A Killer Wedding by Joan O’Leary

A Killer Wedding by Joan O'Leary
Narrator: Amanda Dolan
Published by William Morrow on September 23, 2025
Source: Purchased
Genres: Mystery
Length: 12 hrs 29 mins
Pages: 336
Format: Audiobook
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Wildly witty and wickedly fun, A Killer Wedding is a juicy debut whodunit about toxic family dynamics hidden beneath the surface of billionaire-level wealth that reads like The Devil Wears Prada protagonist played a game of Clue at a White Lotus Hotel.

Christine can’t believe her luck. The iconic Gloria Beaufort, founder of the billion-dollar beauty empire Glo, has personally chosen her to cover her grandson’s wedding for Bespoke, the cult fashion magazine that every A-list bride dreams of being featured in. A career-making scoop and a free trip to a castle turned five-star hotel on the Emerald Isle? It feels too good to be true…

Because it is.

Gloria is found dead on the very first morning of the celebratory weekend, and her entire family wants to keep her death a secret and for the wedding to march on. When Gloria’s heirs issue a chilling warning to Christine to keep things quiet, she can’t help but wonder if one of them is guilty. There’s the son who’s hiding a damaging lawsuit; the resentful daughter-in-law; the grandson who’s had a few too many run-ins with the law; the ambitious granddaughter who’s hiding more than one secret; and Gloria’s favorite grandchild, the too-good-to-be-true groom. As Christine navigates a world where glamour masks grimy secrets and everyone she meets is a suspect, she realizes that among this glitzy elite, nothing is as it seems.

Set against the dazzling backdrop of ultimate luxury and an endless reveal of surprises, A Killer Wedding is a fast-paced, humorous mystery that proves you’ll never forget your wedding day…especially if it starts with a murder.

One of the many lessons I’ve learned in over four decades of reading mysteries is avoid destination weddings. This time around the setting is an opulent castle-turned-hotel in Ireland; the murdered woman is the groom’s grandmother; and our plucky amateur sleuth is ambitious, newly promoted, senior magazine editor, Christine Russo.

I did not like most of this book. While rich families behaving badly is usually a decent start, this one jus didn’t work for the most part. We have so many characters and so many flashbacks and so many secrets. Everyone’s a potential suspect. And Christine is a mediocre investigator who seems to be in over her head both with the family and her job. Really, the only reason she gets anywhere are the notes she’s given by an unknown someone.

Now, the twist at maybe 90% made the book worth reading. It doesn’t make it a good book, but it does pull everything together well and caught me off guard. It’s a shame the most interesting character was dead from almost the beginning.