At last, China and McQuaid get married, but not before having to solve a murder or two in the week leading up to the wedding. In fact, McQuaid doesn't want to leave until it's all tied up which is not making him the least bit popular on the home front. So China and Ruby decide to lend a helping hand.

The murder is solved a good chapter before the end of the book, the final chapter deals with the wedding which goes nothing like to plan, but is memorable. ( )

In this book, China has overcome her personal problems from the previous book, but now a murder is throwing all of her plans in the wind. If she doesn't find out who killed Edgar Coleman, a man nobody liked, in the next week, she can say goodbye to her happy ending of a very bad year.

I must say, I liked the time limit in this book. It made it all feel a bit more rushed, which added to the tension of the book. I like this one a lot, especially the ending, which was surprising (and no, I'm not talking about who did it, although that was surprising too.

A very good read, and I'm already looking forward to the next one. ( )

All China is trying to do is plan one simple little wedding with a nice
little honeymoon afterwards for her and her long-time beau, Mike McQuaid.
And then the sleaziest real estate shark in Pecan Springs turns up dead in
his own garage, shot through the face at close range with a small caliber
gun. Since McQuaid is acting as the interim police chief while the city
council decides who to hire permanently, the case is squarely in his lap and
he's bound and determined to give it his full attention at the very time
that China would like a little bit of that attention, if you would be so
kind. She decides to start digging on her own with the help of her friends
Ruby and Sheila and it isn't long before she unearths information that the
murdered man was blackmailing nearly the entire city council and the mayor
to boot, to try to force a new zoning ordinance for his latest real estate
venture. With a list of suspects as long as the train on her wedding dress,
they've both got their work cut out for them to try to get this case solved
before the church bells ring. And when another body turns up, so does the
heat. Unless China wants to go on that honeymoon all by her lonesome,
something's got to give.

This was a very satisfying read, which for me was all about the backstory.
I'm glad to see China finally married to McQuaid. Again, another
interesting mystery, skillfully told, with characters I really like coming
back to visit. I'll give it a 4.5 ( )

The usual from Susan Wittig Albert -- a pleasantly complicated plot, intertwined sub-plots, eccentric characters and top-notch writing. ( )