Engaged in Murder
Nancy J. Parra

Genre:
Mystery
Rating:

There’s no planning for murder…

Event planner Pepper Pomeroy is making the most of her current unemployment by arranging a surprise for her sister, Felicity. Warren, Felicity’s boyfriend, plans to lure his lovely lady into a private jet, propose, and whisk her away on a romantic vacation. He just needs Pepper to handle all the fine details in order to make it the perfect proposal—and it is. Everything goes so well when Warren pops the question that he suggests Pepper do this sort of thing professionally.

But before she can get her new business off the ground, there are some disturbing questions. Like who’s the dead guy Pepper finds in the ladies’ room of the jet hangar? Is it possible Felicity’s high-flying fiancé has been hiding more than the engagement ring? Pepper’s not married to the idea of having a criminal in the family, so in order to protect her sister, she takes off in pursuit of a killer…

Review

Pepper Pomeroy may have found her true calling. The unemployed event planner agrees to help her younger sister Felicity’s boyfriend create the perfect setting to propose. Pepper does such a great job, her future brother-in-law Warren things she could make a career of providing other men with a special backdrop to pop the question. Pepper decides to follow Warren’s advice and starts her new business and offers a package deal if she is also given the business to plan the couple’s engagement party. Pepper would be perfectly happy except a body found during Warren and Felicity’s proposal event soon lands Warren in the hot seat as the prime suspect in a murder. Now Pepper must take on the job of amateur detective to make sure Felicity’s new fiancé, who almost seems too good to be true, isn’t a murderer.

Engaged in Murder is a fun read with a catchy premise. I never knew some proposals were planned out and staged like mini-Hollywood event, but it makes a great basis for a cozy mystery. I love the details about the events Pepper is planning that are included in the book. These details make the character and the setting seem more real and help the book stand out. The descriptions of the events add so much charm to the book, and I really got caught up in the excitement of the romantic proposals and lavish parties Pepper plans.  However, I found the constant descriptions of what Pepper was wearing and how her outfit brings out the color of her eyes or flatters her fair skin, to be distracting. Since this isn’t a fashion-themed mystery, we don’t need to each minute detail about Pepper’s outfits described, except perhaps for an important event Pepper has planned. Even in a crucial moment of the story when Pepper is in danger, wardrobe descriptions intrude. “My jeans and pale blue T-shirt were not so tight as to restrict me when I ran.” The color of her shirt is irrelevant and detracts from the drama of the scene.

Pepper is a likeable main character who is determined to keep her sister from getting hurt by either proving Warren’s innocence or finding out the worst before the wedding. Pepper’s investigation keeps my interest through most of the book, but gets a bit repetitive as she continues to question the same couple of people without always learning anything new. I do admire the fact that Pepper won’t give up until she has answers. However, the real mystery in the story is why someone as intelligent and outgoing as Pepper would put up with her pool-playing, beer-guzzling, loser of a boyfriend Bobby for eight years. They don’t seem to have any common interests and when he isn’t making rude comments, he’s ignoring her. I was happy to see that after a shaky start, things do start to improve in Pepper’s personal life.

I think this is a promising series because Pepper is likeable and her new Perfect Proposals business can lead to some entertaining stories. This book will appeal to fans of Shirley Freydont or Deborah Donnelly. Author Nancy J. Parra also writes under the name Nancy Coco, so fans of those fudge-themed mysteries will want to give this new series a try.

Reviewed by Christine