PRETTY GUILTY WOMEN

Four women confess to the murder of one man during a wild wedding weekend at a swanky California resort.

The DeBleu-Banks weekend wedding extravaganza is underway at the Serenity Spa & Resort, and three college friends of the bride are about to be reunited after nearly two decades. Gorgeous and successful lawyer Kate Cross has everything she’s ever wanted, except for a baby, and her boyfriend, Max, fed up with the stress of trying to conceive, dumps her at the resort’s front desk. Ginger Adler is a harried and married mom of three who is tired of being the “responsible one” compared to her beloved but free-spirited husband, Frank, and hopes for some peace and quiet, which is not to be. Her 15-year-old daughter, Elsie, is up to something, and Ginger must face her ex–best friend, Emily Brown, whom she caught drunkenly making out with Frank in college. Little does Ginger know, the loss of a child years ago has Emily drowning her sorrows in alcohol and a fling with handsome Henry, whom she met, and had sex with, on the plane. Then there’s elegant 68-year-old Lulu Franc, the groom's aunt, whose fifth husband, Pierce, is acting squirrelly. The wild card is young mother Sydney Banks. Kate becomes fond of the young woman and her baby, Lydia, but something’s off about Sydney. The weekend is filled with bonding, lots of champagne, and no shortage of melodrama, but no one expects murder. When a man is found dead, Lulu, Kate, Ginger, and Emily each confess to the crime—as revealed in police interview transcripts with the suspects, the bride, and gossipy staff members—but their stories don’t add up. Lamanna’s characters aren’t too deeply drawn, but they’re familiar enough to connect with, and more than a few burning questions keep the pages turning: What is Lulu’s husband up to? What is Sydney’s real story? And, of course, who is the dead guy, and what really happened to him?

An easy, breezy beach read with a clever twist.