Veiled Threats (Carnegie Kincaid, Book 1) (Mass Market Paperback)

by Deborah Donnelly (Author) "WHY ON EARTH DO PEOPLE GET MARRIED?..." (more)
Key Phrases: wedding lady, Douglas Parry, Aaron Gold, Holt Walker (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Reminiscent of Donna Andrews's Murder, with Peacocks, this zany mystery is a bubbly blend of farcical humor, romance and intrigue. Seattle-based wedding planner Carnegie Kincaid (named after robber baron Andrew Carnegie) has just landed the job that could propel her small business, Made in Heaven Wedding Designs, into the limelight. Nickie Parry's marriage to concert pianist Ray Ishigura promises to be the season's biggest high society wedding, and with Nickie's deep-pocketed, doting father footing the bill, it will likely put Carnegie on Easy Street and get her aging business partner and accountant, Eddie, off her back about their finances. But when someone dies in a suspicious car crash and the bride is kidnapped, the impending nuptials turn from a dream into a nightmare. Relying upon her sharp intuition and active imagination, Carnegie attempts to root out the culprit, and she finds an unlikely ally in Aaron Gold, the short, aggressive reporter who's been hounding the Parry family for weeks. First-time author Donnelly will beguile readers with her keen wit and mint descriptions (the white wedding gown is "a symbol of purity, like the safety seal on an aspirin bottle"), but it is her characters such as Boris the Mad Russian Florist, who is "265 pounds of Slavic fury" that make this a stellar debut.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
When struggling wedding consultant Carnegie Kincaid finally lands the society wedding of Nickie Parry, daughter of the very wealthy Douglas Parry, who is embroiled in a savings and loan fraud scandal, she thinks things are looking up, but then the disasters begin. At a wedding reception, Carnegie mistakes Holt Walker, a hunky wedding guest who just happens to be Douglas' attorney and close friend, for a waiter and chastises him for his inappropriate attire. Then a drunken bridesmaid takes the bride's car and dies in a crash. Conflicts arise over the wedding gown and expenses, and sleazy tabloid reporter Aaron Gold makes it all worse. As a romance heats up between Carnegie and Holt, Carnegie is shocked that a kiss stolen by Aaron can elicit such heat, but when the bride is kidnapped, things really get dicey. Donnelly's fast-moving story and likable sleuth will please readers who like romantic soft-boiled mystery. Diana Tixier Herald
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Dell (January 2, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0440237033
• ISBN-13: 978-0440237037
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #52,937 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

• This is item 1 in The Wedding Planner Mystery Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Carnegie solves a murder and saves her business, April 2, 2002

By	Moe811 (New York USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

Set in Seattle, this Carnegie Kincaid mystery starts out at a wedding that Carnegie has planned. Everything is going well until a drunken bridesmaid steals the keys of another bridesmaid(Carnegie's next client} and crashes her classic Mustang into a wall, killing herself instantly. Carnegie is overcome with guilt and anxiety over the future of her business, especially since it appears that her next client, the daughter of a very wealthy man, has many dangerous enemies who just might make his daughter, Nikki, their target.

I initially was a little skeptical that a mystery about weddings and their planner would hold my interest, but I was pleasantly surprised. The characters are very real, and I didn't figure out the mystery until the very end. Very good mystery.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A smart, sexy mystery!, January 2, 2002

By	Kate Everett (Shoreline, WA) - See all my reviews

If anyone out there is looking for a fun read, you've got to pick up Veiled Threats. The heroine,Carnegie Kincaid, is just plain fun to hang out with as she sleuths her way into trouble. With zany supporting characters and a lively plot, this is the perfect book to curl up with on a cold winter day (or a steamy summer night). I'm definitely adding this one to my keeper shelf.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not Quite Cozy, but Fun, August 16, 2002

By	Ellen E Kennedy (Cary, NC) - See all my reviews

Harder-edged than one might expect from a cozy mystery about a wedding planner,VEILED THREATS is nonetheless engrossing. Weddings are a stressful time, and Carnegie Kincaid is understandably flustered as a drunken bridesmaid makes a scene at the reception, then roars off in the bride's car, only to be killed in a crash moments later.

Why this would be the fault of the wedding planner is hard to fathom, but this incident kicks off a series of disasters that brings her wedding planning business to the brink of extinction.

Tenderly wistful one moment, sexually agressive the next, Carnegie Kincaid is hard to pin down and just a little bit careless with her heart. Some of her missteps are so obvious, one wants to shake the girl, but she's engaging enough to make us care, and the easy humor makes it well worth the read.