front, Olivia also has to deal with Nazi atrocities as she travels to German occupied Austria on another mission from the newspaper. With the threat of war looming will Olivia be able to help those in Austria as well as the family on her own soil?

Families have secrets. Aristocratic families seem to have even more and Olivia must dig deep into the recesses of her own family to uncover them. The mystery itself is complex, the characters challenging, and there are more motives to shake a stick at.

As a history buff I am especially drawn to the special missions Olivia performs. The conditions in Europe just prior to World War II are fascinating, horrible, and riveting. The true story behind what Olivia does is amazing. Obscured all these years, I'm grateful that Kate Parker has shone a light on these facts.

I love this series. The attention to detail, the well plotted mystery, and the burgeoning romance in the background provide a captivating look into a fascinating era. For all she's been though and everything with which she still has to deal, Olivia remains strong and eminently relatable; a woman I would like to know and call friend.

FTC Disclosure – The publisher sent me a copy of this book in the hopes I would review it.

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found the relationships in this book intriguing. Those between Olivia and the bride-to-be, a master manipulater, and those between Olivia's father and his generation of the bride's family, all distant cousins.

Olivia would rather not even attend the wedding, let alone allow herself to be ordered around by Celia. Of course her job as a society reporter puts her at odds with some of the family because she is a working 'girl' and with others because they expect an excellent write up,of the wedding.

The wedding is to occur at the home place of Celia's grandfather with her separated parents and all her aunts and uncles in attendance. Only grandfather is stabbed to death and part of the family wants Olivia to figure it out, while the rest want it left alone. Of course a new will plays a major role in who receives the money and who wants the money.

Meanwhile, Olivia is called back to London for a special assignment that takes her to Vienna, now part of Nazi Germany. Her newspaper assignment and her secret assignment have to be carried out carrifully so that she can return home without any problems.

Returning to England, the murder has still not been solved, more things keep happening at the house and Olivia is just in time to reveal the murderer. A surprise ending.

I have to admit I was on Olivia's side during the majority of the house party, I had no desire to spend much time with the residents either. Not even her father felt how uncomfortable things were for her, and a budding romance with a man who did secret things in the military also left her off kilter.

Interesting read, you could often feel Olivia's discomfort.

[Gail Gassen · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a wonderful book!

After I had read the first book in this "The Deadly Series" I was totally hooked on them all. Without reading any of the others yet I knew they would be extraordinary, & so far I'm right. First whenever you read any of the books written during the time before WWII it has the ability to fill your heart with the horror these people were going to face. Since these characters are so well written you see them as being real people with a future ahead of them that will bea nightmare the like they'd never ever have been able to imagine. With there being murders committed it would be even harder on these characters.. with an ending that is in my heart was so heartbreaking for so many. Olivia barely makes it out alive, but at least shell not be ordered around by her spoiled bratty cousin. Even if she is a distant cousin! And sometimes you read a wonderful book that the ones being murdered actually caused no sorrow they were such horrible people. The true sorrow is the one committing them being punished. Except we must never reach that callous a heart in reality., but its okay when its through the book we're reading. Right? I hope you enjoy this second book in the life of Olivia Denis, & her distant family. I highly recommend reading these books in the order they were written.

[Deb · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you like the Maggie Hope series, you will enjoy this murder mystery. Olivia is a society columnist for a London newspaper in the late 1930s. Her whole life she has spent vacations and holidays with her third cousins at Millhaven Manor. /the house is home to three generations: the earl, his four children and their children, nearly all of whom are now adults. The weekend her cousin Celia is getting married, the old earl changes his will and is promptly murdered. Celia and her mother decide the wedding should go on before the police are called. What!? After Celia goes on her honeymoon in South Africa, Olivia and her father try to identify the murderer. At least two poisonings and another murder later, all becomes sadly clear. While trying to unmask a killer at home, Olivia also keeps on writing for the newspaper and carrying out a secret mission to Vienna which involves helping a group of Austrian Jews get out of the country and into England. I liked Olivia and found the book almost impossible to put down.

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

In #2, Olivia is still working at the newspaper, against her father's wishes, and enjoying it. She is assigned to the ladies society section, which keeps her busy enough, and brings in an income, now that her husband is dead. She is seeing Andrew, who works for the foreign service, and their relationship is getting stronger. But they both have secrets they can't share with each other; like what he does and where he goes, and that she goes to Vienna to help her boss's Jewish family try to get out from the growing Nazi terror. It's England in the 1930's and Parker does a good job portraying that time and place.
The second, and main plot, revolves around Olivia's wealthy, very distant relatives. Siblings and aunts and uncles and cousins all live together in the grandfather's large estate, until the day Celia is to be married and the grandfather is murdered. Celia begs Olivia to investigate while she is off on her honeymoon and thus begins a very confusing and confounding mystery. Who would kill the old Earl when he was going to die soon anyways?

[Catherine Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely page turner!

I enjoyed this one very much! Livvy has really come into her own and isn't the demure little wife who suddenly becomes a widow at 25 and needs to have so much help to maneuver about in a man's world, in this book while she still has her trusty heroes who pull her fat out of the fire (even some unconventional heroes) Livvy manages to make her own way in some dangerous territory. Something you wouldn't have really seen the girl in the first book do. Nice character growth. She's far from GI Jane but she just has more confidence in this one.
The only thing I didn't really like was the rather abrupt ending.
Might as well have put see ya later bye!

[Vanessa-Ann Dowsett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Initially I thought that I was not going to enjoy this series but how wrong I was. The first in the series had me gripped. Set in pre second world war England, widow Olivia finds she has the knack of solving mystery and crime. By day she works (much to her father's chagrin) for a newspaper as a society reporter but this is a cover for some very dangerous assignments. There is a lovely twist at the end of this book (my lips are sealed). I highly recommend this book but I strongly advise readers to read this series in book order as many things in book 1are significant and again in book 3 which I have just begun.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

1938 and Olivia Denis is asked my old friend Celia Eustace to help her with preparing for her wedding, a wedding that had already been postponed. So when the murdered body of Celia's grandfather is discovered she persuades Olivia not to call the police until after the wedding.
She is asked by Celia to investigate the murder, but will it be the last. Meanwhile Olivia is sent by Sir Henry, her employer, to Vienna on a secret assignment.
An enjoyable well-written mystery, which can easily be read as a standalone story.

[Sherri Lupton Hollister · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved it and hated it. Beautiful, sad and fabulous! Beautifully written characters, plot and setting. The lives were so real and at times sad, yet the love and hope keeps it from being maudlin. I had to get the audio because I'd gotten halfway through the book and was overwhelmed with several projects. I loved the audiobook! Henrietta Meire brings Olivia and the horrors of pre-WWII to life. I'm so excited for this series.

[Sally · Rating 3 out of 5]

A stronger entry than the previous one in this series. Olivia Denis is pressured to attend festivities connected with the wedding of a friend. Unfortunately the woman’s grandfather is killed just prior to the wedding, and Olivia is drawn into an investigation. She also is asked by her editor to go to Vienna on a secret mission, even though it is now under the control of the Nazis. Pretty well done.

[Gary and Sandra Sims · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great 👍

This is book two in the series and is as good as it's predecessor. This time we had murder, poisoning and a wedding. Everyone has a motive and Olivia is tasked to find out who did it the only problem is that the suspects are related to her. Her assignment for her boss takes her into dangerous Nazi Austria and a meeting again with a friend or possibly an enemy she can't quite figure out yet. On to book three.

[Jeanne Jenike · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wowser

This second mystery in the Deadly series was a wonderful read. I sat and read it straight through. I have ADD so I read and play a game or read the paper. So for a book to capture my attention so completely is rare. This one did . The relationship s between our heroine , her father and her beaux are growing as are her work relationships. There are parts of this book that are hard to take. Not read but the history is so painful and ugly.

[Lynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm unsure whether my review is of the book or the audiobook. The two can be difficult to separate. In this case, the reader read every male character in the exact same voice. The main character's stern, disapproving father, the 90+ year old dying man, and the young man who makes her heart go pitty - pat. All exactly the same. The plot was moderately interesting, but the reader made it tough going.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is another interesting cozy murder set in England in the late 1930s. I like the shading Kate Parker gives to her characters, good people who are flawed and bad people who are understandable. Olivia's father was brought out more fully this time around and the effects of WWI on soldiers who survived but were shell shocked or injured. Always a good lesson for those who care about returning soldiers from any conflict.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The earl is actually stabbed before the wedding, but nobody tells the police because they are afraid the groom will get away if the nuptials are delayed. Because…that is the sort of family they are. It is somewhat of a relief for the reader when Olivia Denis gets away briefly for a dangerous mission to Vienna since the murder mystery plot is a bit worn.

[Nancy Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Less spy and more detective in this book, but equally entertaining. As the world rushes toward war Olivia's life forces her into the role of sleuth again. Sadly for her someone has used murder to resolve personal issues. I had a good idea who the villain was, largely because of all the murders I have read over the years! Still a good read!

[Priya · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too many things seem to be going on together - on one hand the protagonist seems to face no difficulty in convincing people and on the other hand she is completely a floor mat for some.
The end was conveniently tied up with the help of a letter although the sleuth does a good deduction of it beforehand.

[Jaime · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed this second installment more than the first in some ways. It was a good mystery, if a little predictable. I enjoyed the side intrigue in the middle, as well as the character development. I’m looking forward to reading the next in the series!

RA notes: I would categorize this as a clean read, as even the descriptions of the murder scenes are pretty mild.