No One Was Supposed to Die at This Wedding: A Novel (The Vacation Mysteries, 2)

I won this audiobook in a giveaway from The StoryGraph, and while the premise had me hooked (a murder at a celebrity wedding on storm-trapped Catalina Island? Yes please!), the audio format made it a little too chaotic for me to follow. Between the whirlwind pace and the large cast of characters, I found myself constantly confused, especially since only one narrator was used. Multiple voice actors would have really helped here. This is the second book in a series, and it leans heavily on context from book one. I hadn’t read it, and it showed. I couldn’t remember the main character’s name half the time, even though I liked her vibe. Her best friend Emma, a movie star, is marrying her co-star Fred Winters, and the wedding is being held right after they wrap filming When In Rome, which was based on the main character’s novel. The whole thing had A Simple Favor energy (if you’ve seen the Netflix movie with Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively, you’ll get the comparison). A murder happens, and while our author-turned-sleuth gets to the bottom of it, the wedding is filled with near-misses, more threats, and lots of Hollywood gossip. The isolated island setting due to the storm was a nice touch for building tension, but I truly could not tell you who died or who did it. The reveal was so fast in the last chapter and epilogue, I felt like I missed half the conclusion. All that said, the writing itself is clever and bubbly, with plenty of friendship drama, celebrity antics, and a light romance (fade-to-black). I’d read this author again, just with my eyes next time instead of my ears.