Wedding Bell Blues
A Dixie Dew Mystery
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3.0 • 1 Rating
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- $12.99
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
Wedding Bell Blues is Ruth Moose's sequel to her award-winning debut, featuring her colorful array of characters and more laughs and hilarity.
Beth McKenzie, owner of the Dixie Dew Bed and Breakfast, is enjoying an exciting affair with her new love, Scott. Meanwhile, the town of Littleboro, North Carolina is abuzz with gossip about Crazy Reba's upcoming nuptials. Most brides go crazy at some point, but Littleboro's resident homeless lady has had a head start: she's beloved, indulged, and most of all, eccentric. But at almost 60—or thereabouts—her marriage seems a little peculiar. Sure, she's sporting a diamond big enough to choke a horse, but no one can tell if it's real, or just a Cracker Jack prize she pilfered from a yard sale.
Crazy Reba's wedding plans go confirmedly awry when the bride-to-be is arrested for her fiancé's murder. Beth, determined to clear Reba's name, gets in over her head when a lady wrestler who threatened to kill her books a room at the Dixie Dew, and Robert Redford, her neighbor's white rabbit, disappears.
Then Litteboro's First Annual Green Bean Festival gets up and running, a famous food writer becomes deathly ill, and Beth must battle through madcap mayhem to apprehend the culprit and save the day.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
At the start of Moose's busy, sometimes disjointed sequel to 2014's Doing It at the Dixie Dew, Beth McKenzie, proprietor of the Dixie Dew B and B in Littleboro, N.C., receives an urgent call from homeless lady Crazy Reba, who claims she's killed God. Meanwhile, the wife of missing Butch Rigsbee roars into town, determined to find Butch and whatever floozy he's taken up with. Victims and suspects abound as Littleboro's mayor, Calista Moss, tries to carry on with their First Annual Green Bean Festival, and Beth prepares for the wedding of her friend Juanita and Littleboro's new police chief, Ossie DelGardo. In addition, a firebug appears to be on the loose. Stir in a little snooping and a hint of romance with musician-turned-handyman Scott Smith, whose ex has become a big-time singing star, and Beth has an overfull plate. Too much action in too many directions makes the plot difficult to follow, though the variety of personalities makes for a fun cast of characters.
Customer Reviews
Second book in series!
Wedding Bell Blues by Ruth Moose is the second book in A Dixie Dew Mystery series. Beth McKenzie own the Dixie Dew Bed and Breakfast in Littleboro, North Carolina (a unique town). She receives a phone call from Crazy Rena (not sure where she obtained a cell phone) asking for assistance and Beth hops in her “Lady Bug” (her car) to go assist her. Beth arrives to find Rena at a picnic table with a man laying atop it. The man is injured. Beth immediately calls 911 and gives CPR (though she would rather not after seeing the guys mouth). Sheriff Ossie DelGardo (who is getting married soon) quickly arrives in his white cowboy hat and showy white snakeskin boots (he looks ridiculous). Rena keeps rambling that she “killed him” so he carts her off to jail. That is when Beth notices a truck nearby that states Goods on Delivery (GOD) and Beth realizes that maybe Rena is not as crazy as they all think. Rena has been telling everyone in town that she is having a June wedding and that the groom is God (the ladies in town helped her put together a dress, veil, and bows for her flip flops). Maybe she meant the Goods on Delivery guy. Beth decides to look into the matter, but things get dicey after she receives a threatening phone call (also called her a hussy). The town is having its Green Bean Festival. There is a fair, food judging (of items made with green beans), and the crowning of the Green Bean Queen (I am not kidding). The judges are staying at the Dixie Dew B&B. After the green bean food judging, Debbie Booth (one of the judges) turns up dead. Are the two events related (the Goods on Delivery guy and the death of Debbie booth)? Join Beth and friends in Wedding Bell Blues to find out what happens.
I found Wedding Bell Blues to be over-the-top ridiculous (I am being truthful). I like some humor, but this was one nutty thing after another. Rena breaks out of jail and then moves into someone’s home while they are in the hospital (they find her in the person’s bed eating cake and making a mess). She breaks into people’s homes and steals items (like the cell phone, cake, clothes). Tell me in what town this would be allowed to occur? Beth runs around like a loon asking questions and badgering people. It is a good thing that she has Ida Plum to run the inn or Beth would soon be out of business. The mystery was easy to figure out. The novel is a quick and easy read. I give Wedding Bell Blues 3 out of 5 stars (it was okay, just not for me). There are frequent mentions of Mama Alice (about once a chapter) and “Lady Bug”. The majority of the book is devoted to silly antics than the mystery (missing rabbit, green bean festival, the mayor’s turtle). Personally, I think the whole town should be locked up. Now many people will find the book entertaining, but it is just not for me. Wedding Bell Blues is the second book in the series, but it can be read alone (easily).
I received a complimentary copy of Wedding Bell Blues from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The comments and opinions expressed are strictly my own.