Customer Reviews

Death Takes a Honeymoon (Carnegie Kincaid, Book 4)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Carnegie Kincaid is not going to Idaho for the wedding of old friend, now famous TV actress Tracy Kane, and it didn't have anything to do with the fact she had once had a close encounter with the soon to be groom - smoke jumper, Jack "The Knack" Packard.

But her close friend, B.J. insists she needs her help, she has been unfaithful to her husband Matt, with Carnegie's cousin (who she was never close too), smoke jumper, Brian Theale. Brian won't give her back the specially designed necklace her husband had made for her and she has to have it by the wedding.

And then Brian is killed doing a smoke jump.

Was it an accident or murder?

Did it have anything to do with the necklace

Did it have anything to do with a supposed stolen treasure that the bride's late uncle, Roy was supposed to have stolen and who was thought to have committed suicide 30 years ago.

And on top of that Cissy Kane - mother of the bride insists Carneige take over as on-site wedding planner.

As more murders follow, Carneige begins to wonder if there are going to be enough guests left for the wedding.

And then there's that pesky fire.

Highlights:

Great mystery. Wonderful new characters. I love the detail about smoke jumpers and the work they do.

Aaron Gold - Carnegie's (We're just dating, nothing special as he tells the wedding guests) sort of boyfriend. Determined that he is not going to settle down and wants to keep things casual, but it doesn't stop him from getting into a knock down drag out fight when someone makes a comment about Carnegie.

Boris the florist, has to be flown in when the wedding's original florist is hospitalized with a bee sting. He is always funny and one of my favorite reoccuring characters.

Beau Paliere - Wedding Planner to the stars who shows up at the wedding after Cissy has substituted Carnegie for his manager. Beau is still upset about the toupee incident, but doesn't mind dumping all the work on Carnegie while getting all the praise.

Lowlights:

The reason this is a 3 star and not higher is the ending. Cliff Hanger's belong in weekly magazine's and old movie serials, not in books where the next one may not come out for another year. Since I read dozens of different series I don't instantly remember everything about characters or situations as soon as I start reading the book and may not remember a lot of details when I finally get this one, which looks like it's going to come out in January 2006.

A lot of the mystery wasn't really clearly explained, I don't know if that's because of the cliff hanger and it's going to be better explained in the next book, but I had a lot questions still unanswered.

Overall these books have really improved. I hated the first one. Thought the 2nd was ok and really like the 3rd one. I likeed this one until the end. So if you don't mind a cliff hanger at the end of a book, this has great mystery with lots of interesting and different characters.

I loved the first book in this series Veiled Threats, as well as the second, Died to Match. Somehow I missed number three (which lack I will immediately address) so I was pleased and delighted to find this one - the fourth in the series. Unfortunately, I don't think it matched the very high quality established by the author in the first two books. The writing, however, is still crisp and clear, as always.

I did like the shift of location-it's always fun when a series can move away from its home base, even just for one book. It's obvious that Ms. Donnelly knows Idaho as well as she does the Seattle area, and she excels at putting the reader into the geography. Also, meeting friends from a few years back adds to Carnegie Kinkaid's persona, helping us to understand how and why she became what she is today. The history of the area adds greatly to the story. It is almost casually sprinkled in here and there, and is never boring.

It's fun to learn about new businesses-who'd have thought that wedding planners needed to know so much about apparently everything? Thank goodness, Carnegie does, and is easily able to step into the breach when the previously-engaged planner goes temporarily AWOL from the very celebrity wedding of one of Carnegie's friends. Although she'd been invited to the wedding, Carnegie really hadn't planned to attend, until a distress call from another friend prompted her to go back home to Idaho for the event.

Summers in the west are rife with forest fires, and Ms. Donnelly has obviously studied the situation with great care, as her descriptions of the smoke jumpers and fire fighting ring very true. It's a tension-filled life, to be sure, and this book is a terrific tribute to those brave folks who embrace it with gusto.

Although I did enjoy this book, I kept getting the notion that it was almost two stories that had to be compressed into one, leaving out an awful lot of the author's ordinary attention to detail. We do get to see more of Carnegie's Mom-and kudos to the author for making this older woman attractive, smart and sexy! Some of the other regulars Boris and Aaron (Carnegie's on-again/off-again lover) are already known to us, but still we get more little tid-bits of their past. There are so many new folks in this book, however, about whom we might like to know more, and they get short shrift.

The ending is appalling. I felt so cheated, which is the major reason why I could only give the book 3-well, maybe 3 ½-- stars. Of course, once I've read book three, I might better understand why the author did this. Or maybe not. One thing is for sure-it won't keep me from reading more of this author!

But you'll have to read the book to get to it. And it's an aspect of the ending that isn't all that relevant to the actual mystery, which was well-plotted and hard to guess. No, it's related to the romantic life of our heroine-detective, Carnegie. Carnegie is a wedding planner, who thinks she's going to attend the wedding of an old friend (now a movie star) but when she arrives in Idaho, finds her mother has volunteered her to help out. The official wedding planner is very high profile and not very present, so you can imagine how much falls on Carnegie's capable shoulders. In addition to the wedding, Carnegie arrives shortly after the death of a cousin (not someone she's close to) who was a fire jumper (fireman who parachutes into forest fires). His death is suspicious, and she starts to poke around to see what she can find out. She's also trying to get back a necklace belonging to another old friend -- and the last person who had the necklace was the firefighter who died. Then there's Carnegie's own romantic life -- her boyfriend refuses to come with her to the wedding -- they've been having some problems ever since she accidentally used the M word in front of him. He's commitment phobic.

This was a very nice little mystery -- well plotted, engaging, likeable characters, picturesque setting very aptly described. But the ending...

Well, you'll have to read it for yourself and see what you think.

Death Takes a Honeymoon is the 4th installment in the Wedding Planner Mystery Series by Deborah Donnelly. My opinion is that it's the BEST yet. I love the fact that it took the characters outside of Seattle into a new setting for murder and mayhem. Taking Carneige "on location" should be something that happens more often. The "on location" descriptions and the descriptions of the characters involoved with this particular wedding were excellent and entralling. The mystery and intruge kept me going- I found it hard to put down once I was reading. It is definitely a "page-turner". As for the stunning cliff hanger ending- I say BRAVO DEBORAH!! I loved it. Being a big fan of this series, I'm invested in the characters as much as anyone and I found it to be a brilliant way to go. I did NOT feel cheated at all. I love getting involved with the characters and having something to look forward to in the next book- and this doesn't "leave you hanging"- instead it intices you and intrigues you and gives you something to think about as you wait for the next book to come out. Keeps you involved with the characters- instead of shelving them until the next book-which has to work at reinteresting you in the characters. I'm already interested and because of this will stay interested. Do not take it as a personal attack- take it as a leap of faith. Once again I say- READ THIS BOOK- ENJOY THIS BOOK AND FEEL WHAT THE CHARACTERS FEEL-GO WITH IT- IT'S WORTH THE JOURNEY. I loved it and so will you

This is the fourth book I've read by Ms. Donnelly. I wasn't "on the edge of my seat" with her first book but I rarely judge a writer or a "series" by just one read unless, of course, the first book is exceptionally difficult to get through. Her approach to "leading" the reader into thinking she is onto the killer by process of elimination immediately makes one realize it's someone other than who she names. I guess that's a "given". I think I also would have enjoyed each of her books a little more had she not always been so "hard" on herself regarding her looks and/or her body. This particular book's plot was put together much better than those I'd read prior to this. The "guilty party" was a pleasant surprise for me this time as I am usually pretty good at determining the culprit before reaching the conclusion of the book. Without giving away too much detail to the end of this story, I have to say the actual finale left me looking for pages to follow with additional explanation as to what actually happened beyond a specific event but found nothing. I was very disappointed at the close of this fourth in her series that, up to the last page, I felt was her best so far. Because of this, I believe I'll pass on her latest "You May Now Kill The Bride". The ending to "Death Takes A Honeymoon" finished much too abruptly for me. There's something to leaving the reader wanting for more but this one ended before the whole story was told. Or so it would seem.

I read Death Takes a Honeymoon in two days and the more I thought about the book, the less I decided I enjoyed it. Were there any likeable characters at all? The story was very uneven and there wasn't enough development of Julie, one of the most interesting characters. By the time I got to the cliffhanger ending I decided I didn't really care what happened to Carnegie and Aaron after all. What I did enjoy was the change of venue to Idaho. I was disappointed enough in this outing between unlikeable characters and disjointed plot that I am not sure I will continue with the series.

Deborah Donnelly's mysteries are always a treat, and this latest one is no exception. Were it not for the sudden death of her cousin while fighting fires wedding planner Carnegie Kincaid would not have even attended her friend's wedding. Instead, Carnegie finds herself involved in investigating the circumstances of the smokejumper's death, contending with her old boyfriend who happens to be the groom, working the wedding under the supervision of her rival wedding planner the "beautiful Beau," and trying to repair her relationship with ambitious reporter Aaron. With a cast of eccentrics and full of humor and wit, Donnelly carries the mystery through to a heart-stopping conclusion. Carnegie has grown into being one of the more endearing characters in the mystery field and I can't wait for her next appearance.

Full disclosure: as one of Deborah Donnelly's writing pals, I heard a lot about Death Takes a Honeymoon over the year she spent writing the book. Doesn't seem quite fair that I devoured it in 24 hours, then does it?!

Wedding planner extraordinaire Carnegie Kincaid reluctantly hits the high society scene in Sun Valley, Idaho, where a girlhood friend is getting married. Soon enough, Carnegie has not only been drawn into helping with the intricacies of the wedding, but also into solving the murder of one of the local crew of smokejumpers. Carnegie is funny, brave, and loyal, with just enough attitude and impulsiveness to knock her out of the Girl Scouts. Donnelly fills the book with local color, idiosyncratic characters, and romantic tension--and her prose is light as air. I'll be waiting in line for the next in the series, and the one after that, and the one after that...

I really enjoy this "cozy" murder mystery series, with amateur sleuth/wedding planner Carnegie Kincaid. Deborah Donnelly's story lines are always entertaining and liberally sprinkled with humor at the expense of Carnegie's Bridezilla du Jour.

This particular story was a bit convoluted, with a number of new characters dumped on the reader simultaneously. Even at the end of the story, I felt like I needed a scorecard to keep up. All the same, Donnelly does a fairly good job of distinguishing even the most minor of characters.

A good, but not overwhelming plot, coupled with a look into Carnegie's past, makes for a solid book. I must say, though, the cliffhanger ending is a bit over-the-top. If Aaron's truly gone, then I say good riddance. I wasn't too thrilled with him anyway.

Deborah Donnelly has a knack for setting, whether she is describing the elegant details of a wedding or painting a picture of Sun Valley, Idaho, the backdrop for her latest Wedding Planner novel Death Takes a Honeymoon. In this installment, she immerses her readers into the fascinating world of smoke jumpers and her research shows. Fans of the series are given a treat as they get a glimpse into Carnegie's past -- we meet her mother, her old friends and her old love. She is a real, three dimensional character, with career ups and downs, romance problems and an admirable dedication to her clients. Best of all is her tendency to play detective. Death Takes A Honeymoon further develops the characters we've come to know and love, and takes readers to a vivid new setting. If you want a page turner, this book is for you.