Vows, Vendettas and a Little Black Dress »

Overjoyed at Maryanne's engagement, amateur sleuth Sophie Katz can't wait for the wedding vows and party toasts to begin. But then Dena—best friend, bridesmaid and all-around vixen—is mysteriously shot just after the announcement. Leave this to the authorities? No way. Dena may never walk again, and Sophie vows to marry her fists with the shooter's face.

Problem is, the number of suspects is off the charts—from jaded lovers to anti-free-lovers to just plain old haters. Dena's made plenty of enemies thanks to her popular sex shop—and, yes, she's no saint—but really, who deserves to be shot?

With an überlogical almost boyfriend condemning her vigilante quest, and a wedding planner going vicariously bridezilla over the dream princess wedding, Sophie's barely thinking straight. But if she can keep her cool (and avoid all errant taffeta), she just might nab her man and save the (wedding) day.

Big if.

Publishers Weekly

In Davis's fluffy fifth Sophie Katz mystery (after 2009's Lust, Loathing and a Little Dark Chocolate), the part Jewish/part black mystery author and sleuth sets out to avenge the murder of her best friend, Dena Lopiano, the proprietor of an upscale San Francisco sex shop. When a bullet hits Dena in the back at the apartment of Dena's ditzy cosmetician cousin, Mary Ann, Sophie wonders whether Mary Ann, who's intent on a Disney-themed wedding with successful toymaker Monty Sanchez, was the real target, or even Sophie herself. Suspects include Mary Ann's ex-boyfriend, Rick Wilkes; Rick's weird taxidermist girlfriend, Fawn; and Chrissy Powell, the founder of MAAP (Moral Americans Against Pornography), whose husband once dated Dena. Wacky quotes from Fatally Yours, one of Sophie's books, and an exciting cliffhanger ending compensate in part for a surfeit of breathless dialogue and a too obvious killer. (June)