Friday, August 17, 2018

The Perfect Couple by Elin Hilderbrand

Summer always brings the latest  Nantucket based Hilderbrand beach read and this one did not disappoint - of course you have to know not to expect a deep literary experience but an engaging, fun escape.

In this book a family has gathered at their summer home, Summerland, for the wedding of their younger son Benji to his fiancee Celeste.  The wedding has been carefully orchestrated by Benji's mother, Greer, as though she generally respects tradition she knows she has far greater resources than the bride's family.  Celeste's father sells suits at the King of Prussia Mall and her mother works in the gift shop of the Crayola factory.  The wedding has been expedited because Celeste's mother is suffering from Stage 4 breast cancer.

On the morning of the wedding, however, Celeste wakes up to a tragedy when she finds the body of her maid of honour, Merritt, floating in the ocean just in front of Summerland.  Nantucket Chief of Police, Ed Kapenash (who we've met in other Hilderbrand books) and Massachusetts state police officer, Nick "the Greek" are brought in to investigate.

Through the course of interviews as well as flashbacks we find out that everyone except the fine upstanding groom is harbouring some sort of secret.  This makes the investigation a bit tricky - the officers must decide if any of those with a secret is also covering up a murder.  There are some twists and turns but it is fairly easy to predict what happened.  However that doesn't detract from the enjoyment of the book.

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