Samantha Davies features in a cosy mystery series. She has been creating children’s illustrated books, with her brave dachshund as the star of her stories, named Porkchop. The third tale is called A WEDDING GONE TO THE DOGS because Samantha’s best pal and cousin, Candie Parker, is about to wed Mark Hogan, who is simultaneously running for re-election as the Mayor. I don’t know if they thought the wedding would be good publicity for him, but some bad publicity is about to occur.
The action is set in Wings Falls, a small town near Lake George in upstate New York. Sam's boyfriend, Detective Hank Johnson, is called upon when a construction worker is found dead in a house he was repairing. Unfortunately for the happy couple, he was Candie’s ex-fiancé, Tommy Ray, and he was fixing up her home at the time. The neighbours heard voices, but Candie says she wasn’t present all morning. She’s been too busy with wedding preparations, and Sam can certainly attest to that.
More trouble arrives with Mark’s ex-wife, Babs, who tries to make them look like a couple for the reporter, Rob Anderson, who is digging up dirt relating to the mayoral campaign. He doesn’t appear to find any dirt on the opponent, Bret Hargrove, though Sam can’t seem to like the man.
Some cordial characters who will be familiar from earlier books, include the Loopy Lady rug hookers who include a stereotypical spinster librarian. Everyone listens for gossip and tries to relate it to motives for killing Tommy Ray, or any of the other odd occurrences around town. And, of course, they prepare to celebrate the forthcoming nuptials.
S.A. Kazlo has created a busy story in the third Samantha Davies mystery, with two major events and a murder investigation as well. This would be easier to read for mystery fans who already know the main characters, but there are enough differences between townsfolks to mostly keep them straight and work out the relationships and double-crosses. Sam ditched her ex-husband for stepping out on their marriage, and she reminds us of this several times, something I think is overdone. She probably isn’t as mentally past the divorce as she likes to project to others. The dachshund is a splendid, valiant dog. A WEDDING GONE TO THE DOGS also sees the bride convinced that her big day won’t happen due to all the problems, so she seems to think everything is about her. Really, it’s not. Enjoy this string of crimes and controversies.
Life for children's book author Samantha Davies seems to finally be going smoothly. She has a new boyfriend, the love of her faithful dachshund and star of her books, Porkchop, and wedding bells are even ringing for Sam's Southern Belle cousin, Candie Parker. After eleven engagements Candie has finally found Mr. Right in Mark Hogan, who is currently running for reelection as the Mayor of Wings Falls in small-town Upstate New York.
But when Candie hires Ex-Fiancé #1, Tommy, to repair her century-old purple Victorian home, disaster strikes. Instead of the perfect place for Candie and Mark to start their life as husband and wife, Candie finds Tommy dead—murdered with his own nail gun! Things only get worse when a few old racy pictures of Candie from when she and the victim were engaged surface, providing the police with the perfect motive for Candie to kill her ex.
With the police on the wrong trail, Sam isn't about to sit on the sidelines in this murder investigation—much to the dismay of Sam's boyfriend, Detective Hank Johnson. But it's up to Sam to make sure her cousin doesn't spend her honeymoon in the Wings Falls' poky. Will Sam find out who the murderer is so Porkchop can walk down the aisle as Candie's ringbearer? Or will the killer be saying "I do" to another victim... this time closer to home?
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