May the Best Man Die (Carnegie Kincaid, Book 3) (Mass Market Paperback)

by Deborah Donnelly (Author)
Key Phrases: noble pearl, roasting plant, coffee sacks, May the Best Man Die, Jason Kraye, Hot Spot (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
A bubbly blend of farcical humor and madcap mystery, Donnelly's newest (after Died to Match) finds Seattle wedding planner Carnegie Kincaid in the midst of chaos once again. After being exiled from her dry-rotted houseboat, Carnegie's life plummets from bad to worse when her business partner mysteriously departs, her best friend stops speaking to her and her boyfriend tells her he's married. Her professional life peaks and dives as well, one of the low points being when a flamboyant Frenchman humiliates her on live TV while luring her customers away. Then, to make matters worse, the best man in her latest wedding turns up dead, transforming a cushy assignment to plan a celebrity wedding into a race to catch a killer before he/she picks off the rest of the bridal party. Many of the characters that have made Donnelly's Wedding Planner series so endearing are absent here-no Boris the Mad Russian Florist or Juice, cake creator extraordinaire. But the book's nonstop action and judiciously doled out clues will keep both romance and mystery lovers riveted until the Dickensian denouement.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review
"A bubbly blend of farcical humor and madcap mystery"
--Publishers Weekly -- Review

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Dell (September 30, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0440241294
• ISBN-13: 978-0440241294
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #51,140 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

• This is item 3 in The Wedding Planner Mystery Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Vastly Improving Series, October 27, 2003

By A Customer

I had almost quit reading this series after the first book which I did not particularly like, but decided to continue with the other two books that were available and now that I have read the third book, May The Best Man Die, I'm glad that I did. This book I believe is a great improvement over the first two books.

Veiled Threats: Carnegie Kincaid is a wedding planner who seems to have a murder along with each of her events. I would think clients would be reluctant to continue coming to her. I knew who the killer was almost from the beginning of the book and the plot was so convoluted I wished everyone had been killed by the end.

Died To Match: The second book was a slight improvement in that the mystery was much more interesting, but was ruined by what I thought a not very well thought out killer. Even when the book was over, I didn't believe who the killer was.

I wasn't sure I wanted to tackle the third book, but it turned out to be very good. The mystery was interesting, the killer was a complete surprise but fitted in perfectly with the storyline. I love the relationship between Carnegie and Aaron her on again / off again reporter boyfriend. She has some great supporting people, Boris the florist, Her best friend Lily and the hilarious Buckmeister family, whose first appeared in Died to Match and are still planning their daughter's Christmas wedding in this book. The plans for this wedding gives new meaning to the word tacky.

Even though I didn't find the first two books to be very good, I think it's important to start with them, because they do give you a real feel of the characters, their backgrounds and explanations as to why they are doing certains things in later books.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It Only Gets Better...., March 15, 2004

By	K. A. Stevenson "WIAPilot" (Tucson) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Deborah Donnelly has a great series with her sleuth/wedding planner - Carnegie Kincaid. The plot/subplots are great and her wedding and party planning ideas are pretty good as well.

I would not have missed reading about the Christmas wedding for anything. The "Killer B's" were great. I am going to miss them and hope that somehow they'll be included in the next book if only slightly. (Kind of how the southern Sheriff always managed to appear SOMEWHERE in the James Bond movies.)

This is not a "gruesome" murder series. It is a joy to find another great read.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This series just gets better and better!, October 1, 2003

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

Who can resist a wedding? Especially a wedding surrounded by murder, yuletide mayhem, and a wonderful cast of characters led by smart and sexy wedding planner, Carnegie Kincaid. Her bumpy romance with Aaron is irresistable, and the secondary characters are just plain fun (love those Buckmeisters!)

Perfect weekend reading!