Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something DEAD!

by Toni L.P. Kelner / Leigh Perry

Last weekend, I was in Florida to attend my niece Kristi's wedding, so naturally, nuptial celebrations have been on my mind a lot. Not just real life ones, either. There are some great wedding-related mysteries! Of course, given that weddings include family both beloved and endured, new and old friends, plus expenses galore, I suppose it's no surprise that murder and matrimony go together, at least on the page.

One of my favorites is the wedding of Lord Peter Wimsey to Harriet Vane. The festivities are described in an epistolary flurry in Dorthy Sayers's Busman's Honeymoon. There are letters and diary entries from a friend of the family, a frenemy of the family, the mother-in-law, the sister-in-law, a friend of the bride, and the groom's valet, and just as in real life, each correspondent sees the happy event just a little different. My personal take is that it's one of the most realistic and delightful romances in fiction.

I'm also fond of the impromptu wedding of Irene Adler in Arthur Conan Doyle's "A Scandal in Bohemia." Spoiler alert--but I just love seeing Sherlock Holmes being defeated by The Woman, as he sets out to catch a blackmailer and ends up serving as a witness to her marriage ceremony.

I used to think the shenanigans surrounding the multiple weddings in Femme Donna's Murder With Peacocks were a bit exaggerated, but that was before TV shows about bridezillas became common. These days, I think Meg Lanslow got off easy, even with the murder--and peacocks--involved.

I've dabbled in wedding hijinks myself in Wed and Buried, one of my Laura Fleming mysteries. Laura's Great-Aunt Maggie gets engaged to the town's wealthiest widower, Big Bill Walters, but there seems to be something more than true love at stake. Maybe I was working out some frustrations from my own long-ago ceremony.

What about you? What mysterious weddings do you enjoy the most?

PS - Nothing fatal happened at Kristi's wedding. Just in case you were worried.

Last weekend, I was in Florida to attend my niece Kristi's wedding, so naturally, nuptial celebrations have been on my mind a lot. Not just real life ones, either. There are some great wedding-related mysteries! Of course, given that weddings include family both beloved and endured, new and old friends, plus expenses galore, I suppose it's no surprise that murder and matrimony go together, at least on the page.

One of my favorites is the wedding of Lord Peter Wimsey to Harriet Vane. The festivities are described in an epistolary flurry in Dorthy Sayers's Busman's Honeymoon. There are letters and diary entries from a friend of the family, a frenemy of the family, the mother-in-law, the sister-in-law, a friend of the bride, and the groom's valet, and just as in real life, each correspondent sees the happy event just a little different. My personal take is that it's one of the most realistic and delightful romances in fiction.

I'm also fond of the impromptu wedding of Irene Adler in Arthur Conan Doyle's "A Scandal in Bohemia." Spoiler alert--but I just love seeing Sherlock Holmes being defeated by The Woman, as he sets out to catch a blackmailer and ends up serving as a witness to her marriage ceremony.

I used to think the shenanigans surrounding the multiple weddings in Femme Donna's Murder With Peacocks were a bit exaggerated, but that was before TV shows about bridezillas became common. These days, I think Meg Lanslow got off easy, even with the murder--and peacocks--involved.

I've dabbled in wedding hijinks myself in Wed and Buried, one of my Laura Fleming mysteries. Laura's Great-Aunt Maggie gets engaged to the town's wealthiest widower, Big Bill Walters, but there seems to be something more than true love at stake. Maybe I was working out some frustrations from my own long-ago ceremony.

What about you? What mysterious weddings do you enjoy the most?

PS - Nothing fatal happened at Kristi's wedding. Just in case you were worried.

Comments

[Mark]

Murder with Peacocks was one of the mysteries that immediately jumped into my mind. Another great one is Killing Bridezilla by Laura Levine. Laura's books are always funny, and this book is no exception. It's one of my favorites in a favorite series, in fact.

[Elaine Viets]

Deborah Donnelly has a fun wedding series. Two titles I enjoyed were "Veiled Threats" and "May the Best Man Die."

[Dana]

I'm with you, Toni. It's the Dowager Duchess's letters (and Bunter's) in BUSMAN'S HONEYMOON that send me.