I received a free digital ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Rating | ⭐⭐⭐1/2
This was a lot of fun and I was highly engaged throughout. The reveals weren't shocking, but they were interesting. The final reveal wasn't something that could easily be guessed because of all the moving parts, but it was entirely possible in most respects, though some things stretched the bounds of believability. Easily a solid four-star read.
EXCEPT!
The history lover in me absolutely hated the incorrect information about Brian Boru and Ballymoon Castle. First of all, Ballymoon Castle is ruins now. Beautiful, yes, but still ruins and obviously not renovated into a high-end hotel-like structure that caters to the extremely and obnoxiously rich. Secondly, it was most decidedly NOT the home base of one of Ireland's greatest medieval kings, Brian Boru. Boru was born around 941 and died in 1014. Based on architecture of the time, Ballymoon wasn't built until 1290-1310. Thirdly, even if the timelines matched up, Boru was killed in battle - though he did not directly participate due to his age and health. This means his third wife, Gormflaith, did NOT conspire with his enemies to kill him, then attempt to use the tunnels of the castle to flee. I also can't remember exactly for sure, but the author may have placed the castle in the wrong county. Ballymoon is in County Carlow and I feel like the author said County Clare. I can't remember for sure, so don't quote me on this. It could be mis-remembering, since the county names are so similar.
Seriously, this kind of stuff annoys me. All of this was easily searchable within seconds for anyone not familiar with this part of Ireland's history. I even looked Boru up just to make sure I was not imagining things when it was discussed in the beginning when and how he supposedly died.
Okay, now for the book itself, because it was a very fun and complicated little mystery.
Christine Russo has scored the gig of a lifetime - to cover the wedding of Gloria Beaufort's favorite grandson, Graham Ripton. Beaufort is a beauty icon, found of the massively successful beauty empire Glo. Russo has just been promoted to senior editor of Bespoke Weddings, a sub-publication of Bespoke, a high-end fashion magazine. She's off to Ireland on an all-expenses paid trip that will make her career.
Except the morning following a disastrous family dinner, Gloria is found dead in her suite. The family decides they have to keep her death a secret and control the flow of information - meaning Christine is basically threatened into silence - until the ceremony is over and everyone can get back home. A lot of bad press and impending lawsuits are about to mess with the wealthy world of the Ripton family, and the press that would come with the murder of their matriarch is the last thing they need.
The suspect list is endless and Christine does her best to navigate the situation, as someone starts leaving her clues to direct her that all is not what it seems. There's her son Trey, a complete embarassment who has no idea how to run a company and is driving Glo into the ground, and his wife Clementine who is losing her marbles as the chaos erupts. Their son Ben is walking time bomb and raging alcoholic with a temper to match, and his wife Carlyle is definitely pissed about several goings-on related to both her business and personal life. Father Kenneth has been involved with the family for decades and knows them all very well. Elliott, the constantly-frazzled wedding planner, was arguing with Gloria the night before she died. There's even Jane, Graham's bride-to-be, to whom there is more than meets the eye. Graham, Trey and Clem's second son and the groom, seems to be the only one without any skeletons.
Initially the book is mainly told from Christine's point of view. As the threads begin to tie together, we get POVs from the other characters as flashbacks, giving us the information we needed, when we needed it, to figure out who was involved with what. I felt like this was a great way to deliver those aspects, instead of random info-dumps that would have felt out of place and contrived. We find out why they should or should not be considered a suspect without slowing down the action in the present day.
Some of the characters are quite unlikeable, which I always love. Gloria herself is kind of awful, in only the way an uber-rich, judgy old lady can be. Christine had a fairly strong voice, even as she realized she was way out of her element and could easily end up the next victim.
Overall, I really liked this one. It's clever and funny, and when everything comes together, things mostly make sense. I had ideas of who was involved and some ideas for how, but did not guess the biggest reveal. I'm not sure anyone would. Even so, it was a good way to spend a few hours and I would read the author's next book.
If only the history would have been accurate.
Recommended.
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