ONE FOR THE BOOKS

Murder threatens to silence wedding bells.

Beloved Briar Creek library director Lindsey Norris is about to marry Mike Sullivan when disaster strikes. The small celebration they’d planned increases exponentially when Lindsey realizes that she accidentally gave the printer the original guest list, which was much larger. Fortunately, her friends and Sully’s parents, who are hosting the wedding at their home on an offshore Connecticut island, are up to the task of reorganizing. But the death of Sully’s old friend Steve Briggs, a wealthy corporate attorney who’d been scheduled to perform the ceremony, proves difficult to work around and involves Lindsey in a hunt for the killer. Steve is found lying on the beach near the home of Sully’s parents, still in the elf costume he wore for a huge Christmas party at his home the night before. His boat is missing, and his head wounds don’t look accidental. When they attended the party, Lindsey and Sully witnessed plenty of snark from Steve’s gorgeous wife, a fight with his former law partner, an odd conversation with his brother, and a mysterious visit from a veiled woman in black. Finding someone to marry them is a comedy of errors, but hunting a killer is both so serious and so time-consuming that Lindsey despairs of getting to the church, or the island, on time.

Not much mystery, but plenty of quirky characters enhance the library director's excellent 11th adventure.