ARC Review: The Wedding Plot by Paula Munier

The Wedding Plot
Author: Paula Munier
Series: Mercy Carr (Book 4)
Publication: Minotaur Books (July 19, 2022)

Description: The Wedding Plot,  USA Today bestselling author Paula Munier's fourth Mercy Carr mystery, finds Mercy and Elvis at a deadly Vermont wedding.

Love never dies a natural death…

When Mercy’s grandmother Patience marries her longtime beau Claude Renault at the five-star Lady’s Slipper Inn, it promises to be the destination wedding of the year. Just as the four-day extravaganza is due to begin, the inn’s spa director Bodhi St. George disappears―and Mercy’s mother Grace sends Mercy and Elvis to find him. But what they discover instead is a stranger skewered by a pitchfork in the barn on the goat farm where St. George lived.

As Mercy tries to figure out who the victim is and where St. George is hiding, the bride and groom’s estranged relations gather for the first of the pre-wedding festivities. Long-buried rivalries and resentments surface―and Mercy realizes that they’re all keeping secrets that could tear both families apart. When Elvis interrupts the escalating melodrama to alert Mercy to an intruder on the estate, she finds a wounded St. George in the cottage where she and Troy are staying. St. George is not who he says he is―but when he escapes from the hospital and disappears again, Mercy thinks he’s gone for good. With the wedding imminent and the families at each other’s throats, she decides finding St. George will have to wait.

The big day arrives―but the danger is far from over. With the families and the festivities still under threat, it’s up to Mercy and Elvis together with Troy and Susie Bear to stop the killer and save the bride and groom―before death do they part.

My Thoughts: Things keep going wrong as the family gathers at a nearby inn to celebrate Mercy's grandmother's wedding to long-time-beau Claude Renault. Mercy's mother is very organized, but her plans are derailed when the head of the spa disappears. She sends Mercy to find out what happened to Bodhi and to get him back to work. 

When Mercy and her K-9 Elvis visit the goat farm where Bodhi lives, they don't find Bodhi but do find another man who has been stabbed through the heart with a pitchfork. Mercy tries to identify the man and find Bodhi while her mother is urging her to get things settled before the wedding day arrives.

Meanwhile, back at the inn, family tensions are growing both with the appearance of an Aunt Mercy has seldom met who really irritates her mother, and the groom's sons and nephews who all seem to have agendas that don't relate to the wedding. 

Then one of her great-uncle's men who was supposed to be guarding the goat farm is also killed, and a storm by the inn uncovers bones that had been previously buried. A prologue dated 2001 indicates that that body might have some influence on what is happening now. The inn used to be the site of a summer camp that a lot of the Renaults attended when they were children. But then, the conflict between the Renaults concerning their billion-dollar business also provides potential for murders.

This was an entertaining story. I really like Mercy and Elvis. I like the Vermont setting. I especially liked that each chapter begins with a quotation having to do with love. 

Favorite Quote:

"The wedding's still on." Prudence gazed out toward the entrance of the inn. "But there's rain in the forecast."

"Officially?"

"Officially. Even the weatherman says so."

"They say a wet knot is harder to untie," said Mercy.

"Maybe, but don't tell that to a bride planning an outdoor wedding."

I received this ARC in exchange for an honest review from the publisher. You can buy your copy here.