Library Loot Review: The Best Man to Trust

After reading The Perfect Bride by Kerry Connor for October's Gothic/Spooky TBR Challenge, I was curious enough to wrap things up by reading the second book in the duet, The Best Man to Trust. Like the first one, it hit me with all the nostalgic feels and the locked room-style mystery kept the pages turning.

Despite the events of the first book (one dead bride, one dead murderer), Meredith Sutton is still determined to make her wedding planning business and venue at Sutton Hall work. She just needs one wedding. One wedding that goes off without a hitch and turns out beautifully. Unfortunately, and unsurprisingly, her date book is littered with cancellations, except for one. Two former college acquaintances are getting married and the bride is determined to have her small, intimate wedding at Sutton Hall.  Just her, the groom, and a few friends. One of those friends? Tom Campbell, a guy that Meredith had a serious crush on in college and naturally he had no clue she even existed. Of course he's more handsome than ever, but Meredith cannot let herself get distracted. This wedding needs to be perfect.

Of course on the day the wedding party is supposed to arrive a snow storm blows into the Vermont countryside. Meredith is half expecting the party to stay in the nearest town, but somehow they make it up the mountain and the wedding is going to proceed as scheduled. But the snow keeps falling, cell phone reception goes on the fritz, and the landline gets knocked out. That's when the bodies start dropping. 

Poor Meredith. A big reason she's determined to make this business succeed is that she's desperate for a fresh start. She married her college sweetheart who turned out to be an abusive asshole. When her brother (the hero in our first book) finally figures out what's going on, Meredith is in the hospital. He, essentially, swoops in to rescue her, and Meredith is determined to move on from her past. To stand on her own two feet. To be strong, resilient, to not need "rescuing." She's thrown into the fire once the first dead body turns up, her brother and his girlfriend being out of town. Meredith is going to have to keep everyone safe, and keep the guests from panicking, until help can arrive. 

Tom is the friend of the group who had drifted away after college. In fact it's only a last minute change in his plans (minor detail, the TV show he was working on as a cameraman got cancelled - ergo he's currently unemployed) that has him attending the wedding of his old friends. He's immediately drawn to Meredith and once the first murder occurs, they both realize that pairing up for safety is the smart thing to do. They also need to figure out what's going on and keep everyone safe. Why would anyone want to murder one of the bridesmaids? Are there dark secrets among these old friends or is someone on Meredith's small staff the culprit?

The mystery has a locked room feel to it with slight shades of Christie's And Then There Were None (although you don't hate everybody). I realize dead bodies aren't exactly "light reading" but like the first book this one gave off lighter Scooby Doo vibes for me and hit me in all the nostalgic feels.  Teenage Wendy would have loved this, and Adult Wendy had a good time reading it.

The romance here is thin.  Meredith and Tom are both nice people and I do believe they're attracted to each other, but there's not nearly the sizzle of chemistry as the first book in this duet. It's not bad, I'm not even sure it's "flat," but it's not as compelling as the mystery, which is what kept me turning the pages.

Did this change my life? No. But did I have a good time reading it? Yes, I did. It kept me engaged while I was traveling recently and I was really invested to find out whodunit. All in all, not a bad way to kill a few hours.

Final Grade = B-