About
Reviews
Search
Submit
Home

Mystery Books for Sale

[ Home ]
[ About | Reviews | Search | Submit ]


  

HITCHED
by Carol Higgins Clark
Pocket Star, February 2007
400 pages
$7.99
ISBN: 1416523367


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

The ninth of the Regan Reilly mysteries penned by Carol Higgins Clark falls into a category I like to call 'couch reads' – the kind of book best read while curled up on a cozy couch. Its fast pace is quite typical of Clark's writing; the majority of this story takes place over the weekend before Regan's scheduled wedding.

New York PI Regan Reilly and Jack 'no relation' Reilly – head of the New York Police Department's Major Case Squad – are getting married. But when Regan arrives at the bridal salon the Saturday before her wedding to pick up her dream gown, she discovers the designers bound and gagged and four dresses (including hers) missing. A fifth is in shreds on the floor.

The 'April Brides' – the women to whom the dresses belong – have a variety of reactions to the news, from total meltdown to carefree acceptance. Regan takes the case, determined to recover the dresses before the next wedding date, which of course happens to be hers. Along the way she meets an unusual mix of brides and grooms-to-be – or not-to-be – and it's anybody's guess who'll make it to the altar and who won't.

Meanwhile, Jack's sights are set on solving a baffling series of rainy-day bank robberies before the big day so that he and Regan can set off on their honeymoon without any loose ends.

HITCHED follows Clark's usual brisk and rapid style, although I found myself a little disappointed at the use of the formulaic 'if only s/he knew . . .' factor prevalent at the end of nearly every chapter, something that as I recall is missing from her earlier books. I didn't throw this one across the room, but I did roll my eyes more than should probably have been necessary. The ploy detracts a bit from the underlying story, which on its own merits, however, does manage to be clever enough to overcome any detriment those clichι tags might effect.

Clark does do a fair job of bringing together two plot lines which on the surface appear completely unrelated and melds them with a nice twist, and her characters meet her usual standards of quirkiness and likeability. Overall, die-hard fans of Regan and Jack won't be disappointed at the outcome of this lighthearted and ultimately sweet chapter in the lives of the Reillys.

Reviewed by J. B. Thompson, April 2008

[ Top ]


QUICK SEARCH:

 

Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


[ About | Reviews | Search | Submit ]
[ Home ]