I was expecting more out of this book, and I don’t think it lived up to the hype for me. A celebrity wedding and someone is murdered. The problem is that it becomes predictable.

With thanks to the author, publisher and Net Galley for the opportunity to read an early copy in exchange for an independent review.
The title is a little misleading and may do the book a disservice. Yes there are murders and yes they happen at a wedding, but the real story here is in the 1990s timeline about a pop band. Perfect for fans of mysteries that feature sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll.

This ARC was provided to me via Kindle by HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter and #NetGalley for my honest opinion. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

Interesting characters and a mystery full of twists.

The Wedding Murders was such an entertaining and fast read. With a title like this I knew that I had to read it. I was immediately drawn into the story and needed to know what the big secret was. I loved how we had alternate chapters of the wedding in the present and back to the 90's when the boys were in a band and becoming successful.

Libby and Matthew are off to a wedding in a posh English hotel. Matthew is a former rock star and it is his bandmate getting married. The members have not seen each other for a while and tensions are still high, their breakup full of secrets. When a member of the wedding party goes missing, Libby, a journalist, knows the secret is bigger than the boys are making out. And then another guest is attacked and it cannot be just bad luck.. It is dangerous and she might not like what she finds out but she needs to know.

Thank you to Harper Collins UK, One More Chapter and Netgalley for my advanced copy of this book to read. Publishes February 11th, 2022

Sarah Linley is another new author for me and I really enjoyed The Wedding Murders. Intrigue, suspense, secrets and lies all rolled up into a great piece of escapism, what more could you ask for? An entertaining book that will keep you hooked to the end. Thank you to NetGalley, One More Chapter and the author for the chance to review.

I received an advanced reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review

I loved this one. Very fast paced, had me turning pages as I tore through it – I had to see how it would end. The characters were well rounded and the narrative felt believable. Gave me chills. Solid five

I enjoyed this but I think I kept wanting to like it more than I actually did. I've read a few fantastic wedding-based thrillers this year and I don't think the inevitable comparison helped this book.

I found the past flashbacks about the band way more interesting than the present day storyline - I found myself really looking forward to picking up where we left off in the 90s. The present day storyline seemed to take a very long time to go anywhere - we knew murders would happen at this wedding but nothing really happened for quite a chunk of the book. The sections set in the 90s were actually great fun to read - obviously I have no first hand experience of being in a band during that time but it seemed realistic enough to me.

I liked the writing style, I could picture all of the people and places easily and the behaviour and dialogue was very natural. I can't say I formed much of a connection with the characters, I would have liked a bit more background on Libby and Matthew's relationship as there didn't seem to be much in the way of love between them so it was hard to understand why they were together in the first place.

One final bugbear is that it was never addressed why Natalya didn't like Matthew so much.. was it?! He was no more responsible than anyone else for the events in the book so I don't understand why she seemed to single him out as a bad guy.

Overall I did enjoy this and would probably recommend it, but it wasn't a favourite.

In what has become a familiar (oft-seen) structure the plot is revealed through two time-periods; present day and the 90’s.

The 90’s section follows the formation and rise of a band from obscurity to mega-stardom with the meteoric rise in celebrity, wealth, hedonistic and damaging life-style. Whereas current day sees the hero of the book, Libby, girlfriend to Matt (one of the band) invited as a plus one to a wedding of Daniel, one of the once famous band. As with all books at the heart of the plot is a secret – a secret that involves the band. Simon is set to tell all in a memoir, as a band member. Emir is the final band member, except for the girl singer. Predictably what follows is mayhem and murder.

The fact that I cannot quite remember much about Emir is indicative, nor can I remember the female singer’s name.

Whilst reading I was enjoying the book, even though I found Libby very irritating – perhaps smug is the word I am looking for. And who goes off into the woods at night? I was left very disappointed at the end of the book.

Thank you to the author, publishers and NetGalley for providing an ARC via my Kindle in return for an honest review.

I finished this book as I wanted to find out what the big secret was and who the bad guys were. It was not well written though, lots of it was boring, though the story of a pop band and what had happened and how that lead to murders at a wedding had potential. Unfortunately, the writing style was not for me

A celebrity wedding. A group of middle-aged former bandmates. One guest missing. Another almost dies.

This has all the ingredients to be a great thriller...but it isn't. Frankly, there are only two credible characters amongst the cast. The rest are predictable caricatures.

Very disappointing

The Wedding Murders by Sarah Linley did not fully engage my interest on starting the book.
The storyline was good, although for me, at times was predictable. The chapters tell the story back and forth from 1992 to the present of Simon, Daniel, Matthew, Amir and Alex (female), a group of musicians who found fame in the 90's and how they deal/dealt with the outcomes at that time and eventually, the band splitting up and moving forward with their lives to the present.

The main character, Libby Steele, a journalist attending the wedding, was so annoying, aaaaahhh! I ask myself, would this really happen. Do I read too many mystery novels and second guess everything?
I did complete the book.

This storyline will intrigue readers but, for me, the book did not ''draw me in''.

I give a 3 star rating,

I WANT TO THANK NETGALLEY FOR THE OPPORTUNITY OF READING AN ADVANCED COPY OF THE BOOK FOR AN HONEST REVIEW.

I wanted to like this book more than I did but for a book called The Wedding Murders it took like the whole book for there to actually be a murder at this dang wedding...

Libby is a plus one at a fancy wedding for people she doesn’t know... once upon a time in the 90s her boyfriend, Matthew, was in a semi famous pop group and one of his bandmates is getting married. So for the first time the band is back together for a weekend to celebrate. Daniel and his new bride Vicky.. except obviously things don’t quite go to plan... there is a pretty good reason that the band should have stayed away from each other..

The story is told from Libby’s point of view in the present and Matt’s point of view in the past with what was going on with the band and in exerts from the memoir Simon writing. Truth be told there isn’t really much of a mystery to this it’s rather obvious what happened in the past it’s easy to guess what they could have done that they wanted to keep secret. And once you know about the past the present isn’t too much of a surprise though part of it is just like huh? That doesn’t even make sense... but ok. I thought the reveal of the killer was going to be somebody way more interesting than it was but nope!

Libby was a bit annoying but I don’t like journalists so... i mean technically none of this was any of her business and she could have just gone home and didn’t need to involve herself in any of this nonsense. Also Amir’s character was written so weird like most of the time I honestly forgot he even existed and then he would be there and it’s like oh Amir is withdrawn or moody or unpleasant... there was never an explanation of why or anything really about him. In fact his boyfriend got more time in the book than he did. And another thing that REALLY bothered me is why was Natalya so mad at Matthew but part of Daniel’s wedding? What sense did that even make?

There’s a bit of nonsense in this book and some things don’t make sense. And not to be nit picky but no Alex was not texting Phoenix back in the 90s.

It wasn’t a bad book it just wasn’t great either I kept reading I wanted to know what would happen I wasn’t bored. I mean some of Matt’s blah blah blah from the past was dragging a bit. The end was just rather anticlimactic and a let down.

The idea behind the book was a good one, but the book itself was a big disappointment. The writing is wooden, laden with cliche, and I found myself just skipping through the pages to see what happened.

Rating: 3.7/5

Sarah Linley's work has been compared to that of Lucy Foley and of Agatha Christie. I can't really say that the Christie connection was particularly striking (though almost every mystery writer seems to be compared with Dame Agatha at some point), but I can certainly see some justification for likening her work to that of Lucy Foley. That comparison is, perhaps, particularly understandable with this novel, as much of the action centres around a wedding, in much the same way as it does in Ms Foley's "The Guest List". However, the parallels in the style of the two writers run deeper than this superficial plot element. Both authors use a structure that contain elements of a classic "whodunnit", but, in common with her contemporary, Sarah Linley's novel could also be described as a "whydunnit" or even a "whodunnwhat".

In "The Wedding Murders" we have the conventional enclosed setting and restricted cast of characters that you would expect in a traditional murder mystery. Libby, a journalist for a local newspaper, is attending a wedding with her boyfriend, Matthew. Back in the day, he had been part of a band that had achieved a degree of success and fame in the latter part of the 90s. The ceremony itself celebrates the marriage of one of Matt's former bandmates and, although they have long since ceased to have any real contact, the other erstwhile members of the group are also in attendance. The narrative is delivered from various viewpoints, but predominantly that of Libby, with the notable regular additions via revealing extracts from the memoirs of one of the band members. The time frame switches between the wedding and the band's heyday in the 90s.

"The Wedding Murders" makes for an entertaining read. It is generally nicely paced and the flashback sections and extracts from the memoirs are handled well. The actual deed does not come light until a fair way into the telling of the story (another similarity with Lucy Foley's mystery writing), but the storyline and the characters are engaging enough to hold the attention in the meantime. In fact, the decision to feature events surrounding a 90s' band makes for a refreshing change compared with some of the tired plotlines that are often reworked in this genre. There are times when you will have to be prepared to suspend disbelief, but for the most part the author makes a decent fist of keeping events within the acceptable parameters of fictional scrutiny.

Overall, in spite of the legitimate comparisons, I wouldn't say that this displays quite the same level of polish as Lucy Foley's mysteries, but it is, nonetheless, very enjoyable and well worth adding to your reading list.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for supplying an ARC in return for an honest review.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book. Great book with the different pov. The time going back and of course simons book. I loved Libby’s character. Didn’t like the band too much, they seemed to be all for them selves. They had a lot hidden from their past, I didn’t expect it to be what it was though. Not pushed on Daniel he was all for himself even his new wife couldn’t change him. Not a nice person at all, but then she was just as bad. Great storyline and everything worked out well in the end.

I can’t give this 5 stars for 2 reasons - 1 it was really hard to try not to notice the quite regular lack of spaces between 2 words which made it harder to read and 2 - it was sooooo far fetched! That aside it was still really enjoyable - scandalous, juicy, twisty and naughty it was just what you need after a tough day at work!

I really enjoyed this read, it was suspenseful and entertaining with such an interesting storyline. It was atmospheric and unpredictable with lots of twists that kept me guessing throughout, I just couldnt guess the ending no matter how much I tried. A great read that I whizzed through.

This book read like an Agatha Christie with a twist. What a great mystery, I absolutely could not guess the ending. The characters were incredibly interesting and the setting was perfect.

I thought this is easy to follow, enjoyable and entertaining. It captured me with twists and turns. What is there not to like?

Thank you NetGalley and One More Chapter, Harper Collins for the free e-book in exchange for an honest opinion.

This was an interesting and entertaining read. I couldn't put it down, I just wanted to know what happens at the end. The book is full of suspense, mystery, twist and turns and really good characters. I like the way it was written and the fact that we got to read about the band in the '90s. My favourite character has to be Libby. You can see that she's a smart woman, that she loves her son and is willing to help to do the right thing.
The only thing I was missing while reading was that I didn't feel like there was any chemistry between Libby and Matthew. I wanted to read more about her feelings.