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SCOTZILLA by Catriona McPherson

SCOTZILLA

by Catriona McPherson

Pub Date: Dec. 3rd, 2024
ISBN: 9781448312849
Publisher: Severn House

A transplanted Scot’s approaching nuptials transform her into bridezilla.

Marriage therapist Lexy Campbell lives on a houseboat behind the Last Ditch Motel in northern California, home to most of her favorite people. Her business has been called Trinity for Life ever since her friend Todd joined in, bringing his expertise in beauty makeovers. The third member of the team is Kathi, part owner of the Last Ditch, a germaphobe who helps people declutter. To add to their portfolio of services, Kathi is also a licensed private detective who runs Trinity Investigations, which, despite the friends’ wild eccentricities, has had some notable success in crime solving. A volunteer group called the Sexton Beetles that maintains the local graveyard hires them to see who’s been causing disturbances there that could be said to resemble performance art: Someone decorated one grave with rainbow flags, streamers, and flowers; left dead snakes on another; and spelled out inappropriate words with pebbles. The police aren’t interested in these hijinks, leaving Lexy and her crew to figure out what all the grave desecrations mean. Meanwhile, Lexy’s been ambivalent about making wedding plans before she and her fiance, Taylor, have a serious talk about money. But that doesn’t prevent her from looking at venues. While she’s entertaining possible locations, she finds Sister Sunshine, a wedding planner who just happens to have a cancellation. Lexy’s friends suffer from her transformation into a bridezilla trying to concoct the perfect wedding alongside her parents, who’ve come over from Scotland to help. When Sister Sunshine is found on the wedding day strangled with a defective string of decorative lights, Lexy has to revert from bridezilla to detective and solve the crimes with help from her zany cohort.

The cemetery caper and the murder play second fiddle to the escapades of Lexy and her lovable but bizarre friends.