This month, as part of my series of entries on the most popular and recommended mystery series for the site, I decided to read the first entry in Stephanie Blackmoore‘s Wedding Planner Mystery Series, Engaged in Death.
This first novel in the series doesn’t start with the sleuth giving up her big-time job in the big-time city to go to live in the scenic countryside, though name of the series does give a strong clue that this is going to be her eventual destination. Instead, it begins a little bit before most Cozies do – the protagonist, Mallory Shepard, is still living her life pre-Cozy-fication, going through her job as a lawyer, and engaged to a no-good-fiance (Keith) with an unpleasant family (Keith’s controlling mother, Helene). That said, this part of the novel passes fairly quickly, with the inevitable and unsurprising discovery that the no-good-fiance is in fact no good.
At the same time, Mallory suddenly inherits a piece of property, though the source is a bit less conventional than in many Cozies – she inherits it not from her own favorite aunt/grandma, but from her no-good-fiance’s grandmother Sylvia, who obviously didn’t exactly care for Keith or Helene but was surprisingly close with Mallory. So, Mallory goes down to take ownership of the property, joined by her unreliable little sister, Rachel, who has uncharacteristically come to offer support – possibly because she is at loose ends after having more characteristically dropped out of college again.
The bad news is that the piece of property, in this case a run-down but still impressive mansion named Thistle Park, is located in Port Quincy, Pennsylvania – the same town that Hellene lives in. As a result, Mallory isn’t exactly sure what to do with the house – she doesn’t want to live there, as it is too far from her work in Pittsburgh, besides being located uncomfortably close to her almost-mother-in-law.
Fortunately, the property does have some people interested in it, even in its current dilapidated condition – a gas company thinks that they can make a lot of money fracking, and are willing to pay top dollar for the land alone, uninterested in the house currently on it. Still, Mallory is reluctant because she knows that Sylvia loved the house and wanted to keep it intact, so she initially turns down the offer, shoving the unpleasant salesman when he refuses to leave initially. Mallory decides to sleep on the offer – but unfortunately, the salesman comes back at some point in the night, and even more unfortunately for him, someone murders him on the lawn of Thistle Park. Naturally, Mallory and her sister Rachel seem like prime suspects, so they’ll need to solve the crime while trying to decide what to do with the property and their lives from here on out (and again, spoiler in the series title).
All told, Engaged in Death is a well-done example of a conventional modern Cozy. There are a lot of enjoyable elements of the genre that fans are sure to be able to latch onto. It may not do much particularly new in the spot, but it certainly does a good enough job of presenting an enjoyable mystery in an interesting, likable area.
P.S. If you are interested in reading some of the other entries about highly recommended Cozy Mystery series, you can find them at the Most Recommended Cozy Mystery Series page on the site.
MVS says
How funny to get this review in my inbox today–I just finished listening to this story this morning! I think I would give a slightly more enthusiastic review than Danna, although I agree with her overall take on it. It’s a fun–though slightly convoluted–cozy. I particularly enjoy the sub-genre of wedding planning: cozy plus froth, not to mention space for recurring as well as one-time characters (which you really need when writing a series of murder mysteries). This book gives a very full back story for the main characters, and it was fun to project how they might develop in future stories. I do think there will be plenty of tropes–you can see them coming. The book had a light and a warm-hearted touch. Today I ordered Book 2 in the series. I think in this first book there maybe were too many ideas to handle really well (although I did like the book a lot). I’m looking forward to seeing whether as the series progresses, the author will pace herself on plot lines and concentrate on fleshing things out.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
MVS, I did like it – it’s just better to go into it knowing that it’s going to be a very standard Cozy from a style perspective.
Linda MH says
Danna,
Pre-Cozy-fication–I love that !!!!!!!!! Made me laugh out loud. Great word.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Linda, I’m glad you appreciate it.
robin in oregon says
I love this series. Have been reading it since it started and have all the books. The newest one, Veiled in Death comes out 9/29/20.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Robin, definitely something to look forward to!
Janice G says
I’ve read all of the books in this series and enjoy them – partly because it’s set in my home area and can recognize places and events described in the books.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Janice, that’s always nice to see in a series.
Urbana Lady says
Listened to all of the Stephanie Blackmoore stories and loved them! can’t wait for more.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Urbana, as another reader pointed out, you won’t have too long to wait, as another entry comes out at the end of September.
Melanie says
I like this series as well. I’ve read all of them so far except last year’s release…I think it’s called “Marry Christmas Murder”. I didn’t get a chance to read it during the holiday season, so I’m waiting until this upcoming one.
I’m still playing catch-up with all the reading I missed out on last year. Plus, I have plenty on my ever-growing TBR list to keep me busy at any given time, so waiting to read a particular book is seldom a problem. 🙂
Lee Ann says
This book on kindle is $ .99 Can’t wait to read it.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Lee Ann, that’s definitely a great price to pick it up for!