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A WREATH FOR THE BRIDE by Lillian O'Donnell

A WREATH FOR THE BRIDE

By

Pub Date: Jan. 12th, 1989
Publisher: Putnam

Is there a connection in the deaths of three young women who were seemingly worlds apart? That's the question New York private-eye Gwenn Ramadge must answer as she takes on the job of trying to find the true facts in the death of Mary Soffey, a bride fallen or pushed overboard on a honeymoon cruise. Clark Langner, Mary's heavy-drinking playboy-husband is the obvious suspect, but an alibi gets him off the hook. Her mother Anne, head of a cosmetics empire, hires Gwenn to investigate further. The stabbing murder of Angie Fissore some weeks later catches Gwenn's attention with its parallels to her case. Here, too, was a newlywed, and here, too, the husband, Edward Doran--a bartender at the restaurant owned by Angle's parents--drank heavily, seemed the obvious culprit, but was eventually exonerated. Then there's a third killing--Rebecca Hayman, not yet married to Dr. Gerald Goelet but spending a weekend with him on Staten Island. Gwenn's instincts push her to find something in common amongst the victims--and she does, helped a little by empathetic police Detective Lew Sackler, who's not around when she brashly confronts the killer. A plot that's gripping and inventive (even if far-fetched); an easy-flowing style; smooth pacing; and a heroine less professional than the author's usual Lieutenant Norah Mulcahaney (Casual Affair, etc.) but equally gutsy and likable--all make for a suspenseful, solidly diverting story.