Title: A Merry Christmas Wedding Mystery
Series: Georgie Shaw Cozy Mystery
By: Anna Celeste Burke
ISBN: 9781540420312
Website: desertcitiesmystery(.)com
Brought to you by OBS reviewer Andra
Summary:
There’s less than a month to go before Georgie Shaw and Detective Jack Wheeler’s Christmas wedding. With Georgie’s boss “Mad Max” Marley involved, the whole affair becomes much more complicated. Determined to keep the wedding plans from being derailed, Georgie pays Max a visit on the set of Marvelous Marley World’s newest feature film, The Lonely Swan Prince. The sudden disappearance of the movie’s leading lady plunges Georgie and Jack into the middle of a mystery. Where’s the missing diva? If she didn’t vanish on her own accord whodunit and why? (Goodreads)
Review:
A Merry Christmas Wedding Mystery is the fourth book in Anna Celeste Burke’s Georgie Shaw Cozy Mystery Series – a series which I simply love to read! I have absolutely grown to love Georgie and her life. In this addition to the series, Georgie and Jack are planning their wedding, within the month (finally I say). The planning quickly escalates to way over the top plans due to Georgie’s boss, “Mad Max” Marley being involved. In an attempt to rein in the plans, Georgia visits Max on the set of a new film where mystery and mayhem soon ensue. And of course – Georgia and fiancée Jack soon become involved in trying to solve the mystery. As if they didn’t have enough on their plates already!
I became totally vested in the story right from the get go! A snippet from a phone conversation right at the beginning of the story re: wedding preparations had me hooked. Gotta love Georgie:
“No! Absolutely not! It’s my wedding. I will not wear a hoop skirt. If you show me a dress like that, I will tear it to bits, and that’s a promise!” …” Really? Go ahead and tell Max. Tell him Georgie Shaw say, ‘no hoops,’ and if he doesn’t like it, that’s a shame!”
As an accountant, I love spreadsheets to keep me organized and I definitely chuckled when I read that Georgia had created a spreadsheet not only to keep the details of wedding decisions straight but she also created a separate spreadsheet with the list of suspects. Then Georgie imagined herself as Poirot (love the reference) conducting questioning in an old whodunit. Brought a smile to my face.
Snap! Crackle! Pop! – I loved the scene where Georgie described this – the sense of being in the right place at the right time. This just hit home and I hope it does for you when you read the book! I find that Georgie does seem to be in the right place at the right time to get new clues in her mystery solving.
It took me until the end to figure out all the whodunits – just the way I like my mysteries. More details of the mystery and its ultimate conclusion are left to you to figure out – I don’t like inadvertently leaving spoilers – so I won’t ☺
As per what seems like usual – I enjoyed the recipes in the back of the book, especially Cranberry Bourbon Meatballs. It is very tasty and sure to be one I will make more than the single time I have so far.
If you like a fast pace, cozy mystery with characters that are well-developed and intriguing, and you won’t guess who did it – I suggest picking up A Merry Christmas Wedding Mystery and setting aside a bit of time, cozy up with your favourite libation and enjoy. You won’t be disappointed in the story-telling of Ms. Burke.
