Abby is a PI who was hired to find the bride's birth mother. When she ends up at the wedding and sees a crime, she has to investigate. She just has to.
This was my first book in the series, even though it's the second one. It was fun but warning, spoilers. This book ruined the first one. I'll still read it but I know everything that happened. Still it was fun and that's my main requirement for a book these days. ( )

Great story!! ( )

This was the second book in the Yellow Rose mystery (cosy) series. Abby decided to transition her blossoming P.I. career into the adoption area, doing birth parent searches. She neatly utilises her sister's training as a therapist to help screen potential clients, ensuring that they are ready for what awaits.

This story starts when Megan asks her to find her birth mother because Megan is getting married soon and she would love her birth mom to attend her wedding. But she doesn't want her adoptive family to know about the search. At the last minute, Abby is asked to attend the wedding as part of the bridal party (the guest book attendant), and as such, she notices someone who won't sign the guest book and doesn't seem to mingle with any of the other guest. But before Abby can track her down, Megan's adoptive father is killed at the wedding.

The local chief of police, Chief Fielder, is a woman who sneers at Abby being a P.I.-in-training. And, tensions get even higher when it turns out that Fielder used to date Abby's current boyfriend. Fielder focuses in on Abby as a suspect, while Abby tries to focus on getting Fielder to do her job while simultaneously trying to solve the murder and still trying to track down Megan's birth mother.

This book was even better than the first Yellow Rose book. One of the minor characters, Jug, was especially colorful, and I hope that he makes a return appearance in the following books, although I'm not quite sure how he could be worked in. I like how Abby's relationship with her Aunt Caroline has played out realistically from the first book, and I hope it continues to do so.

The "Southernism" in the book are nice (having spent about half of my summers in the South, I can attest to this), without going overboard. Sweeney continues to sprinkle her books with a healthy balance of wit and intelligence. I'm definitely looking forward to the third book in the series! ( )

http://cscs.umich.edu/~crshalizi/weblog/algae-2010-03.html#sweeney ( )

Because of events in her past, Texas heiress Abby Rose has decided to become an adoption PI. Bride to be Megan Beadford hired Abby to find her biological mother because Megan wanted her at her wedding. Abby was not able to find Megan's mother in time for the wedding, but vows to continue to look until she finds Megan's biological mother. When Megan's adoptive father is murdered at the wedding reception, Megan wants Abby to find his killer. Abby agrees and soon finds out her two cases have a lot in common.

"A Wedding to Die For" is a good mystery by a talented author. Abby is a very human heroine, filled with anger about her past, yet very loving and caring. Author Leann Sweeney brings all the characters to life, even the minor ones, by giving all of them character traits that stick out, like Abby's boyfriend Jeff's habit of chewing Big Red chewing gum. One of my favorite characters in fact, is a minor one, Sister Nell - what a hoot she was! Sweeney has a way with words and I love her use of expressions such as "the man was so skinny he might need worming". The mystery itself was okay, although it was pretty obvious from the beginning who Megan's biological mother was. But the book is worth reading for the characters and Sweeney's way with words. Finally, this is the first mystery I've read that had me smiling at the end.

Well done! ( )