Format: Hardcover, 352 pages
Release Date: June 4, 2024
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Source: Publisher
Genre: Thrillers / Suspense
Ellery Wainwright is alone at the edge of the world.
She and
her husband, Luke, were supposed to spend their twentieth wedding
anniversary together at the luxurious Resort at Broken Point in Big Sur,
California. Where better to celebrate a marriage, a family, and a life
together than at one of the most stunning places on earth?
But now she’s traveling solo.
To add insult to injury, there’s a wedding at Broken Point scheduled
during her stay. Ellery remembers how it felt to be on the cusp of
everything new and wonderful, with a loved and certain future glimmering
just ahead. Now, she isn’t certain of anything except for her love for
her kids and her growing realization that this place, though beautiful,
is unsettling.
When Ellery discovers the body of the groom
floating in the pool in the rain, she realizes that she is not the only
one whose future is no longer guaranteed. Before the police can reach
Broken Point, a mudslide takes out the road to the resort, leaving the
guests trapped. When another guest dies, it’s clear something horrible
is brewing.
Everyone at Broken Point has a secret. And everyone has a shadow. Including Ellery.
Ally Condie's The Unwedding is a mix of Agatha Christie and The White Lotus. It is also the authors adult debut. 42-year-old Ellery Wainwright is a recently divorced teacher who is taking a planned vacation to celebrate 20 years of marriage without her bastard of a husband who left her to reinvent himself with someone not her. After arriving at Broken Point, Ellery finds the one thing she really wouldn’t have wanted at all, a wedding taking place while she mourns her own marriage.
Trying to make the best of it all though Ellery continues her solo trip doing her best to avoid the wedding until the night Ellery discovers the body of the groom floating in the pool and finds a mudslide has cut off any chance of help arriving to find the murderer. Determined to discover the truth behind the groom's death, she and some new acquaintances (Ravi and Nina) begin an unsanctioned investigation. Before the police can reach Broken Point, a mudslide takes out the road to the resort, leaving the guests trapped.
When another guest attached the the wedding dies, it’s clear something horrible is brewing. Everyone at Broken Point has a secret. And everyone has a shadow. Including Ellery. Ellery soon teams up with Ravi and Nina, wedding party crashers, to find out who might be up to no good. Her anxiety is made even worse by the fact that this isn't her first dealing with someone dying. As she tries to make everything right by helping calm down the bride and do some sleuthing she could find herself even closer to danger.
As the mystery grows more layered and the situation, more dire, Ellery wonders if she will make it back home to her children. To make things more interesting, there is a collection of priceless works at the resort. Priceless works that someone seems to want as their own. Could the theft of the priceless works and the death of two members of the wedding party be connected? And, what happened several years ago that has Ellery's anxiety ratcheting up past ten? So, along with the constant rain, the flood roads, a bridge that is no longer accessible, Ellery finds herself wondering when the next shoe is going to drop.
*Condie is apparently pivoting from YA dystopian romance to mystery/thriller, a la Ruth Ware and Lucy Foley. She is moving in a new direction for her brand, one that taps into a commercial sweet spot that will resonate with and diversify her readership. My only negative was that I had wished that the author had spent just a few pages more with Ellery's backstory which is a bit on the heartbreaking side. I can't imagine anyone going through what she did and surviving.
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