Southern Sass and a Battered Bride
The Blurb
Marygene Brown always figured she’d marry her childhood sweetheart, Alex Myers, not cater his wedding. But the Peach Diner could use the exposure. Most of the island is showing up, although more for the role-playing murder game at the reception than for the widely loathed bridezilla, Lucy Carmichael. Marygene may have to smile through the festivities, but Mama doesn’t have to hold her peace, especially since only Marygene can hear her mother’s ghost. Mama says she sees an aura of darkness around the wedding.
So when Marygene finds Lucy lying beside the wedding cake, buried in batter, with no pulse, it looks like Mama called it. This is no game. And when the bride’s body simply vanishes, it’s up to Marygene and her best friend Betsy (cousin to the groom and no fan of the bride) to solve a real-life mystery with a little help from Mama’s sassy spirit.
The Details
Series: A Marygene Brown Mystery – Book #3
Author: Kate Young
Genre/Category: Cozy – Culinary/Paranormal
Publisher: Kensington Books
ISBN: 1496721497
Page Count: 352
Rating: 
The Review
Southern Sass and a Battered Bride is book three in the series. Marygene’s mama’s ghost warns her that all is not well with the wedding she is catering. Besides the fact that it is for her ex-boyfriend and the bridezilla from hell. She expected everything would not go according to plan, mainly because the plans keep changing. But Marygene never expected the bride to end up dead at the reception, and her body goes missing.
Characters in this series are always exciting to read about. They have great personalities, even when they are not at their best. The locations, food, and people of the town are described so well you can almost hear and see it all. A bridezilla is nothing new in a story or real life, but how many people have to put up with one that is marrying their ex? This bride has caused a great deal of anger, and it looks like someone wants revenge. Suspects come out of the woodwork, the evidence doesn’t match up for the investigators, and where is the victim’s body? Marygene’s mama, a ghost, isn’t helping matters when she keeps popping in to warn Marygene that bad things are happening. It seems that not only is Marygene a suspect, but so is her best friend.
This is a tantalizing story filled with wit, fun, and action. The killer comes as a bit of a surprise, but more the motive than the actual character. The bride, whom it seems no one likes, treats everyone as if she is entitled to their worship, and the bridezilla part isn’t just because it’s her wedding. After some harrowing action, Marygene, Betsy, and mama, even though she is a ghost, solve the crime and catch the killer, but not before the girls’ lives are put in danger. Southern Sass and a Battered Bride is an excellent story that will keep readers guessing and eager to read the next book in the series.
The Author
Kate Young writes southern mystery novels. She is a member of Sisters in Crime and the Guppy Chapter. Kate lives in a small town in Georgia with her husband, three kids, and Shih Tzu. When she is not writing her own books, she’s reading or cooking.
Readers will enjoy other books from Kate Young. From the “Marygene Brown Mysteries,” Southern Sass and Killer Cravings, or from the “A Jane Doe Book Club Mystery” series, On Borrowed Crime.
Represented by: Blue Ridge Literary Agency
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