Died to Match (Dell Mystery) [Mass Market Paperback]

It is one of these latter persons, Elizabeth Lamott, a 29 year-old female, now retired from Microsoft, who is the current bride. With tons of money at her disposal, she can ask for anything; getting it is sometimes the problem. Her groom is Paul Wheeler, news editor for the Seattle Sentinel.

The opening scene of their coed bachelor party at the Seattle Aquarium is delicious--the guests are all in masquerade, which of course, interferes greatly with trying to solve the murder of a bridesmaid that takes place during the party.

Several of Carnegie's friends from the first book appear in this one as well. Aaron Gold, a reporter who has a nose for gossip as well as news, seems to always pop up just when he shouldn't. It's fairly obvious he has his eye on Carnegie, but from her six-foot vantage point, his five-foot-eight or so is little more than a pest. Lily James, the black librarian and single Mom who supports Carnegie no matter what; Boris, the very Russian floral designer and Eddie, Carnegie's business partner.

Add to this mix the very punk and lesbian Juice Nugent, cake baker extraordinaire, plus police Detective Lieutenant Michael Graham, and you have the ingredients for a possibly zany merry-go-round. Donnelly's writing and story-telling ability, however, are splendid, and she keeps a tight rein on all these disparate elements, never letting any one aspect overshadow any other.

Personally, I thought the book well worth reading for this one sentence: "My current finances restricted me to a charming little vehicle, lovingly crafted in Eastern Europe, that combined the roomy elegance of a soup can with the horsepower of a sewing machine." My daughter had one of those cars, and I think a better description was never penned. Never!

It would be hard to find a more enjoyable book, I think. Now, to develop a bit of patience while waiting for the next one.

Another bridesmaid claims that somebody threw her into Elliot Bay even though because of her track record nobody takes her seriously except Carnegie. As the Lamott/Wheeler wedding approaches another bridesmaid is murdered leading Carnegie to think that somebody is stalking them. She conducts her independent investigation in the hope that the wedding day will be killer free.

Carnegie is an off-beat heroine that readers will adore and her wannabe lover goes through all sorts of emotional gyrations just to keep up with her. DIED TO MATCH is a humorous amateur sleuth novel with so many serpentine twists and turns that the audience will feel like they are on a roller coaster. Deborah Donnelly is a fresh new voice in the mystery genre.

Harriet Klausner

Deborah Donnelly does a GREAT job with introducing very off-beat weddings and parties in this series AS WELL AS the various problems that her wedding planner encounters. I think that it would be very easy to resort to trite, old wedding disasters - but Donnelly manages to avoid this.

Other reviewers have mentioned that the novels were too long or characters weren't developed enough. Good grief. The plots are DEVELOPED and the characters' personalities are being revealed a little at a time as this is a series. With each book, another layer of the characters' personaes are exposed.

Keep it up Donnelly - this series is great!