It's an amusing thriller with a slight sinister side, that finds Mercy Carr having more than just her hands full with pre-wedding mayhem at the location of her grandmother’s upcoming nuptials at the Lady’s Slipper Inn, when the spa director goes missing... an unidentified person is found dead on the property of the local goat farm...and her special four-legged friend, Elvis, accidentally uncovers the skeletal remains of a woman who seems to have been murdered and buried more than twenty years ago. The story moves along smoothly. The characters are persistent, resourceful, and clever and the plot is engaging filled with twists, turns, surprises, red herrings, familial drama, danger, tension, a smidge of romance, and murder. What more could a good mystery need? Overall, this book is a clever, fun, and an easy read. If you are a fan of lighthearted mysteries with intelligent, helpful, four-legged friends...this one is for you. I only gave it 3 stars, not because there was anything "off" about the book and nothing about the authors abilities...it was just a bit too much on the "cozy side" for my liking. ( )

The Wedding Plot
3 Stars

Mercy's grandmother is tying the knot at an exclusive resort, and Mercy is under strict instructions not to become involved in any murders. But when the spa director disappears and a body is found in the barn where he lived, Mercy and her trusty Belgian malinois, Elvis, are on the case.

While this latest installment is satisfying overall, the pacing is off, with a lot of meandering in the middle and a rushed ending. Moreover, there is a glaring inconsistency with the previous book, namely Mercy's sudden dislike of Claude.

The mystery itself is convoluted at times as there are several threads and numerous characters to keep track of. While everything ultimately comes together, it can be difficult to discern who is related to whom and which plot thread they are connected to. The eventual explanation is convincing, although it is easy to guess the culprit, albeit not the exact motive.

Despite the abovementioned issues, there are some delightful moments between Mercy and Troy as well as Mercy's family - they certainly are an eclectic bunch. Kathleen McInerney's narration of the audiobook is also an added bonus. She is absolutely fantastic.

Looking forward to Mercy & Elvis's further adventures. ( )

Mercy Carr and Elvis, along with Troy Warner and Susie Bear, find much more than they expect at her grandmother's wedding. Her grandmother is finally planning to marry her longtime inamorato, and Mercy's mother is organizing the event like a drill sergeant. When the resort's yoga instructor goes missing, she drafts Mercy to replace him. Mercy doesn't plan to find trouble, but it always seems to land in her lap, especially when she decides to search for the missing yogi.

Thanks to St Martin's Press for access to a digital ARC via NetGalley.

Will the wedding happen or not? The entire family from both sides have gathered and even Elvis and Susie Bear have their roles in helping the function go smoothly. Who doesn't love a wedding and with lots of people there will be lots of confusion. I hope this isn't the last in this short series. I've loved each book! ( )

Author Paula Munier says she named the heroine of her acclaimed Mercy Carr series "Mercy" because she loves "the so-called virtue names favored by the Quakers and I wanted her name to reflect her empathetic and compassionate nature." She is a twenty-nine-year-old former soldier who served as a military police officer with the U.S. Army. She was wounded during her final deployment to Afghanistan. Martinez, her fiancé, who was also deployed, did not make it back. “Take care of my partner” were Martinez's last words to her. So, Mercy came home to Vermont with Elvis, so named because he is, according to Munier, "the king of dogs," and her research revealed that "many military working dogs are named after rock/country stars—Garth, Cash, Willie, etc." He is a beautiful, highly intelligent, bomb-sniffing Malinois afflicted with PTSD. Together, they hike the remote Vermont wilderness, and perform freelance security and investigative work, often answering calls for help alongside U.S. Game Warden Troy Warner and his search and rescue Newfoundland, Susie Bear. Elvis never really goes off-duty, while Susie Bear is often playful and mischievous. Mercy has recently enrolled in a low-residency program through the University of New Hampshire to earn a degree in environmental science, although, in Munier's capable hands, she will have no time to devote for her studies during the few days in June over which the story unfolds. "June is wedding season in Vermont, and weddings can be murder . . . " Munier observes.

As The Wedding Plot opens, Mercy's mother, Grace, has taken charge of the preparations for the lavish wedding of Mercy's grandmother, Patience, a veterinarian. After the honeymoon, Claude, also a veterinarian with whom Patience has maintained a long-distance relationship for years, will finally relocate from Québec. The glamorous, multi-day event will be held at the tony Lady's Slipper Inn, a three-hundred-acre luxury estate originally erected in 1794 and renovated by billionaire Daniel Feinberg, for whom Mercy works from time to time. The Inn is managed by Patience's younger sister, Prudence, "the most sophisticated one in the family," who previously managed a château in the South of France. But the Inn's spa and well-being director, Bodhi St. George, has suddenly gone missing, jeopardizing the spa package Grace has arranged for the guests. Grace implores Mercy to travel to the Inn earlier than planned and lead yoga classes in Bodhi's place.

But readers already know that Bodhi fled the Meeting House Creamery, where he rented a modest cottage from owner and proprietor, Annie Amidon. He encouraged Annie to install a security system, and even set up a goat cam for her that draws a large number of viewers, but at 3:00 a.m. he was awakened by the agitated bleating of Annie's Alpine goats and knew it was time to leave. He took with him remnants of his old life, including a Glock and ammunition. But first, he called 911 to ensure the safety of Annie and her goats, and tossed his cell phone in the pasture, hoping it would not be discovered by "the guys gunning for him."

Concluding that finding Bodhi might be easier than teaching yoga in his place, Mercy commences the search at the Creamery. Elvis alerts to the lockbox Bodhi left behind in which his gun was stored – which seems out of character for "a Dalai Lama guy," as Annie describes him. Unclipping the lead from Elvis's collar and commanding him to "search," Mercy follows him to the barn where she finds his nose pointing to the rubber tip of a black-soled sneaker protruding from a pile of hay. In the stall, they discover a dead man with a pitchfork thrust into his chest. All it took was "one decisive plunge with considerable force behind it. A terrible way to die -- but relatively quick."

Thus begins a race to locate Bodhi St. George, immediately deemed a murder suspect by the local police, ascertain the dead man's identity, and learn why he was murdered on Annie's peaceful goat farm and creamery. The search unfolds against the backdrop of the upcoming nuptials and the expectations of Mercy's family members, especially high-strung perfectionist Grace, who is determined that the glamorous and meticulously-planned celebration proceed without a blip. Mercy is scheduled to be a bridesmaid and her mother is also intent on transforming Mercy into a stylish one, complete with a hair makeover. Mercy could not possibly be less interested in her appearance when there is a murderer on the loose and a mystery to be solved.

Predictably, the yoga instructor's name was not "Bodhi," even though he "identified as a bodhisattva." He makes his way to a storage unit where he retrieves his Harley-Davidson, burner phone, one of multiple passports bearing different names, and cash before proceeding on to a cheap motel and altering his appearance. He also sends a text message -- to Kinney and Adler -- as agreed. "102586" likely only has meaning for Red Sox fans like Bodhi and his buddies. He emerges from the motel room as Frank Hahn, having warned his pals that "the game was in play," determined to find out who killed the man in the barn and why.

Mercy and Elvis are joined by Troy, whose divorce has just been finalized, and Susie Bear in a frantic search for a killer that needs to be wrapped up in time for Mercy to slip into that her bridesmaid dress with every hair in place to witness Patience and Claude pledge their love for each other. Of course, nothing goes smoothly. For one thing, the bumbling and arrogant local police attempt to thwart Mercy's efforts, but she remains undaunted. Dead bodies begin piling up, and Mercy and Troy become the hunted, as well as the hunters. Munier plunges them into a harrowing vehicle chase through the Vermont hills in Troy's beloved pickup. When Munier moves the action to the swanky Inn, danger follows and Elvis unearths old bones in the nearby woods. Given the Inn's location and history, it becomes imperative to determine their age and whether they bear any connection to the current string of events that Munier skillfully reveals to be extremely complex and intertwined in very surprising ways.

Munier deftly incorporates family drama into the compelling mystery. Mercy's pediatric oncologist brother, Nick, along with Duncan, her father, and Patience's free-spirited youngest sister, Verity, all converge on the Inn. Claude's brother, a Catholic priest known as Father Bernard, also arrives, as does Mercy's great-uncle, Hugh, a retired colonel who helms a security agency and has been Bernard's friend for more than forty years. Claude's two sons, Florian and Marcel, are also in attendance, along with his nephew, Philippe. Family intrigue ensues, ranging from Grace's consternation about Verity's refusal to adhere to conventions about attire and decorum, to the corporate intrigue that plays out surrounding Toussaint, Inc., one of the largest dairy companies in North America, which happens to be owned by Claude's family and operated by Philippe. He is repugnant and rumored to have ties to organized crime. Munier ingeniously intersperses several supporting characters and story threads in the plot that lead right back to the quaint Meeting House Creamery and Annie who, it turns out, produces world-class chevre cheese for which there is a huge black market.

Munier melds her surprisingly complex and creative mysteries with charming and often hilarious domestic complications, placing Mercy and Elvis at the center of all of it. Mercy is resilient, empowered, and dedicated, as well as exceedingly stubborn. She knows herself well and traverses her own path, but loves her family and her refusal to permit them or their concerns about the wedding from interfering in her mission is affectionate, even-handed, and often infused with compromises that make her cringe with annoyance. What begins as a search for a missing spa director quickly evolves into dangerous, sprawling mysteries involving numerous ancillary characters. Troy remains at her side throughout it all, supporting her efforts, yet intent upon ensuring her safety, as does the ever-faithful and always vigilant Elvis. It all plays out at a steadily accelerating pace as surprising developments and revelations take the tale in unexpected directions while the appointed time of the wedding draws closer. Grace grows more and more panicky as the prospect of the smoothly elegant ceremony she has meticulously planned dims, in part due to an impending storm. As the story careens toward a dramatic and shocking climax, Munier showcases her beloved Vermont. She transports readers from the state's gently rolling hills to the Creamery and its cheese cellars, the Inn and its unique treehouse cottage, and the picturesque forty-acre Eshqua Bog, a nature preserve known for the wild orchids (lady's slippers) for which the Inn was named that Patience so dearly loves.

Will there be a wedding? Finding out is an entertaining, engrossing, and delightful experience. Seemingly effortlessly, Munier combines charm and intrigue, family conflict and life-or-death decision-making, humorously genuine relationships, and murder into an absorbing story set in gorgeous locations that play an intricate role. She compassionately highlights the value of the work performed by dogs like Elvis and Susie Bear, as well as the real struggles of veterans like Mercy who, after serving with honor and integrity, find it difficult to assimilate back into their old lives because, for them, nothing will ever truly be the same again. She portrays a family whose quirky members get on each other's nerves, but love each other unconditionally, and does it all in a credible, believable manner. It's no wonder the Mercy Carr series has received so many accolades.

Munier says her goal for "every book is that readers reach 'The End' and feel good about the time they’ve spent with Mercy and Elvis, and look forward to spending more time with them in the future." She has achieved her goal. After enjoying The Wedding Plot, readers who have not read the first three volumes will want to do so while they eagerly await publication of the next installment.

Thanks to NetGalley for an Advance Reader's Copy of the book. ( )