Marriage, Monsters-in-Law, and Murder by Sara Rosett is the 9th book in the “Ellie Avery” mystery series. Publisher: Kensington, June 2016

Ellie Avery is a professional organizer, not a diplomat. But by agreeing to help organize a family wedding, she’s basically signed on to prevent two mothers-in-law from killing each other. It comes as a complete surprise, then, when another member of the wedding party is the one who’s actually murdered . . .

Ellie’s sister-in-law, Summer, has planned a four-day destination wedding at a posh private resort on one of Georgia’s beautiful barrier islands, but it won’t be a vacation for Ellie. Summer has asked her to assist with the last-minute details, which includes keeping the peace between the groom’s mother and stepmother.

The ladies are a handful, but the real problems are the ones Ellie and Summer haven’t anticipated–like mysterious pranks directed toward the bride. When the best man shows up with the groom’s gorgeous if unstable ex-girlfriend, she seems like an obvious suspect for the practical jokes.

But when a suspicious death occurs, Ellie realizes there’s more going on than mean-spirited pranks. Is Summer the killer’s real target? And what could possibly be driving someone to murder? Ellie vows to get to the truth so the blushing bride can walk down the aisle without fearing she’ll never reach the altar . . .

This was a very enjoyable read where Ellie takes on a role of wedding planner, in particular keeping the two mother-in-laws-to be separated. Things get a bit dangerous when a dead body is found. Was the accident meant for Summer? Who wants her dead? In a surprising twist, we find out the real purpose and what lead to the discovery is the finely-tuned narrative that the author presented. I was fascinated by the seamless integration of the wedding aspects and the clues that were sprinkled throughout this fast-paced drama. Ellie is at her best but it is also her interaction with Summer, Mitch, Livvy and Nathan that enhanced the telling of this story. I had a good time on my visit with the Avery clan and I’m looking forward to the next book in this delightfully charming series.