A Killer Wedding ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

A Killer Wedding by Joan O'Leary


G 👀 dreads

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 glamorous 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.

Genre: Fiction, Mystery, Thriller, Crime, Suspense

The Why/How: Recommendation by someone I follow on GR whose "Books in Common" often have the same star ratings as mine.

Day 1 ~ I really like this story, probably more than I should. I think I figured out who-done-it even though it could be ALL.OF.THEM! There have already been a couple of twists. 

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

🎉 Overall Enjoyment?🎉 🎉 🎉 🎉 🎉

🎣 Did it grab and keep my attention?  🎣 🎣 🎣 🎣 🎣

🗣️ Would I recommend it to anyone? Yes ➕

🕮 Would I want a sequel? Maybe 🤷 I could see another following Christine's career. Or maybe even Jane. She was the bride on the balance beam between good and evil.  

📚 Would I want to read more books by this author?  Yes ➕ This was her debut published September 2025. No mention of anything in the works.

💣💥 📢 Sort Warnings?  The obvious: MŪrd ɇ r​​

🌶 Spice? No

🌪 Plot Twist? YES!  🌪☈🌀

👟 Pace? Good

💻Tidbits ~Oh.My! I thought this was going to be fluffy with the over-the-top wedding of the rich and famous and those rubbing elbows with the rich and famous. Drama and humor-yes, fluff-no. 

On the morning of the extravaganza, Gram is found in her room dead. Since Glo is on the brink of darkness (financial disaster looming) they decide to keep her on ice. Nobody can know...except all the people who know! Mums the word. 

There are A LOT of characters. I actually pulled a list of characters from Google because of "wait, is that the son or the grandson?" and "which one is THAT?" Once I figured out who was who on the family tree and extended branches it was easier to follow. Plus there were flashbacks of the main characters filling in their stories in kind of 'getting to know you' segments. 

The Mother of the Bride has a flashback of her engagement lunch. The end of that story made me :gasp: out loud! Seriously. That never happens! 

It was a mystery up until the end.  I thought I figured out who-done-it. Lots of red herrings so it could have been ALL.OF.THEM. I had figured out who the real bad guy was but not who actually pulled the trigger.

This was Joan O'Leary's first novel. I would welcome another. 
Side note: The author actually got married in a castle in Ireland. I imagine that helped as she was setting the stage for this wedding.

🎧Amanda Dolan 👍

🎧 12.0 hours 🕮 336 pages 

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