Bridesmaids Revisited

No spoilers here! Dorothy Cannell is a good story teller and certainly has a great sense of humor. With this 11th novel in the Ellie Haskell series, both traits come shinning through. Ellis in contacted by three ladies from out of her past that state her grandmother wants to contact her. Since Ellie's grandmother is long dead, this is of course a problem. Ellie and her ever present quirky house keeper set out for a visit and of course end up in a typical Gothic Setting with three very odd ladies. I it is sort of difficult to do much plot outlinging with Ms. Cannell's books as there are plots and subplots scattered throughout the work. To talk much about one leaves openings to spoil another for the reader. I did feel that the over all plot of this work was weaker than in some of the author's other works and, as another reviewer has pointed out, the book, at times, seemed rather rushed. That is okay though. I read these books more for the humor and characters than I do the story and the author has delivered again with this one. If you are looking for a fast, one evening read, that is rather enjoyable, then this one is for you.

Fun and Spooky. I love Dorothy Cannell books, because they are, well, fun and silly. And sometimes spooky. And always intelligent. Some of the best character development around (and boy, does she develop some characters!) I hate reviews that discuss the whole plot, with inner meanings and story disclosures, so I'll just say, Buy it. Read it. Read any of the series, I can't think of a single 'best'. Here's something - funnier than Evanovich, and a lot cleaner; still, has more realistic bedroom scenes. Funny ones.

Although I seldom read Gothics anymore, I read my share of them when I was young. Ms. Cannell serves up the standards: deep dark family secrets (one was easy to guess, but the others took me completely by surprise), great wrongs from the past that need to be set right, people being killed because they either KNOW TOO MUCH or could unwittingly REVEAL ALL. She didn't leave out the less-than-warm welcome the villagers give the innocent heroine. There's a seance! There's a governess who wanted her master who had the invalid wife. Ellie's life is mysteriously threatened. There's even a certain architectural feature no Gothic romance should be without. Of course, Ellie isn't the usual Gothic heroine because she's a wife and mother, but our author handles this trifling problem by packing Bentley and the kiddies off to camp. Mrs. Malloy and the faithful Tobias are similarly disposed of, leaving poor Ellie on her own. To trust or not to trust? Not only is that the question, but the answer could mean life or death to Ellie. I don't know if I'd go so far as to say that it's the best spoof of Gothics since Jane Austen's NORTHANGER ABBEY, but it's certainly a lot of fun. RANDOM COMMENTS: If you take 100 years as the human life span, then ages 34 through 65 are the middle, so yes, you are middle aged if you're in your forties (I will be 46 this year). Laughed at Mrs. Malloy's reaction to the reason Ellie has never spoken of her maternal grandmother. The chapter decorations are pretty. For someone who reads Gothics, Ellie took a bit long to become suspicious. I'd never heard the phrase "a friend of Dorothy" before -- what a polite way to explain. My instinctive reaction to the mentions of meat puddings and fish pie was YUCK! Then I remembered the teasing I gave a friend who refused to try chicken pot pie because "pies are dessert!" and decided to keep an open mind. With all the revelations in this book, Ellie and her kin are going to have to rethink their precise degree of relationship. I, for one, hope that Ms. Cannell doesn't fail to give us vain Vanessa's reaction in the next book. I'm sorry that Yan Nascimbene chose to give us a dustjacket illustration that's in keeping with the punny title. This book cries out for a traditional Gothic cover, preferably a nightgowned Ellie fleeing the Old Rectory in the pitch dark; with one window mysteriously lit in the forbidding house.

In the latest Dorothy Cannell mystery, Ellie Haskell is summoned by 3 of her grandmother's old friends to solve another family mystery. Another trio of bizarre characters join the cast, as each of the bridesmaids is just a little bit off. Cannell's mysteries are always alot of fun in addition to the mystery,and this one is no exception. Hopefully, the next novel will bring back the Flowers Detection Agency. I miss them.

With her family away on vacation, interior decorator Ellie Haskell planned to redo their home. However, a letter from Rosemary Maywood shakes Ellie to her inner core. Rosemary claims that she is in contact with Ellie's deceased grandmother Sophia who desperately needs to speak with her. Rosemary, along with Thora and Jane, were called the bridesmaids when Ellie was a child, but no one would explain why they were nicknamed as such. Feeling a bit foolish, Ellie travels to see Rosemary to learn what the woman is talking about. Her housekeeper Mrs. Malloy insists on coming too. Ellie and Mrs. Malloy go the Knells where she learns that a developer plans to turn the village into a theme park because he was mistreated as a youth. As she begins to unravel what the three bridesmaids want to tell her, Ellie begins investigating a half of a century old murder that could end up with a present day homicide, namely Ellie. BRIDESMAID REVISITED is an interesting tale that reads like a well-written gothic who-done-it. The main characters are fully developed and the support cast brings the brooding atmosphere of the Knells to life. The mystery is humorously and enjoyably weird as expected from a Dorothy Cannel tale.Harriet Klausner