A Wedding to Die For
Leann Sweeney
Signet, Jan 2005, $6.50, 272 pp.
ISBN: 0451210328

Abby Rose is young, rich, and beautiful, but unlike some people in her social class, she works for a living and donates her salary to an orphanage. She learned in a brutal manner that she was adopted so she chose to become a private investigator specializing in adoptions, reuniting offspring with their biological parents. Her clients sense that this work is a cause more than a job so most invariably trust her.

When she was a teen, Megan found out she was adopted, but promised her adoptive parents she would not seek out her biological parents. She breaks her pledge by hiring Abby to locate her biological mother so that the woman can attend her wedding. Abby and Megan become friends and the bride invites the sleuth to attend the wedding rehearsal and reception. However tragedy occurs when someone murders Megan's adoptive father at the reception. A distraught Megan hires Abby to find out who killed the beloved man who raised her. The investigation leads Abby to Jamaica where she learns the identity of her client's biological parents and more. Upon her return, Abby faces a second homicide while searching for a killer amidst a dysfunctional family.

Leann Sweeny has written a witty, down home Texas mystery starring a heroine who feels it is her destiny to help others with similar backgrounds to her own. The friendship between Abby and Megan rings true adding depth to the sleuth's desperate need to identify the killer. A WEDDING TO DIE FOR will appeal to romance readers, as much as private investigative aficionados, because much of the fine tale involves relationships including one between Abby and her cop-lover.

Harriet Klausner