The Wedding of the Year

When mother-of-the-bridge Evelyn Montgomery arrives in River City, Missouri to organize the "wedding of the year," florist Bretta Solomon is thrilled at the prospect. In A Deadly Bouquet, Janis Harrison plants the seed early on that this is not going to be a run of the mill wedding. Bretta and several other small business owners have been asked to provide various elements of the wedding, but Evelyn is a taskmaster and makes frequent additions and alterations.

When the Oliver, the landscaper dies of a heart attack, and Claire, the beautician, is found murdered on the same day, Bretta feels there is something more sinister going on behind the scenes. She discovers the four women business owners attended high school together and she believes they are hiding a secret.

To complicate matters, the enigmatic Bailey Monroe, a DEA agent Bretta met in a previous adventure, has taken up residents in the cottage adjacent to Bretta's property.

As Bretta digs deeper into the mystery, trying to stave off Evelyn's over-the-top demands for

perfection, she and Bailey are forced off the road with Bailey seriously injured, then her car is vandalized in front of her shop with a note saying "Strike Two." Along with her long estranged father, Bretta seeks the truth, but is stymied at all ends, When a third person is killed in an explosion, Bretta is not deterred.

What long-dead secret are the vendors hiding and how will it impact the wedding planning and the event itself. The explosive conclusion is one you won't see coming.

I like Bretta Solomon. She has struggled with being overweight, and losing her husband early in life, but her spirit is not dampened. The addition of Bailey Monroe adds some mystery and intrigue to the series.

The first book in the series is Roots of Murder.