Mother of the Bride and Mystery Writer by E. B. Davis

  

I’m helping my daughter enact her wedding plans because she is getting married on the beach on Hatteras Island, where I live, in June, followed by a reception at a wine bar/deli located a few miles away. It’s a casual wedding and the guest list is under forty people. The bride and groom are in their mid-thirties, so we pretty much let them dictate their wishes except that we insisted on paying (since we’d like them to save their money for a house down payment) and that guests be given a choice of entrée since not everyone loves fish, which, of course, is the best on Hatteras Island. As a mom, I think I’ve fulfilled my duties. But as a mystery writer, I haven’t yet begun. The groom’s sister-in-law has shown herself to be a diva and her daughter, a diva in the making. Should one be the victim?

 

But then I realized that there might be better victims, and I wanted to play the villain when I realized that

Rocky trying on his tux!

the NC Methodist Church took a week in June to have its conference and ordination ceremonies, and yes, it was the very weekend of my daughter’s wedding, and our young pastor was to be ordained that day, the last day of the conference in Raleigh, five hours away from Hatteras. I try not to ask hard questions, like what were they thinking? June being the most popular month for weddings—none of the pastors in the church are available due to internal business—statewide? Why not a miserable week in January? Luckily, I found our last minister, who retired nearby, to conduct the ceremony, but I’d still like to take my rolling pin to a few heads.    

 

My next victim was the National Park Service that requires a permit for beach weddings as all of the beach here is owned by the Federal government. I finally got one for the special event, as they term it, but hoops were jumped through in obtaining one. (And yes, money, too.) Dare County also requires couples to obtain a wedding license within a month of the ceremony. The only way to get one is to apply in person, Monday-Friday 8:30 am to 4:30 pm, regardless that many couples from out of state get married here (a big revenue source) who work during those same days/hours. I’m not sure what they will do. I guess they have to take off work (cutting into their honeymoon time) drive four hours to get to our county seat and drive four hours home. Yes, the bureaucracies can’t have hours or extended time making it a bit more user friendly. I’ll let them be the perps on that one.

 

I ask myself when should the body appear? During the ceremony washing up on the beach or discovered by a guest behind the dunes? Maybe Rocky, my daughter’s dog, will find the body or his cousin, Biscuit, the white Standard Poodle. Will the body appear on the deli’s wide front porch sitting on the wicker couch? Or will someone be poisoned during the reception? The MC, me, will have to investigate to clear the caterer of wrong doing. Or maybe I’ll make my daughter the MC with her new spouse and their trusty dog to help investigate.

 

It’s no wonder so many cozies are set during weddings. What is your favorite wedding mystery?