Mysterious Weddings

LUCY BURDETTE: I love the idea of inserting weddings into the Key West mysteries—the possibilities for conflict are endless. Plus, Key West is in real life a very popular wedding destination. So we see every kind of ceremony, from two people who've stumbled off a cruise ship to get married on the beach to unbelievable extravaganzas ending with fireworks. The caterers in town are experts at setting up for a wedding and tearing it all down the same night so it looks as though absolutely nothing happened the next day. There are several bakeries specializing in gorgeous wedding cakes, and there are beautiful tropical wedding flowers and plenty of places to party. 

My good friend and wonderful character Steve Torrence conducts a thriving wedding business on the side of his police and church work—I think he did at least four over one weekend in April. When I started to think it was time for Hayley Snow to tie the knot, I realized that I've already had two weddings in this series--one took place at the Hemingway Home in Murder with Ganache (I absolutely love that cover!) and the other in Killer Takeout in a closet during a hurricane. There is supposed to be a wedding in A DEADLY FEAST, but I'm going to save that story for tomorrow when the book is out!!

Reds, do you put weddings into your books? Why or why not? 

HALLIE EPHRON: Realizing I've never put a wedding in a  book... except as back story. But it is the PERFECT setup for conflict, and talk about high stakes! Don't tell anyone but I'm about to celebrate my 50th wedding anniversary. What can I say, I got lucky the first time, and the truth is we were SO young it could easily have been a disaster. I did not have a wedding dress (never wanted one) but the one thing I did get at my wedding was great food. Big surprise, right? I'm stealing this from someone, but I do think what makes a good marriage is marrying someone whose annoying habits you find charming.

RHYS BOWEN : I have had a wedding in all three of my series.  If the series goes on long enough and there is a romantic interest then eventually you have to marry off the characters. Lady Georgie got married last year although enough bad things happened before the wedding that the outcome wasn't certain. But it was fun to write. As for a good marriage... I can beat Hallie by two years. I don't have a secret except be lucky enough to choose the right partner in the first place and to work at it... It also helps to be in the same page in the big things... Money, child rearing, religion. But Hallie I still find his annoying habits, annoying!

JENN McKINLAY: Lots of weddings here! All of my series have weddings. Primarily, because I start with a thirty-something character and after ten books and one or two relationships it seems to be the natural order of things. I haven’t written many books beyond the wedding in any of the series so I’ll have to see if it’s a series killer or not. Hmm...

DEBORAH CROMBIE: I've only had one wedding, Gemma and Duncan's, and it was very low key. I had a lot of worries that marrying them would be a series killer, but not so far! But, weddings as a source of conflict, that's brilliant. Somehow I've never thought of putting another wedding in one of my books. Lucy, you've given me ideas!

Oh, and I'm about to celebrate my 25th. Not too bad, considering this is marriage #2:-)

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Didn't Shakespeare end all of his comedies with weddings? It's the perfect way to wrap up of loose ends and providing a moment to reiterate theme and provide emotion and  indicate to the readers (and listeners) that the characters' lives will continue. So--all good.

I had a wedding in FACE TIME, and I have to say I adored it. (Not Charlie's of course.)  It really was one of my favorite things I've ever written, and it even makes me weepy now to think of it. My mom said she'd cried at the scene, and my editor did, too!  Pretty interesting, considering it's a murder mystery.

Interestingly and now that I think of it : in domestic suspense, it doesn't feel so natural. Hmmm. Have to multiply that over.

Gosh, we are coming up to year...22! Amazing. Awww. It really seems so recent. 

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: Ross said our marriage was the best twenty years of his life...on our thirtieth anniversary. (Picture me with serious side-eye.) I guess it took me at least a decade to find his annoying habits charming, Hallie! My top priority for a good marriage (or really, any other relationship) is communication and follow-through. You have to be willing to sit down and actually talk about your feelings, expectations, issues, etc. And then both partners need to follow through with the agreed upon action. I remember vividly the point where I realized Ross was The One - it was the fact that if I said, "This is bothering me," he listened, gave his point of view, and then actually DID something about the thing that was bothering me. (Except for picking his socks up from the floor, And after fifteen years or so, that just didn't bother me anymore.)

Weddings: I've had two, described very briefly, because they were sweet add-ons to the main story, not the focus. I have seriously thought about doing a short -to- Novella length story about Clare and Russ's wedding, in part because I'd really love to see Clare's snobbish Southern Belle mother dealing with the fact the groom-to-be was a cop thirteen years older than her daughter. Plus, her mother drives Clare insane. You're so right, Lucy, that the possibility for conflicts are endless when it comes to weddings. Even if you don't throw a death in the mix, the combination of money, family, expectations and Pinterest-fueled delirium could drive a whole novel.

Lucy: Julia, we want the novella please! Hank, you are so right about suspense not lending itself to weddings...

For Red readers, do you like reading about weddings in your mysteries?