The first half of the book was quite slow, however the last half really picked up and kept things going! There was a lot of witty dialogue and I caught myself laughing a few times. I have never read a locked in murder mystery, and it was so fun once the plot got rolling. Like I’ve seen quite a few other reviews say, this is a perfect summer read! I can easily see this being picked up by maybe Netflix to turn into a fun movie.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins for the opportunity to read this eARC in exchange for my unbiased review.

Thank you for this copy of A Killer Wedding.

Christine is a woman who will do whatever it takes to get what she wants. Sneakily and smart but not illegal.

Christine works for a popular wedding magazine. But, she wants editing power, and success. When she is able to snag an once in a lifetime, extravagant designation wedding in Ireland, she has no idea that saying "be careful what you wish for" was going to to get too real.

Gloria is the matriarch of her beauty empire. She grew it from the ground up. As a result of her savvy business practices, she, her son, grandchildren, in-laws are not millionaires, they are billionaires.

Christine enters a world of utter extravagance. She, the family and guests are living in an ancient castle. There are multiple over the top pre-wedding events days before. The cocktail hour, lunches, brunches, rehearsals are full of expensive booze, food, decor and designer attire that would make anyone's head. spin. Yet, this family are so affluent, it appears to be the norm.

Amidst this, Gloria is found dead. The entire entourage are sworn into absolute silence. If word got out before the nuptials were complete, the family would lose money, prestige and possibly ruin their Empire. Christine soon realizes there are cracks in the empire.. Why Christine didn't simply refuse? She had signed a nondisclosure contract and is determined to continue to cover the festivities.

Christine finds herself mixed up in secrets meant to be secret. Mysterious notes appear. Things go missing. Things get dangerous.

The book is organized by varying viewpoints and at varying timelines. It sounds confusing but most certainly is not. It helps continue the plot smoothly and keeps things hopping up to the conclusion.

This is an unedited manuscript. I found the grammar and punctuation on point. There was only one small error that was likely a simple typo.

I only have one suggestion. Christine is a reporter. But, she barely picks up a pen, writes notes, types any rough draft descriptions of any kind. It seems unrealistic she had to ability to remember the excessive details she witnessed. Readers know she is eating, smelling and touching but unless she had a photographic memory, it needs to be added.

Christine has secrets of her own, but has schemed and cut corners to end up where she is today - a writer for the Bespoke weddings magazine covering the most elite weddings. Now, she has scored the ultimate career milestone by being personally selected to cover the makeup industry titan Gloria Beaufort's favorite grandson's wedding. Admittedly, Christine worked the system to score this spot, but what she didn't realize is she is also being played. And then, of course, there is the mysterious background of the bride, and the sometimes cold, calculating looks that overtake her usual sweet girl-next-door look. Family secrets topple and strained relationships rise to the surface as everyone tries to figure out who is doing what and how the dynasty can be saved....if it even should be.

This was a great thriller read - perfect for long summer travel and beach reads. I loved that wasn't really just one person, but the culmination of shady choices, duplicitous actions, and long cons on the part of many.

I love a good amateur sleuth mystery, and, for me, the success of these books comes down to the sleuth herself—her believability, character traits, wits, and where she fits into the story. In A Killer Wedding, I had too many moments when I wondered, what is this person doing here???

The story is about an extraordinarily wealthy, highly dysfunctional family that convenes at a castle in Ireland for a destination wedding for the golden boy of the family. It is the highest of high society of weddings, and an ambitious junior correspondent from a popular bridal magazine worms her way onto the guest list and behind the scenes to cover the festivities. Before any guests show up, the matriarch of the family is found dead and the wedding weekend is spent covering for her absence while the family scrambles to figure out which one among them killed her. The ambitious correspondent inserts herself as the amateur sleuth at the heart of their investigation and takes the reader on an unbelievable quest to solve the mystery. And when the mystery is finally solved and we readers find out the culprit? The reveal left me feeling swindled and disappointed.

Ironically, I found the horrible, dysfunctional family to be the most likeable characters in the book and I wish the story was more about them. Their flaws and vulnerabilities made them complex and interesting, even as their misdeeds revealed the wretched parts of their personalities and behaviors. I read this book wishing the author and her editorial team had taken the story in a much different direction.

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for this advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was a five-star for the first 80 percent featuring a great setting, a wide range of entertainingly odious characters and multiple fun twists. The last 20 percent fell flat for me with a contrived and unbelievable ending. Still though, a great page-turner

⭐️⭐️⭐️✨ (3.5 out of 5 stars)
A Killer Wedding by Joan O’Leary is full of rich family drama, scandalous secrets, and a high-society wedding that quickly goes off the rails. At the center of it all is a sharp journalist trying to cover the chaos surrounding Gloria Beaufort’s grandson’s big day—and getting way more than she bargained for.

The writing is strong, and the characters are all messy in the best way. You might not like them, but you’ll absolutely be glued to figuring out which one could’ve committed the murder. O’Leary does a great job keeping readers guessing. At times, the plot veers a bit into over-the-top territory, but not so much that it becomes confusing or derails the pacing. And that final twist? Loved it.

Perfect for fans of whodunnits with a glamorous edge and a bit of bite.

This whodunit is absolute perfection for all closed-room mystery aficionados out there! The backdrop of a rich family secluded in a gorgeous mansion where a murder takes place gives an eerie quality to the story and keeps the humor from becoming too sugary. A wonderful mystery I will reread!

I wish I could say I loved this book. It's cover and description had me hooked! Sadly, the story was riddled with plot holes, made promises it failed to deliver, and was clunky and disappointing all around. The present tense never got over its awkwardness, and the switching narrators willy nilly was inconsistent rather than compelling. It's implied that characters have dark and shameful secrets, but they over and over turn out to be nothing. The final reveal is interesting, but I wish more of what the marketing promised had been delivered. Skip this one and reread The Guest List.

So good I will recommend omgggg yesssss good good good to the very last page thank you for this awesome read

A glamourous murder mystery following a cut throat family at the wedding of the decade, this should be a real nail biter! Unfortunately the mystery was just a bit too predictable, and the characters were all completely dire (which I understand is probably partly intentional, but I still needed somebody to keep me interested in reading!). Not a book for me!

Thank you to the publisher for providing a review copy

A Killer Wedding was a fun book. Yes, there was a lesson here, and yes there were bad and good (although even they were flawed), and yes the plot took place in one weekend, although there were flashbacks, but there were also great descriptions of an ancient castle, beautiful bridal arrangements, the clothes were described beautifully--to the point I wish this was an illustrated picture book! It took a little time to get all the characters straight, who was married and attached to who and even when the reader thought he/she understood all the relationships, surprises awaited. My biggest complaint with this story is the ending came and went so fast I was left with many questions--did Christine and Danny get together, what did Maggie do without Jane, did Graham end up going back to medicine or did he get sucked into his grandmother's company to help it recover? I think Gloria's letter was helpful, but I wanted more...

*A Killer Wedding* follows Christine, a journalist tasked with covering a billionaire’s wedding at a luxurious castle, only for the bride's iconic grandmother to be found dead on the first morning. As the family tries to cover up the crime, Christine delves into their secrets, discovering a web of lies and betrayal, all while navigating the glamorous and cutthroat world of the ultra-wealthy.

This book is a closed door murder-mystery about a rich family having a wedding in Ireland.

I appreciated the cheeky writing style. The book doesn't take itself too seriously. It felt more cozy mystery than suspense. The author does a great job of alternating between the various characters and timelines.

A Killer Wedding is a decadent, jet-setting whodunit dripping with glamour, gossip, and just enough bodies to keep you second-guessing your suspects until the very last page.

Christine, a fashion journalist with everything to gain, thinks she’s scored the assignment of a lifetime: covering the society wedding of the year at a luxurious Irish castle. The bride is rich, the groom is royal-adjacent, and the family matriarch is beauty mogul Gloria Beaufort—a living legend. That is, until she’s very suddenly not. When Gloria turns up dead the morning after Christine’s arrival, the castle becomes less wedding fairytale, more Clue-meets-The White Lotus.

Joan O’Leary’s debut is wickedly fun, with sharp wit and pitch-perfect pacing. The tone strikes a delicious balance between light-hearted snark and dark suspense, as Christine plays amateur sleuth among the wildly dysfunctional Ripton clan. From trust fund brats to viperous in-laws, every character oozes money, motive, and menace.

Is it twisty? Yes. Over-the-top? Absolutely. But that’s half the charm. If you like your murder mysteries laced with satire, couture, and champagne-fueled secrets, this one’s for you. Think Knives Out meets The Devil Wears Prada with a murder weapon tucked behind a floral centerpiece.

This was a fun wedding locked in murder mystery. I could not put the book down in the last 40%.

The beginning of the book felt slow to me. I know it’s the time to introduce all the characters and build the plot but it felt painfully slow. Once I hit the last half of the book I was hooked!

I love locked in murder mysteries and this one is a must read for anyone who does. Especially if they love wedding murder mystery!

Thank you #NetGalley for the eARC of #AKillerWedding by Joan O'Leary!

This book was wildly entertaining blending glitz and grit in equal measure. When Christine, a wedding journalist, scores a dream assignment to cover a society wedding at an Irish castle, she’s ready to write puff pieces about couture gowns and celebrity guest lists. What she gets instead? A billionaire beauty mogul found dead before the big day even begins and a family desperate to sweep it under the rug.

This story is the definition of dysfunction. O’Leary manages to juggle a full cast of scandalous characters, layering in flashbacks and red herrings that actually work without making you feel lost. Christine’s dry wit and outsider’s perspective ground the drama—she’s the kind of heroine who asks the questions you’re dying to know but still keeps you guessing. Also, shoutout to that second-to-last twist. IYKYK. I see this as a miniseries in the near future.

I audibly gasped when the second-to-last twist was revealed. This story was so well-written that, even though there were a host of characters and quite a few flashbacks within the main plot, it was easy to follow and I never got lost. I always had an idea of where I was at as well as where the story was headed in both the present and past. The imagery was very detailed and I appreciated the many nuances mentioned about the wedding festivities (as I am a former wedding coordinator). There was enough suspense to make this an absolute page-turner, without dragging the story down. 100% recommend.

#AKillerWedding #NetGalley
A glittering, sharp-witted mystery where luxury meets lethal secrets.
Christine thinks she’s landed the assignment of a lifetime—covering the wedding of the year at a breathtaking castle in Ireland for the elite fashion magazine Bespoke. But the dream assignment quickly turns into a nightmare when Gloria Beaufort, the powerful matriarch behind a billion-dollar beauty empire, is found dead before the first toast. The Beaufort family is desperate to keep the death under wraps to save the wedding—and their reputations. But Christine, caught between the promise of career success and her instinct for the truth, can’t ignore the chilling secrets hiding behind the family’s polished facade. As Christine digs deeper, she discovers a twisted web of greed, ambition, and lies among the glamorous heirs, where everyone has something to hide—and a motive for murder. With sharp humor, clever twists, and a heroine you can’t help but root for, A Killer Wedding is a sparkling, suspenseful page-turner that shows behind every perfect Instagram moment, there might be a deadly secret lurking.
What I like:-
1 Rich atmosphere: The Irish castle setting and high-society glitz add extra intrigue and charm.
2 Unforgettable heroine: Christine’s smart, witty narration makes the story even more addictive.
3 Family drama at its darkest: Betrayals, scandals, and power plays make every chapter more deliciously tense.
Overall, A Killer Wedding is a fast-paced, glamorous whodunit full of humor, hidden motives, and juicy secrets. Joan O’Leary delivers a sparkling murder mystery that’s as fun as it is thrilling—a perfect read for fans of Knives Out and Big Little Lies.
Thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for giving me an advance copy.

I loved A Killer Wedding! It was the perfect combination of mystery and spectacle!

Christine is a hungry wedding editor covering the wedding of the year! She’s ready for everything, but a dead grandmother of the groom puts a wrinkle in what should be a beautiful weekend. What’s a reporter to do when everyone is a suspect?

A murder mystery set at a wedding with a very rich family trying to cover it up. There are plenty of people with motives and secrets so it will keep you guessing. I thought this was fast paced and witty.