Cosy mystery fans cannot fail but be completely gripped by the latest fabulous installment of Jean G. Goodhind’s Honey Driver series: Marriage Is Murder.

Planning a wedding should be a happy occasion full of cake, confetti and celebration – it certainly should not make anyone think of murder, but that’s precisely what happens when Honey and her fiancé Steve are scouting wedding venues in an idyllic English village and discover the vicar unconscious on the floor. When she comes to, she claims to have seen a woman floating across the village green at twilight, dressed in pure bridal white. Honey and Steve aren’t sure what to make of it, however, when things take a very sinister turn, they soon find themselves investigating a murder…

An elderly woman in the village has been found dead in the strangest of circumstances. She had ben propped up in the front pew of the church dressed in a lavish wedding gown. There is clearly something dark and sinister bubbling away in this bucolic idyll and Honey and Steve are determined to get to the bottom of it. The two of them have had their fair share of unusual cases, but this one might just take the biscuit.

Can the two of them solve this case? Or will the killer end up striking again and again?

The Honey Driver mysteries are such tremendous fun and Jean G. Goodhind has outdone herself yet again with this gripping page-turner that is perfect for M C Beaton and Ann Granger fans. Full of eccentric characters, bucolic shenanigans, village gossip, red herrings and twists and turns, Marriage Is Murder is a delightful cosy mystery with a terrific heroine it is an absolute joy to spend time with.

Witty, exciting and hard to put down, Jean G. Goodhind’s Marriage Is Murder should be at the very top of every cosy mystery fan’s must-read list.

Honey Driver and her police detective fiance Steve Doherty are looking at their options for their wedding. But their meeting at a church near Bath goes awry when a body is discovered in the pews, dressed in a wedding dress.
Marriage Is Murder is a cosy murder mystery set in and around Bath in England. It is the 11th book in the series and I have not read any of the earlier novels but this didn't affect my understanding of Honey and Steve's characters.
Honey works in a hotel and Steve is in the police. He enjoys using her intuition to help solve his cases and she is more than happy to oblige. They are older characters, well established in their own personalities and comfortable in their own skins.
The initial chapters set up a neighbourly quarrel over land access and I thought I guessed who the victim would be. So I was surprised when the vicar is attacked and then another character is found dead! There are more twists to follow and I also couldn't work out how the crime links to the prologue which talks about marriages of convenience. I liked the mystery and was intrigued by the connection between the different plot strands.
There is a gentle humour to the book which radiates through the descriptions and dialogue. This added a layer of warmth and lightheartedness in contrast to the murder. I felt that the descriptions were quite vivid and helped me to imagine the characters and settings.
Marriage Is Murder is a warm and enjoyable cosy murder mystery.

What a great book, so easy and entertaining. Loved the warm duo, the description ls of all the characters made you visualise them in the surroundings. The plot was awesome. Bring on more like these.

Princess Fuzzypants here: This is the second Honey Driver book I have read and I am getting quite fond of her. She works as the liaison between the police and the hotel association in Bath. Her police partner, Doughty, is also her fiancé and they are planning to get married. Really. They are. It is just there are a couple of small hiccups that are delaying their nuptials.

They include a couple of bodies in the village where they thought they might say their vows. While talking with the vicar, they are also investigating and they meet some very quirky characters. Might one of them be the killer? Or is it someone entirely different and with a motive that is both deadly and sad. Oh yes, they also have Honey’s mother disappearing suddenly and receive several threatening letters telling them to call off the wedding. How are these things related to the murders…. Or are they?

The mystery had lots of shifts and turns. Red herrings galore but when the killer is revealed, the reader might have some sympathy. It was definitely unexpected. Five purrs and two paws up.

Thank you to Netgalley for this book.
This book was definitely very easy to read but it wasn’t very entertaining. Honey and Doherty are planning on getting married but when wedding Honey is helping with has spiked punch, Mrs. Flynn is murdered for the role she played in arranging marriages for men to get British passports. Her partner and one of the girls she married off when the girl was thirteen killed her for her role in it. She kills them then puts them in wedding dresses as a kind of revenge for what they did to her. Honey’s mom gets married on a cruise without telling her. While the story was original it just wasn’t one of my favorites.

Honey and her detective fiancé Steve are at a pretty church in an idyllic English village. The air is filled with twittering birds and the sweet scent of flowers. This could be the perfect venue for their upcoming wedding.

But as usual when Honey is around, things are not quite as they seem . . .

Honey and Steve discover the vicar unconscious on the floor. When the vicar finally comes around, she reports seeing a strange woman floating across the village green at twilight, dressed in pure bridal white.

Honey and Steve are unsure what to make of it.

The next day, Steve is back in the village. This time to investigate a murder.

An elderly woman has been found dead — propped up in the front pew of the church, dressed in a lavish wedding gown.

Honey and Steve are about to tackle their strangest case yet.

Really enjoyed this story. Cannot wait to read more from the author.

I just reviewed MARRIAGE IS MURDER by Jean G. Goodhind. #MARRIAGEISMURDER #NetGalley

A murder in a church? Smacks of Miss Marple in this cozy village Murder mystery.

Very gentle and although the lead characters are young, you associate it with those popular tv shows like Miss Markle or Midsummer Murders.

Very gentle and easily read.

Looking for the perfect wedding venue Honey Driver and her Detective fiance Steve find what they think is the perfect place but they find themselves smack bang in a mystery and murder

As much as i love this series i do find it hard to believe that a normal member of the public can solve a murder before the police especially with all their technology and information at their fingertips but nevertheless i still enjoyed

This was a cute cozy set in a small english village. Honey Driver and her fiancé Detective Steve Doherty, are looking for wedding venues for their upcoming wedding. When they arrive at a pretty church in a neighboring village to meet with the vicar, they find the vicar passed out on the floor with a big bump on her head. The following day an elderly woman dressed in a wedding gown is found dead in a front pew. Another murder follows with another woman dressed in a wedding dress. Honey uses her sleuthing skills to help Steve find the murderer. Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for this ARC.

An enjoyable and solid mystery that kept me guessing. I liked the characters and want to read other books in this series.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine

I have been a fan of Jean’s work for a while now although I have a little confession to make- yes yet another one. Although I have all of the books in the Honey Driver series on my ever increasing ‘to be read’ mountain, up to now I have only read a couple of them. When I was offered the chance to take part in the blog tour for ‘Marriage Is Murder’ I thought that it would be the ideal opportunity to reacquaint myself with Jean’s work and at the same time it would give me the kick up the bottom I needed to read the rest of the series. ‘Marriage Is Murder’ is the eleventh book in the series and what a book it is. I thoroughly enjoyed reading ‘Marriage Is Murder’ but more about that in a bit.

It didn’t take me long to get into ‘Marriage Is Murder’. In fact the synopsis of the story was enough to grab my attention and draw me in. I started reading the story itself and basically I forgot to stop. I had only intended to read a couple of chapters but I became so wrapped up in the story and in the lives of the different characters that I was still sat there reading several chapters and a couple of hours later. I loved the quirky characters and the way they interacted with each other. I had my own suspicions as to how the story was going to play out and so of course I had to keep reading to see if I was anywhere near the truth or if I had wandered off in the opposite direction. All too quickly I reached the end of ‘Marriage Is Murder’ and I had to say goodbye to Honey, Steve and the rest of the characters. I found ‘Marriage Is Murder’ to be a gripping cozy mystery which certainly kept me on my toes.

‘Marriage Is Murder’ is extremely well written but then I have come to expect nothing less from Jean G. Goodhind. She has an easy going writing styles that is easy to get used to and easy to get along with. For me, the story hit the ground running and maintained a fairly brisk pace throughout. Jean clearly cares about her characters and this shines through in the very vivid and realistic way in which she describes them. She makes her characters seem just as real as you and I. This was a fun and interesting read. I love the way in which the author makes the reader feel as though they are part of the story itself. That’s how I felt anyway.

In short I thoroughly enjoyed reading ‘Marriage Is Murder’ and I would definitely recommend this book to other readers. I will certainly be reading more of Jean’s work in the future. The score on the Ginger Book Geek board is a very well deserved 5* out of 5*.

Honey (hotelier and police liaison officer for the hotel chain) and Steve (local detective inspector) are engaged and looking at venues. Visiting a potential church they find the vicar knocked out. Things go downhill from there. An obnoxious old lady is found dead in the same church, then there's the strange "open marriage" couple, equally obnoxious, dedicated woman with dog kennels, bloke who loves dressing up in wedding dresses, murder woman in stole Rolls Royce, also in a wedding dress (woman not Rolls) not to mention illegal marriages set against a scene of pretty rural village and elegant Bath.. Plenty of twists, rather too much of the slightly raunchy romance between Honey and Steve. I really don't think "think Miss Marple". But then, it's set in modern-day Britain, there's humour and banter, murder, families and red herrings so perhaps Miss Marple-ish after all. I hadn't initially realised it was number 11 but I'm not sure that I could have taken 10 stories to get these two into their present relationship (assuming that they're in all previous stories). Still, an entertaining, amusing read. 3.5* rounded up. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy.

This is a fun cozy mystery. Honey Driver (hotel owner and hotel liaison to the police) and Detective Inspector Steve Doherty are planning to get married. They check out St. Michael and All Angells Church in the village of Lower Wainscote to see if it is a good place for their wedding. When they arrive at the church, they find the Vicar out cold on the floor. Later, they find a dead woman in the sanctuary wearing a wedding dress. As they are leaving the church, the police arrive because of domestic violence in the house next door. It appear that the wife, who was an old friend of Honey, was punched by her husband after she complained about him having a beautiful woman in his bed. Then, Steve begins getting threatening letters telling him not to marry that middle aged trollope; Honey's mother is not happy about them marrying; and then Honey gets threatening letters.

The book is funny, and somewhat crazy, but Honey and Doherty are unusual characters. In the end the several murders are finally explained as going back to a marriage business for folks from abroad who needed a British spouse to get residency.

I found this book rather confusing, a little crude in places and yes, there was humour as well, but I just could not connect with the characters.

I loved the way the author has cleverly combined cozy crime, set in an English village outside Bath [complete with gossipy villagers and scenes reminiscent of Great Expectations], against a modern day story of illegal marriages arranged for the purpose of obtaining an English passport. It all revolves round the theme of marriage and the two central characters Honey and DI Doherty, who themselves are arranging their own marriage.
It makes for an entertaining, enjoyable read, with an unusual slant and has a murder mystery running throughout.
It works well as a stand alone but I will now be reading the boxset.

I didn't realise this was book 11 when I signed up for it and while the mystery itself could be considered a stand alone I did feel a little confused at times about honey's role in things apart from being the girlfriend that is. However it did have an interesting storyline and good plot with great characters and the mystery kept me guessing so I never saw the answer coming. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

a-bit-of-snark, amateur-sleuth, Bath England, cosy-mystery, family-drama, family-dynamics, hotelier, law-enforcement, murder, murder-investigation, overt-humor, read, relationships, romantic, series, single-parent, situational-humor, sly-humor, verbal-humor, wedding-madness*****

If you are looking for a deep, dark, adventurous police procedural--you are so in the wrong place!
But if you need a cozy mystery that will have you laughing your sox off and forgetting about work, bills, or whatever else--this is the very thing! The sleuthing finds a lot of weirdness, each character is zanier than the next, and definitely great world building.
It really can be read as stand-alone because anything important from the earlier books is alluded to. Absolutely loved it!
The sleuthing is interesting, and really ramps up when another body is located elsewhere.
If you like your cozies irreverent and with a lot of laughs, you'll love this one as much as I did!
I requested and received an EARC from Joffe Books via NetGalley. Thank you!

Like a few other reviewers, I found it confusing to jump into a book series at such a late stage and I am afrair this is one of the few books that I have given up on

This book was sent to me electronically by Netgalley for review. Thanks to the publisher and author. Mystery and mayhem abound in this novel. The characters are realistic, and the mystery not easily solved. Enjoy..

Murder And Mayhem..
The eleventh in the Honey Driver series of mysteries finds Honey knee deep in murder and mayhem once again as she and Steve innocently set out to explore the countryside seeking wedding venues. What should have been an enjoyable excursion soon leads the duo up the garden path when a bizarre series of events unfolds. Another engaging and entertaining instalment laced with humour and with an eclectic and eccentric cast of characters, a likeable protagonist in Honey and a solid mystery at heart.