cover image MAY THE BEST MAN DIE

MAY THE BEST MAN DIE

Deborah Donnelly, . . Dell, $5.99 (336pp) ISBN 978-0-440-24129-4

A bubbly blend of farcical humor and madcap mystery, Donnelly's newest (after Died to Match) finds Seattle wedding planner Carnegie Kincaid in the midst of chaos once again. After being exiled from her dry-rotted houseboat, Carnegie's life plummets from bad to worse when her business partner mysteriously departs, her best friend stops speaking to her and her boyfriend tells her he's married. Her professional life peaks and dives as well, one of the low points being when a flamboyant Frenchman humiliates her on live TV while luring her customers away. Then, to make matters worse, the best man in her latest wedding turns up dead, transforming a cushy assignment to plan a celebrity wedding into a race to catch a killer before he/she picks off the rest of the bridal party. Many of the characters that have made Donnelly's Wedding Planner series so endearing are absent here—no Boris the Mad Russian Florist or Juice, cake creator extraordinaire. But the book's nonstop action and judiciously doled out clues will keep both romance and mystery lovers riveted until the Dickensian denouement. (Oct.)