Weddings Are Murder (A Susan Henshaw Mystery #11) [Mass Market Paperback]

Valerie Wolzien (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 28, 1998

DEAD ON ARRIVAL

Suburban housewife Susan Henshaw dips into the middle-age blues after hearing the news that her little girl, Chrissy, is getting married. To bolster her spirits, Susan plans to produce the wedding to end all weddings.

Chrissy's college roommate, now a designer in Italy, agrees to create an original wedding dress. Then, on the day before the ceremony, the long-anticipated box arrives. Yet the contents are a bit unexpected. For instead of a delicate confection of lace and tulle, nestled inside is a strangled corpse. Is someone trying to ruin the season's biggest wedding?

Over Susan's dead body . . .

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Although I now live in New York City, there's a lot I can identify with in Valerie Wolzien's mysteries. Valerie's portraits of small towns and suburban communities remind me of my youth -- and I suspect they strike a similar chord with all those readers who live (or used to) far from urban centers. Also, Valerie's novels are like comfort food in a way -- because they are, in part, celebrations of holidays and happy social occasions (weddings, birthday parties, family vacation trips) . . . plus the mandatory addition of homicidal doings. Valerie is now writing two series with two different amateur sleuths -- suburban housewife Susan Henshaw (MURDER AT THE PTA LUNCHEON is her first appearance) and businesswoman Josie Pigeon (who started solving murders in SHORE TO DIE). I heartily recommend anything Valerie Wolzien writes.

--Joe Blades, Associate Publisher

From the Back Cover

"A nice writing style and considerable wit."
--Chicago Tribune

"Valerie Wolzien is a superlative -- and witty -- crime writer."
--Mary Danheim

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 229 pages
• Publisher: Fawcett Gold Medal Book; 1st edition (February 28, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0449150356
• ISBN-13: 978-0449150351
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,808,865 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars A Total Disappointment, January 11, 2006

By 

Chris (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Weddings Are Murder (A Susan Henshaw Mystery #11) (Mass Market Paperback)

Normally I am a fan of the Susan Henshaw series, but this installment was just terrible. By the end I couldn't care less about the identity of the murder victim much less who killed her. The entire premise was so unbelievable. Most of the characters had two different names which kept me confused and the frantic pace that Susan ran around town for 24 hours left me so exhausted I couldn't wait for the book to just end. I would love to know what police chief would only smile upon learning of a dead body being hidden for a day or so in order to not ruin the wedding day for the bride! The fact that her friend Kathleen, a former police officer, agreed to go along with the plan only made it worse. By all means, skip this book.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fun read!, December 4, 2001

By 

apoem "apoem" (Bosque Farms, NM USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Weddings Are Murder (A Susan Henshaw Mystery #11) (Mass Market Paperback)

I enjoyed this book. It was a light mystery with a lot of fun thrown in via the dissapearing body, the vanishing wedding dress and the other problems that arise from having a murder and a wedding.

The author did a good job of picturing the tense times of a wedding. All that was lacking was the normal night before the wedding fight between groom and bride.

I read the other reviews and I disagree in that I didn't find the main character, Susan, to be extremely self centered. Rather I found her to be a normal, flawed mother who was working hard to make the best wedding she could for her daughter. I thought her reaction to finding the dead body and her solutions to hiding the dead body funny.

The book was fun and enjoyable. It was a light mystery that didn't have a lot of gore. I will read others by this author.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Susan is Mother-of-the-Bride, October 14, 2002

By 

Karen Potts (Lake Jackson, Texas) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Weddings Are Murder (A Susan Henshaw Mystery #11) (Mass Market Paperback)

Susan's Henshaw's daughter is getting married and, as usual, everything that could go wrong does. However, a missing wedding gown is nothing compared to the dead body which Susan has found. If you can swallow the premise that Susan wouldn't report the murder to the police because she doesn't want to spoil her daughter's wedding day, then you should enjoy this cozy. Acually this book is one of the better ones of the series and contains amusing characters and situations, along with plenty of red herrings and a satisfying conclusion.