From Publishers Weekly
A spectral summons leads to family secrets in Cannell's 11th beguiling outing (after The Trouble with Harriet) for British interior decorator Ellie Haskell. Ellie hasn't thought about her late grandmother Sophia's three bridesmaidsARosemary, Thora and JaneAin years. Then she receives a letter from Rosemary telling her that Sophia is trying to contact her from beyond the grave. With her saucy, uninvited helper, Mrs. Malloy, in tow, Ellie travels to the ancient Cambridgeshire village of Knells to investigate. She finds the people of Knells abuzz over the plans of social upstart Sir Clifford Heath, a rapacious financier, to buy up the town in order to turn it into a theme parkAapparently because he has a grudge against the community that snubbed him as a poor lad. From local gossip, Ellie learns that Sir Clifford has links to her own family, in particular the untimely, mysterious death of her mother. With its ancient setting, complicated story, mysterious old houses, hidden diaries, simmering passions, spooky emanations and love matches gone awry, the tale sometimes reads like Wuthering Heights on steroids. Still, Cannell's smooth narration and her appealing, smart-mouthed characters charm you into suspending disbelief. The result is a thoroughly delightful puzzle. Mystery Guild selection; 11-city tour. (June 15) Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Beliefnet
Fans of Cannell's previous Ellie Haskell mysteries will not be disappointed with this one, which retains the author's sparkling humor and penchant for off-beat characters. Ellie, now a mother of three, sends her family off on holiday so she can finally tend to decorating their castle (the one she inherited, you recall, from her wacky Fester-ish uncle). But before she can pick up a paintbrush, she receives a letter from "the bridesmaids," three ladies who had been friends of her grandmother Sophia's. They claim that Sophia has a message for Ellie--the problem being that Sophia has been dead for half a century. Ellie visits the bridesmaids, and comes to realize that one among the slightly dotty trio may turn out be a murderess.

Several of the mystery's plot devices will be familiar to Cannell addicts: old family skeletons come to light, a hilarious gothic-novel-within-a-novel caricatures both "Jane Eyre" and "Rebecca," and at least one character turns out to have a long-lost twin.

But Cannell also tackles new Spiritualist ground here, undertaking themes of ghostly emanations, seances, and conjurings. (The bridesmaids feel a tad uneasy about invoking Sophia's spirit, and spend one very funny scene wondering if they should enhance their matronly attire with garlic necklaces or crucifixes.) Cannell effectively opens the door to the spirit world, and then gently closes it as the story's supernatural phenomena all turn out to have perfectly natural--albeit unlikely--explanations. She does leave the door just a tad ajar at the novel's close, acknowledging a spiritual "intuition" that remains unaccounted for. This mystery is rollicking good fun for a dark and stormy night. (Beliefnet, Sept. 2000)


Book Description
"Rosemary, Thora, and Jane lived at the end of the lane, one was thin, one was fat, and one was very plain." This is how Ellie Haskell remembers her grandmother's three friends, known collectively as "the bridesmaids." She had once asked her mother where the nickname came from and her mother replied, "It's a long story, best forgotten." Every family has its secrets.

Now, thirty years later, a letter from the bridesmaids arrives informing Ellie that her grandmother, Sophia, wishes to make contact. This might have been heartwarming news but for one small detail: Sophia is dead. Ellie sets out to visit the bridesmaids on what becomes a life-changing journey that includes a seance, a hidden diary, and a murder that took place more than fifty years ago.


Download Description
Fans of Cannell's previous Ellie Haskell mysteries will not be disappointed with this one, which retains the author's sparkling humor and penchant for off-beat characters. Ellie, now a mother of three, sends her family off on holiday so she can finally tend to decorating their castle (the one she inherited, you recall, from her wacky Fester-ish uncle). But before she can pick up a paintbrush, she receives a letter from ""the bridesmaids,"" three ladies who had been friends of her grandmother Sophia's. They claim that Sophia has a message for Ellie--the problem being that Sophia has been dead for half a century. Ellie visits the bridesmaids, and comes to realize that one among the slightly dotty trio may turn out be a murderess. Several of the mystery's plot devices will be familiar to Cannell addicts: old family skeletons come to light, a hilarious gothic-novel-within-a-novel caricatures both ""Jane Eyre"" and ""Rebecca,"" and at least one character turns out to have a long-lost twin. But Cannell also tackles new Spiritualist ground here, undertaking themes of ghostly emanations, seances, and conjurings. (The bridesmaids feel a tad uneasy about invoking Sophia's spirit, and spend one very funny scene wondering if they should enhance their matronly attire with garlic necklaces or crucifixes.) Cannell effectively opens the door to the spirit world, and then gently closes it as the story's supernatural phenomena all turn out to have perfectly natural--albeit unlikely--explanations. She does leave the door just a tad ajar at the novel's close, acknowledging a spiritual intuition that remains unaccounted for. This mystery is rollicking good fun for a dark and stormy night.


About the Author
Dorothy Cannell has won an award for Best Paperback of the Year from the Romance Writers of America and was nominated for an Agatha award.

FROM OUR EDITORS

A seance, a hidden diary and a 50-year-old murder mystery reveal long-hidden secrets about Ellie Haskell's deceased grandmother Sophia and the friends she called the "bridesmaids."

FROM THE PUBLISHER

"Rosemary, Thora, and Jane lived at the end of the lane, one was thin, one was fat, and one was very plain." This is how Ellie Haskell remembers her grandmother's three friends, known collectively as "the bridesmaids." She had once asked her mother where the nickname came from and her mother replied, "It's a long story, best forgotten." Every family has its secrets.

Now, thirty years later, a letter from the bridesmaids arrives informing Ellie that her grandmother, Sophia, wishes to make contact. This might have been heartwarming news but for one small detail: Sophia is dead. Ellie sets out to visit the bridesmaids on what becomes a life-changing journey that includes a seance, a hidden diary, and a murder that took place more than fifty years ago.