*Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.*

This is the first book I have read by the author so I had no idea what to expect. I really enjoyed the story and the writing. While the book is a little bit longer than average, it was a quick read with a hint of mystery. It made me want to visit Nantucket and experience some of the place mentioned. My only critique would be that the book felt like it could have had a bit more to it at the end, but maybe that was just me being so adsorbed in the characters!

I really appreciated the irony of the mystery writer character who is struggling to write original stories. It appears that life is imitating art in this case as Hilderbrand's books are tired, unoriginal, and uninspired. I actually enjoy good chick lit and this is not it.

I Loved this book!!! Anything Elin Hilderbrand writes is great! She is one of my favorite authors! Everytime she writes a new book it becomes my favorite!

I was pleasantly surprised by Hilderbrand's foray into mystery. I enjoyed this book very much and would love to see more mysteries from this author.

I really enjoyed this book. This is the first mystery that this author has written. It was a bit of an easy solve once you read, but a good start at mystery writing. There was some inaccuracies with a character that stuttered (which was observed by some speech therapist I am in contact with). I am not that picky and didn’t notice. I love how this author uses constant characters, like the police chief. He is in other some of her other books, I also like how you can read the book as a stand-alone, you don’t need to read every book to understand what is going on. Can’t wait for the next book.

When I read this, I was transported to the beaches in Nantucket, Rhode Island. Every page read was like being on a great and never-ending beach vacation. The characters were likable but as in life, some were not pleasant and downright hostile. We get to know the soon to be married young couple who has everything. They are rich, good looking, and full of life and promise. So far, all is well. Then their Maid of Honor is found dead. We do not know who did it or why. There are numerous suspects, some with cause to commit murder and some who are plainly at the wedding as innocent observers and participants. Secrets are revealed, and shock waves abound in this stylish mystery. My advice - read this book as soon as possible. You will be very glad that you did.

I typically love Elin Hilderbrand books but this one dragged. The main character of her books is the scenery (Nantucket and/or Martha's Vineyard) were sorely missed. I read her books and make vision boards vacation planning. This book featured New York but there have been better contemporary books that feature New York (I am a Native NYer)

With the being said, the actual people in the book were all lackluster. It centered around the death of the main characters one true friend and bridesmaid on the day of her wedding. Sounds sad but there was not one character that I cared about. The Identicals last summer was one of my favorite summer reads. This, was not.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2450751648

Elin Hilderbrand is an author I’ve seen around for some time, one of those writers I thought I would try at the right time. When I saw a copy of her newest book on Netgalley, I knew I had to request it. Apparently, this is a departure from her usual books, and this is Hilderbrand’s first mystery. So it’s only fitting that it should be the first book I read by her!

This novel centers around a wedding…and a murder. From the first page, we know that Merritt Monaco, Maid of Honor (MOH) to Celeste, our bride, was found dead on the beach early on Celeste’s wedding day. The investigation filters through the wedding party, assorted friends and family, and even Nantucket natives who have their own emotional responses to this rare suspicious death. Secrets trickle out, and we start to uncover multiple motives for the suspected murder of Ms. Monaco.

The flow of the book was so satisfying, and I felt that Hilderbrand really took the time to make each voice its own (especially the British characters). They all had their own flaws, insecurities, and values- all of which made them rich, three-dimensional people. In a scene toward the beginning of the book, the groom’s mother, Greer, a stoic Lucille Bluth-type woman, insists on offering gratuitous lobster to the mother-of-the-bride, a woman without means for whom this gesture would not be taken lightly. But she does this without a show, simply wielding her wealth to do this one kindness, without recognition. This brief snippet shows us the kind of woman Greer is, even if there is little development in her relationship with this other woman. We just get to know her a little better.

Hilderbrand is known for her use of the Nantucket landscape. I just spoke with one of my social work colleagues and realized I was having extreme summer FOMO. The use of Nantucket in this book’s setting seemed to cure it, by giving me an East Coast escape from what has been a humid, and work- filled summer. The references to the food of the Nantucket elite, the local fashion and jewelry, the salt from the beach, the warmth of the sand. This is what makes a great beach read….even when you can’t be on a beach.

Hilderbrand is a breast cancer survivor, and has acknowledged publicly that she wanted to include cancer in the book as a way to honor fellow survivors. She gives raises awareness via her hashtag #mamastrong (on both Facebook and Instagram), and makes sure to reach out to all of her readers who are cancer survivors.

As an oncology social worker, I am also sensitive to the use of cancer as a plot device in fiction. Would this alienate a patient, or is it just dropped in to create a dramatic story line for an assuming reader? Hilderbrand succeeds in this too, taking a sensitive subject and treating cancer with respect in the book- without making it boring or “preachy.”

I can’t recommend this one highly enough- bring it the beach, on your commute, on your couch- wherever. It was a much needed escape for me, and I hope it will be for you, too!

I truly can’t wait to read more of her work, so if you have any favorites, please let me know!

The morning of Benji and Celeste's wedding, the maid of honor has been found dead. The question is was the death a tragic accident or was she murdered? This book moved along nicely with great characters, almost all of them suspects, and twists that made this story even more interesting. I highly recommend!

This book kept you guessing. Lots of guilty people and lots of people with opportunities to have committed a murder. I enjoyed the references to Nantucket and the life of the rich and famous.

This is my first book by Elin Hilderbrand, and she is a good author with great character development. The book held my interest. I actually wanted to continue following the story of the people, especially Celeste! I would also love the back story of Merritt, as she was my favorite character!!

Elin Hilderbrand delivered once again. I devoured this book in one day! It was a perfect blend of mystery, family secrets, romance, and summer vibes. Highly recommended!

Another great Hilderbrand beach read; more of a "whodunit" than any of her other titles. As an impending wedding with a more and more reluctant bride looms, the maid of honor washes ashore, drowned on the eve of the wedding date. As the Chief of Police and a State Investigator begin interviewing those closest to the victim, many secrets are uncovered. The bride's father, though thoroughly in love with the bride's mother, lets slip a shocking secretly about another the loved. The groom's father, a proven "player,"was finally undeniably caught and is now facing consequences for his actions...and the other party is not acquiescing to his demands. The groom's mother knows and denies to herself her husbands clandestine activities in order to keep the perfect life she has built for herself and her family. The groom, although it is never point-blank stated, realizes his bride-to-be loves another, and the bride-to-be realizes she cannot possibly go through with a wedding to a man she likes and will offer her many securities, but simply does not love. All through the tangled webs, emerges the center of a tragic accident in which an innocent died needlessly. Highly recommend - may be my favorite Hilderbrand yet...and I look forward to the next one!

It was a good story overall; but there was A LOT going on, maybe TOO much. After some info came out, it was predictable from then on.

I will preface this by saying that I have only read a handful of Elin Hilderbrand's novels but this one is my favorite by quite a lot. Picture the readability and gorgeous setting of her novels but add a Liane Moriarty-style plot. (So yes, you absolutely need this for your summer vacation.)

I had so many theories about how everything was connected and what happened to the maid of honor, but I kept getting proven wrong. This was a story I couldn't stop reading and I love everything about it.

If you haven't read her before, this is an excellent book to begin with. (Keep in mind, though, that as Randy said in Scream, "EVERYBODY'S A SUSPECT." And pay attention to literally everything.) If Elin Hilderbrand is already your favorite part of summer, I'm sure this will become a favorite of yours, too.

Highly recommended.

This was a great read and probably one of my favorites of Elin Hilderbrand’s! Suspenseful, edgy, keep you wanting more. I loved the way it was written..surely there will be a continuation!

4.5 Stars for this mystery beach read by Elin Hilderbrand. Once again Elin Hilderbrand takes us back to beautiful Nantucket island. It is the wedding of the year with Benji Winbury and Celeste Otis tying the know. All is not well when the nuptials are cancelled on the day of the wedding. Celeste wakes on the morning of her special day to find her only friend and maid of honor, Merritt, floating along the shore of her in-law’s Summerland compound. The question becomes, was it an accident or was she murdered? Chief Ed Kapenash gets the early morning call and with the help of "The Greek", they try to untangle the clues to find our what really happened.

The story is told in two time frames, the present and the past, when Benji and Celeste meet. Narration is from multiple points of view. The same story has a lot of different perspectives and it is interesting to see what everyone thinks happens in the same situations. Celeste and Benji seem to be The Perfect Couple as well as his parents Tag and Greer, but everything is always what it seems. As every secret is revealed, I was on the edge of my seat to see what would come next.

I loved the character of Celeste. She was such a natural person, yet a bit odd for Nantucket. She was unassuming and uninterested in trying to impress anyone. She is a zoologist, in fact the assistant director, driven by her love of nature and animals, she’s a true friend, loving daughter and a woman caught up in the whirlwind of her first relationship. She considers herself socially awkwqrd and can't believe someone like Benji could be interested in her. The Winbury family is a privileged, well off family that do not really understand how the rest of the world lives, but they are not inherently bad. Merritt and Scooter are both victims of their past whether their own fault or the fault of their circumstances, they both make choices that effect many lives.

This may be the top beach read of summer 2018. There are secrets, lies, deceptions, suspense and mystery. I read this book in basically one day as I tried to figure out what had happened. As the investigation unfolds and the stories and backstories are told, pretty much everyone at the house was a suspect at one point. You may also suspect several characters of murder in this whodunnit, but the twist at the end was unexpected. This book doesn't involve a lot of thinking, it is pure entertainment which makes it perfect for a summer, beach, or poolside read. I definitely recommend this book for those that love these visits to New England and the beach in the summer. The added interest of the mystery gives it an extra point of interest. The publisher generously provided me with a copy of this book via Netgalley.

I generally enjoy Elin Hillenbrand. Her brand of writing is exactly what I want to read on the beach: light, fun, a little family drama and a happy ending. This book is a departure from her normal style although still set in Nantucket. In this novel, the family drama centers around a the body of the best maid found on the morning of the wedding. I'm not opposed to a little murder mystery, either. Unfortunately this book was populated with an entire cast of characters who felt shallow and unlikable. As a cancer survivor, I don't like the trope of a parent dying of cancer to make a person more sympathetic, or in this case just more sad and sappy. In fact, the book felt quite full of character tropes and left several story lines dangling in the wind. It simply felt sloppy and rushed, not the Hillenbrand I am used to. It's not one I will recommend to readers at my library,

Summer in Nantucket, old friends from past summer novels...Elin Hilderbrand crafts another magical summer read to make a trip to the beach even more enjoyable. Though it revisits people and references situations from past novels, this is a stand-alone novel that can be enjoyed by anyone that loves a good beach read.

I loved this book! Definitely a summer beach read but I feel like this one has a twist. The setting is in beautiful Nantucket but the characters are sometimes anything but. This was a very fast read. The point of view jumps from character to character and even back in time. The mystery was fast paced and I will admit that I didn't know who did it before I read it. It reminded me of a beach version of Clue. I loved it and I can't wait to read more from Elin Hilderbrand.

I liked this book a lot. I love Hilderbrand and have read most of her books. She tends to release one every summer, great beach reading considering the locale she uses. I've also read her Winter Street series and loved it. This book has a different tone for sure what with the murder. That's not a spoiler. It happens in the first chapter. She did a good job bringing it together, however I would say that there were a LOT of twists. Too many to be normal. So some might find that a bit irritating. But I thought it was entertaining and I would recommend it. Perfect for summer.