You May Now Kill the Bride: A hilarious, deliciously dark thriller about friendship, hen parties and murder

by Kate Weston

Their hangovers may fade, but this is a hen party they'll never forget...

Lauren, Saskia, Dominica, Farah and Tansy have been friends since nursery. They wonder if that was the last time they all actually liked each other.

Reunited as bridesmaids at Tansy's spiritual hen party in the woods, it doesn't take long before old grudges begin to surface. Not to mention the secret they've been hiding for twenty years.

But what starts as a weekend of macramé and contraband vodka ends in murder when Tansy chokes to death on a poisoned cacao drink.

As the body count keeps climbing, the friends realise that one of their group must be the killer - and if any of them want to make it down the aisle, they need to watch their sash-covered backs.

Who will be left standing when the bouquet is thrown?

'Outrageously entertaining' MAZ EVANS
'Riotously funny, horribly familiar and brilliantly compelling' LUCY VINE
'Deliciously dark' HANNAH TOVEY
'Fun, twisty and veiled in mystery, 'til death do us part has never felt so ominous' AMY BEASHEL
'An ideal summer read' SUN
'A welcome arrival for wedding season' STYLIST
'Grab a copy as soon as you can' HEAT
'A must-read' FABULOUS

Early readers love YOU MAY NOW KILL THE BRIDE:

'Laugh-out-loud funny' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
'Keeps you guessing until the very end' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
'Should be required reading for any burned-out bridesmaid' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
'An amazing mashup of hilarity, murder, thrills and romance' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
'Chilling and captivating' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

• ISBN10: 1035412454
• ISBN13: 9781035412457
• Publish Date: 23 May 2024 (first published 14 May 2024)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Headline Publishing Group
• Imprint: Headline Book Publishing
• Format: Paperback (B-Format (198x129 mm))
• Pages: 416
• Language: English

Reviews

[annieb123]

Originally posted on my blog Nonstop Reader.

You May Now Kill the Bride is an engaging standalone mystery thriller by Kate Weston. Released 23rd May 2024 by Penguin Random House on their trade paperback imprint, it's 352 pages and is available in paperback, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. 

This is a very dark and sardonic "mean girls" thriller murder mystery. It's written in alternating third person PoV with alternating voices from the main characters (a group of "friends" who are together for a wedding getaway where the bride gets killed). The narrative is choppy and unclear in places with respect to *which* of the suspects (it's a closed circle) is speaking. 

-All- of them are narcissistic, jealous, neurotic, and unpleasant. On the plus side, it is snort-out-loud funny in some places, and the prose is well polished and quite finished.

Three and a half stars (mostly for the few over-the-top laughs and the well rendered prose - there are some technical issues with rapidly changing PoVs, but otherwise it's well written). 

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.