Book Review: Bridesmaids Revisited

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

Bridesmaids Revisited     Amazon US HC Amazon Canada HC
Dorothy Cannell
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Woman Main Character   Amateur Sleuth
Series: Ellie Haskell # 10
Viking, Jun 2000, $22.95, 242 pp.

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

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner