This New Yorker’s wedding will be the most talked about of the year --- only maybe not for the reasons she wanted.

Adrianna Kensington is getting married in three days. Anybody who’s anybody will be there. In reality, the guest list includes sponsors and people who will benefit the Kensington nightclub empire. Adrianna, as always, is a commodity. Her wedding will buoy her father’s brand. Everything is going according to schedule: the flowers, the dresses, the cake. Then the unthinkable happens. On a day meant for dress fittings, Simone Walters, one of the bridesmaids, is found dead. It’s a gruesome scene: blood everywhere, the body hanging grotesquely in one of the gowns. The only suspects are the remaining four bridesmaids. And the bride herself.

"Cate Quinn...has done it again. She has given us a story that sends shivers up our spines with creepy settings and brings us perilously close to the edge of the cliff."

Quietly, Mark Li, the groom, enlists the aid of forensic attorney Holly Stone to study the scene. The Kensingtons don’t call the police. They want answers without cops. In the chaos that follows, Holly gets swept up in the entourage and finds herself on a plane with Adrianna and her bridesmaids heading to Elysium, the Kensingtons’ private island and the wedding venue. At least Holly had the foresight and good fortune to bring along Detective Fitzwilliam of the NYPD, who poses as her assistant. Mark has promised to cover for them as long as he can, but their time will be limited. They need to figure out who killed Simone. And do it fast.

Elysium was the scene of Adrianna’s abduction three years before. During her 21st birthday party, someone spirited her away and locked her in the family’s panic room, where she was held hostage for three days. The ordeal was highly publicized, and now with Simone’s death, it is feared that the abductor has returned to stop the wedding from going forward. If Simone’s killer is one of the bridesmaids, it must mean that the bridesmaid also kidnapped Adrianna. But how could she not know who that is?

Adrianna and her bridesmaids all attended the Kensington Manor School in their youth. It was a boarding school meant to groom young women to become society ladies. But it had some rules and traditions that, looking back, seem questionable at best. Each woman has her own horror story and a strange loyalty to the school. Their memories may coincide, but their perspectives vary widely. Some called their treatment abuse, while others labeled it character building. What really happened back then? And does it have anything to do with what’s happening now?

Holly does a fantastic job of sniffing out clues and deciphering what they mean. Her logic is spot-on, and her interpretations are sound. Coupled with Fitzwilliam, there is no doubt that they will crack the case. They make a great team, so let’s hope we see more of them in the future.

THE BRIDESMAID is an unexpected delight in the thriller genre. Cate Quinn, the author of BLACK WIDOWS and THE CLINIC, has done it again. She has given us a story that sends shivers up our spines with creepy settings and brings us perilously close to the edge of the cliff.