A proposal to die for

Harper (Witches Get Stuff Done, 2024) veers away from paranormal romance to dive into a mystery unfolding at a rustic but luxurious spa in the Tennessee mountains. Jess Bricker's consulting firm orchestrates, facilitates, and photographs the kind of over-the-top wedding proposals that sometimes go viral. She reluctantly takes on a proposal for Trenton Tillard, the scion of Georgia's biggest pecan fortune. He blew his initial proposal to Diana, a mean girl who had been Jess' nemesis at the ritzy private school all three of them attended. The wildly overbearing Diana decides Jess must accompany her, her wedding planner, and Kiki, the only cousin she can convince to be a bridesmaid, to go for a one week spa retreat at the Golden Ash where they can plan out a spectacular proposal. The Golden Ash is a great setting for this enjoyable cozy, locked-room mystery with just enough suspects and a campfire legend about a possible murder in its history. Harper provides an interesting cast of characters, some suspicious, some charming, and anyone could be the murderer.

A spa sojourn fraught with danger brings unique opportunities to a proposal planner. Jessamine Bricker has a history of succeeding even in the worst of circumstances. When her teen mother opted out of raising her, Jess' Nana Blanche "clipped coupons like a fiend" to pay her tuition at Wren Hill Day School for Young Ladies, where blue-collar Jess rubbed elbows with Nashville's old-money princesses. Jess went on to nurture her upper-class connections at tony Harrow University, parlaying them into a three-year stint working for one of the city's "most feared wedding planners." Realizing that spoiled young women with more money than sense might crave more than a single day of indulgence, she opens Bricker Consultants, helping wealthy young men create over-the-top proposals to delight their prospective brides. Working with grooms-to-be when the real clients are, of course, the brides is a tricky business that Jess handles with exceptional finesse. Still, Trenton Tillard IV provides a special challenge. Trenton's already proposed to Diana Helston, but without the spectacle the social media influencer feels her Helston LuxeGram brand deserves. So Diana calls in Jess to guide Trenton into a more appropriate "Will you…?" Diana spirits Jess away to Golden Ash spa for a week of yoga, facials, and proposal planning. Unfortunately, the getaway also includes weird lights in the woods, corpses, and a police investigation. The silver lining is Golden Ash chef Dean Osbourne and his wonderfully quirky family, who offer Jess a tantalizing glimpse of life outside the perils of princess-pleasing. Harper's sharp ear for dialogue and ability to limn the most absurd situations rock her mystery debut. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.