The Bachelorette Party by Carissa Ann Lynch
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
**3.5-stars rounded up**
Rosalee is excited about her future marriage to Asher, but she’s not necessarily looking forward to her bachelorette party, a destination event including her frigid future mother-in-law and bitchy sister-in-law.
Oh, and let’s not forget the inclusion of the groom’s super hot, yoga instructor childhood best friend, Georgia.
Alas, it’s tradition and Rosalee’s best friend, Mara, as well as her slightly estranged cousin, Tinsley, have put a lot of time and effort into planning this weekend long event.
They’ve rented a beautiful, Greek revival mansion in the Garden District of New Orleans for the occasion and it seems no expense was spared.
Unfortunately, what starts out as a mostly well-intended weekend in celebration of the future bride ends in murder and mayhem. Who did it and why?
Y’all, I really enjoyed this. I especially appreciated the way Lynch formatted the mystery. It was unique and a lot of fun!
Basically, it starts with a crime scene. You know someone is dead, but you don’t know who. You really aren’t given that much information at that point.
Then you get alternating chapters following each of the attendees of the bachelorette party: Rosalee, the bride, Elizabeth, the mother-in-law, Bri, the sister-in-law, Mara, the bride’s best friend, Georgia, the groom’s best friend and Tinsley, the cousin.
This may seem like a lot, but it is done in such a way that flows seamlessly. Each of the characters is very distinct, with their own opinions, motivations and grudges.
This portion of the story will take you through traveling to NOLA, all the way through to the night of the murder. Curtain closes.
The narrative picks up again as police interrogations of those involved begin. The header of each chapter doesn’t even tell you who the interview is with, so you figure that out as you go along.
I loved that, because you only figure out through the process of elimination, who the victim is. It was really fun. Then you get a few crime scene chapters with the police investigating the crime, filling in missing pieces along the way.
I think I may have actually been more enamored with the way the story was told than with the actual story itself. I’m sort of joking, but yeah, I was impressed with Lynch’s choices for how she laid this one out.
I had a lot of fun with this. I loved all the drama going on behind the scenes of what should have been a really good weekend. It was interesting to watch the dynamics among the characters change as the weekend progressed as well.
I would definitely recommend this to anyone looking for a light, fun, drama-filled whodunit. This would make a great weekend read, or a book to bring with you while you travel.
Thank you so much to the publisher, One More Chapter, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I am looking forward to reading more from Carissa Ann Lynch!