Till Death do us Bark - the Bridezilla is a beast
Till Death do us Bark by Stella St. Claire Relay Publishing Mystery & Thrillers , Women's Fiction Pub Date 22 Jun 2017
Review
I tried Till Death do us Bark for two reasons - I love animals and the first novel showed promise. I have mixed feelings about Till Death do us Bark. Olivia (Stella St Claire’s lead) is frustrating. She is a stubborn commitment-phobe with an inability to listen to others, but Stella St Claire manages to make her antics somewhat entertaining. While I would cringe at meeting someone like Olivia in real life, I was willing to give the fictional Olivia a chance.
After using a murder investigation to delay a proposal in the first novel, Olivia is finally moving forward with her wedding plans (and using that to avoid other commitments) - at least until she discovers the dead body of her wedding planner. Now everyone thinks she is cursed and refuses to work with her. Intent on proving otherwise and determined to steamroll her wedding forward, Olivia decides to investigate.
Her family and friends are remarkably supportive of her investigative efforts, in part because they realize there is no stopping her once she has a plan in mind. I definitely empathize with her family and her boyfriend- handling a person like Olivia is a full time job in the best of circumstances. When you throw in her schemes for uncovering a murderer ….Her love for animals is a redeeming feature (and pretty much the main reason I picked this novel up).
Till Death do Us Bark is a decent mystery, though Olivia’s actions are more cringeworthy than humorous. I think my biggest issue with the novel is that Olivia is very difficult to like. She is incredibly irritating and has little empathy. With a bit of softening and additional self awareness Olivia could be a decent lead. As it is, I was left with a bad feeling at the end and that never bodes well for a cozy.
3 / 5
I received a copy of Till Death do us Bark from the publisher and Netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review.
--Crittermom
Description
Something borrowed, something blue, Olivia’s a bridezilla, and Andrew’s pretty scared too… Olivia is on the warpath of wedding planning. She’s ticking off her tasks rapid fire: flowers, food, and fireworks; all are checked off just in time for Andrew to get hit writing a big check of his own. He’s beginning to get suspicious of her motives, since his blushing bride has gone from dragging her feet on a proposal, to suddenly running down the aisle. Olivia doesn’t want to admit that she’s trying to get hitched before her cold feet get the best of her. Instead she leans heavily on her super strict wedding planner, Lacy McBride, to keep her eye on the prize. But when Olivia stumbles upon Lacy dead in the middle of a mock reception table, cake fork in hand, she feels her safety net evaporating. Now, Olivia must shift her attention from planning the event to solving the crime to clear her name. Not because she’s a suspect, but because of “The Bride’s Curse”—an old jinx that dooms any bride not marrying for love, and their planner! No wedding planner in Lexingburg will work with Olivia until the crime’s origins are clear. However, the deeper she falls into Lacy’s mystery the more Olivia sees that wedding planning can be murder...
