The more we learn about the victim in Murder of a Wedding Belle, the easier it is to wonder why no one had murdered her before she came to Scumble River. Skye doesn't want to be the local assistant to her cousin's self-centered and abrasive wedding planner, but Cora, her last living grandparent is ill. Riley is the only grandchild of Cora's sister, Dora, and Cora wants Skye to help out. Skye may have improved in the just-say-no-to-your-mom department, but she can't say it to Grandma. At least it will be a well-paid summer job.

Riley has been living in California, where she bagged herself a rich older man. By having her wedding in humble Scumble River, Riley can show off to the kin and home town folks as well as show up the second cousin/first cousin-once-removed she once idolized. I'm sure that having Skye slave for the obnoxious planner is icing on the bridezilla's cake. The details about the excessive spending for the wedding and reception are definitely worthy of some head shaking. There's a Red Ragger wedding in chapter 22 that makes an interesting contrast. (I was puzzled that Earl Doozier, Senior claimed that Elvis was his only brother that they knew about in chapter 17 because he has another brother. That's Hap, Cletus' father. He's in jail. However, a personal e-mail from the author explained that Hap has been disowned.)

Skye has her hands full with wedding details, helping Wally catch the killer, stewing over whether or not to accept Wally's proposal, and dealing with ex-boyfriend Simon's desire to get back together. (If Skye knew her traditional spook tales, Simon's last words in this novel might make her nervous.)

I didn't like either Riley or her fiancé, Nick. All is not lost on the retribution front, though, if you keep in mind the stated year the wedding is taking place and combine that with Nick's profession. Mwahaha!

I've read Skye's biggest scenes with Simon three times already. The last one was the best for what she told her ex. ( )

It wasn't terrible, it wasn't great. Pretty good for reading fluff. My problem with it were the characters and the resolution of the story. The main character, Skye, a school psychologist and also the police psychologist in a tiny town (not believable in itself), didn't seem to be able to think beyond high school ability in her relationships and problem solving. I didn't buy it for a woman who had traveled the world and was supposedly a respected adult. Also, the premise being that she ends up being the wedding planner for her Godzilla-bride cousin and allows herself and her relatives to be treated like garbage by the bride and groom and just about everyone else, made me ill. If the bride had received some sort of comeuppance from this woman at the end of the book, perhaps, but no, suddenly the bride turned out to be just fine and all was forgotten. Twaddle.

Aside from that, this is the sort of book I could pick up and read in a hotel or on a trip and be OK with. It wasn't unreadable, simply unbelievable and unswallowable. ( )