by Sandra Murphy

This week we have a review of Paula Munier’s latest mystery along with an interesting interview with Paula. Details at the end of this post on how to enter to win a copy of the book and a link to purchase it from Amazon.

The Wedding Plot: The Mercy & Elvis Mystery by Paula Munier
Review by Sandra Murphy

Mercy Carr is happy her grandmother is marrying long-time beau, Claude Renalt. She’s not sure why it has to be a four-day extravagant destination wedding. Then again, Mercy’s mother, Grace, is in charge of the event and that explains it. Everything must be perfect or else.

Guests are invited to stay at the five-star Lady’s Slipper Inn. The first glitch is when the spa director/yoga instructor, Bodhi, goes missing in the middle of the night. Grace sends Mercy and her partner, Elvis, a former bomb sniffing Malinois, to find him. Instead, they find a dead body in the barn, done in by a pitchfork to the chest. So, is Bodhi a victim who got away, a killer, or all of the above?

When the groom’s family descends on the inn, things really get out of hand. Brothers hate each other, secrets abound, and just when it gets to the punch-in-the-face stage, Elvis enters the building—with a crash. He’s there to alert Mercy a stranger is on the grounds. Not a total stranger, but Bodhi, wounded and not sharing details. He’s taken to the hospital and Elvis finds another bombshell—human bones, long buried. Bodhi manages to escape from the hospital, leaving no trace. He’ll just have to wait his turn, Mercy’s got other, more pressing, matters to attend to, like a bridesmaid gown fitting and an appointment for the salon to tame her hair. It’s that or listen to Grace on a rampage. Solving a murder is preferable. Hair and dress? A white flag.

When a groomsman shows up dead, Mercy’s significant other, Troy, and his dog, Susie Bear, team up with Mercy and Elvis to put an end to the bloodshed so they can get the bride up the aisle, saying I do. If she still wants to!

This is book four in the series. Mercy is someone you’d like to know. Grace, better duck around a corner when you see her coming. Troy is a boyfriend you’d want for sure. Elvis and Susie Bear, the Newfoundland? Any dog lover would be in heaven to spend time with them.

The story is full of clues and red herrings, secrets and lies, danger and the mundane—and there are goats. Lots of goats whose milk turns into cheese. What more could you ask for in a mystery? I love this series!

Sandra Murphy lives in the shadow of the Arch in St. Louis Missouri. She’s editor for Peace, Love, and Crime: Crime Stories Inspired by the Songs of the ’60s, with twenty-two cozy stories. She also edited A Murder of Crows, twenty-one stories featuring animals and crime (no animals were harmed). She also writes for magazines, newsletters, and the occasional guest blog. Both anthologies are available at the usual outlets, print or ebook.

Interview with Paula Munier:

KRL: How long have you been writing?

Paula: Of course, as a teenager I wrote a lot of bad poetry, but I didn’t write my first piece for publication until I was in college, I wrote a piece for Cosmopolitan Magazine and sent it in over the transom. And they published it, which made me think that being a writer would be easy. What did I know? Eventually, I became a reporter and editor for newspapers and magazines, and then an acquisitions editor for book publishers. On the side, I wrote a lot of half-finished mystery novels….

KRL: When did your first novel come out, what was it called, and would you tell us a little about it?

Paula: My first novel was never published, but it got me an agent, which led to a gig writing a commissioned novella for girls, in the vein of Sweet Valley High and The Babysitter’s Club. It was called Emerald’s Desire – their title not mine!

Paula Munier

KRL: Have you always written mysteries/suspense and if not, what else have you written?

Paula: I’ve written a lot of nonfiction, including three books on writing and a memoir called Fixing Freddie: a true story about a boy, a mom, and a very, very, bad Beagle. I always wanted to write mysteries in my writer’s heart.

KRL: What brought you to choose the setting and characters in your latest book/series?

Paula: Vermont is my happy place, and Mercy Carr is the soldier my father would have wanted me to be had I been born later…. and the dogs, well, I love dogs!

KRL: Do you write to entertain or is there something more you want the readers to experience from your work?

Paula: I want to entertain and to remind people of the beauty of nature.

KRL: Do you have a schedule for your writing or just work whenever you can?

Paula: I have a day job as a literary agent, so I write early in the mornings and late at night.

KRL: What is your ideal time to write?

Paula: Whenever I know what to write next!

KRL: Do you outline? If not, do you have some other interesting way that you keep track of what’s going on, or what needs to happen in your book when you are writing it?

Paula: I write a whole book on plot – Plot Perfect – so I’m a plotter.

KRL: Did you find it difficult to get published in the beginning?

Paula: I’ve written a couple of novels that didn’t sell, that shouldn’t have sold.

KRL: Do you have a great rejection/critique or acceptance story you’d like to share?

Paula: Hallie Ephron told me, “Your problem is you never finish.” Referring to all those half-finished mystery novels I mentioned before. She was right. I finished, and now I’m a mystery writer.

KRL: Most interesting book signing story-in a bookstore or other venue?

Paula: There was a couple at one of my book signings who sat down and listened to me chat and then long after everyone else had gone they kept me asking me all kinds of questions about Publishing (because I am an agent). And then they left without buying a book and my mother went after them, but at 87 she couldn’t keep up and they got away.

KRL: Love that your mom tried! What are your future writing goals?

Paula: Write Book 5 of the Mercy Carr series. One book at a time!

KRL: Who are your writing heroes?

Paula: Generally speaking, Shakespeare, Jane Austen, Alice Hoffman, Maya Angelou, Mark Nepo, Anne Lamott, Colin Dexter (creator of Morse, my favorite detective). In my sub-genre, Julia Spencer-Fleming, Elly Griffiths, Ann Cleeves.

KRL: What kind of research do you do?

Paula: I do all kinds of research. As a former reporter I live for research. Not to mention it’s my cure for writer’s block.

KRL: What do you like to read?

Paula: I like to read everything. I read a lot of nonfiction, a lot of poetry, and my clients’ work and my friends‘ work and my competition’s work. I read for pleasure and for profit!

KRL: What are your favorite TV shows or movies?

Paula: I watch all the Jane Austen properties, all the Colin Dexter properties, all the Taylor Sheridan and Anthony Horowitz projects. Reacher, Bosch, Vera. My new favorite channel is MHZ which has all the foreign crime shows.

KRL: Have you any advice for aspiring or beginning writers?

Paula: Finish, revise, persevere.

KRL: What is something people would be surprised to know about you?

Paula: I’m a certified yoga teacher.

KRL: Fun! Do you have any pets?

Paula: Three rescue dogs and a rescue cat. I’m campaigning for a goat, but so far, my husband has balked….!

KRL: LOL! Website? Twitter? Facebook? Instagram?

Paula: www.paulamunier.com

@PaulaSMunier (you can find all of the links to her social media on her website)

I’m on all of them 🙂

To enter to win a copy of The Wedding Plot, simply email KRL at krlcontests@gmail[dot]com by replacing the [dot] with a period, and with the subject line “wedding,” or comment on this article. A winner will be chosen September 3, 2022. US only, and must be 18 or older to enter. If entering via email please include your mailing address in case you win. You can read our privacy statement here if you like.

Check out other mystery articles, reviews, book giveaways & mystery short stories in our mystery section. And join our mystery Facebook group to keep up with everything mystery we post, and have a chance at some extra giveaways. Be sure to check out our new mystery podcast too with mystery short stories, and first chapters read by local actors. A new episode went up this week.

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Disclosure: This post contains links to an affiliate program, for which we receive a few cents if you make purchases. KRL also receives free copies of most of the books that it reviews, that are provided in exchange for an honest review of the book.