Amanda Jayatissa on Thrillers Set at Weddings

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There’s nothing more ironic than thrillers set at weddings. You take something typically romantic where everyone is expecting a happily ever after, and turn it around so you wish you’d never RSVPd in the first place! It’s this very contrast (and slight obsession with watching Say Yes To The Dress) that led me to write my own wedding thriller—You’re Invited. It has all the elements for wedded bliss— a lavish Sri Lankan wedding at the stunning, beachside Mt Lavinia Hotel, an instagram-worthy bride from an affluent Colombo family, and a handsome, successful groom. Oh, and murder, of course.

Here are a few more thrillers set at weddings that I think you’ll enjoy.

The Guest List, by Lucy Foley

No list on wedding thrillers would ever be complete without The Guest List. Set on an atmospheric island off the coast of Ireland, this novel was a masterclass in suspense. It opens during a stormy wedding— much to the horror of the guests, a body has been found, and the potential suspects are numerous. As Lucy Foley takes us back in time to the days leading up to the wedding, we learn of the many secrets, and many more possible motives that each character would have to carry out a murder.

Her Dark Lies, by J T Ellison

When modest and mousy artist Claire Hunter agreed to marry the handsome, wealthy Jack Compton, she didn’t expect the extra additions to her guest list—an intruder the night before they leave, literal skeletons in the closet, and a ruined wedding dress. Add in a raging storm, a power outage, and a killer on the loose, and you have a twisty locked-room thriller with an ending you’ll never see coming!

Only Ever Her, by Marybeth Mayhew Whalen

Does the grandest wedding anyone can ever remember in a small South Carolina town sound like the perfect backdrop for a thriller, or is it just me? Especially when the bride goes missing four days before she says I Do. Is it a case of a runaway bride, or is there something more sinister going on, especially as an alleged murderer was released from prison around the time the bride went missing? Told in multiple points of view, Only Ever Her is a fascinating study of small-town secrets, and how some mysteries don’t stay buried for long.

The Guilt Trip, by Sandie Jones

Imagine attending your brother’s wedding, only to realise that you can’t stand your sister-in-law to be? That’s what Rachel must endure as she and a group of close-knit friends attend a small, destination wedding in Portugal, perched on a cliff overlooking the beaches of Nazare. We soon learn that this idyllic friend-group isn’t at all what they appear to be— lying, backstabbing, and accusations galore. Dramatic and vicious, with a fantastic payoff at the end, this book begs the question— how well do you think you know those who are closest to you?

Dial A for Aunties, by Jesse Q Sutanto

A definite shift in tone from the rest of the books on this list, Dial A for Aunties is a hilarious story of a wedding planner’s blind date gone horrifically wrong. When she accidentally kills the man her mother tricked her into dating, Meddy calls her aunties to help cover up her crime. But when the body ends up being mistakenly shipped over to the over-the-top Chinese-Indonesian wedding Meddy and her Aunties are working on the next day, they all have to scramble to make sure that Meddy gets away with murder. Dial A for Aunties was thrilling and suspenseful in a completely unexpected way, as I cried tears of laughter through this story.

Every Vow You Break, by Peter Swanson

What happens after you make it through the wedding? You have to survive the honeymoon, of course! Abigail Baskin makes a terrible mistake during her bachelorette weekend— she had a one-night-stand with a stranger. Hoping to put it behind her, she goes ahead with the wedding, but things start to unravel as this man shows up during her honeymoon, professes his love to her, and mysterious things start happening on the island that Abigail cannot leave. This story is a slow burn, but definitely dials up the creepy elements!

In A Dark, Dark Wood, by Ruth Ware

And taking us right back to the beginning of the wedding festivities with a thriller set at a bachelorette weekend, with my favourite book on this list— In A Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware. When Nora is invited to Clare’s bachelorette weekend, she is surprised. She’s not even invited to the wedding, for one, and hasn’t even spoken to Clare in ten years. Nora soon finds herself trapped in a cabin in the woods with a group of Clare’s friends she barely knows, and tensions rise when she realises that not everyone intends to wish the bride luck on her wedding day.

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