Agnes Sharp and the Wedding to Die For

Translated by Amy Bojang
Hardcover
$29.95 US
| $39.95 CAN
On sale May 05, 2026 | 333 Pages | 9781641297110

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Bernadette’s big day is fast approaching, but with the RSVPs comes an anonymous note that puts a sinister spin on the traditional wedding rhyme, casting a pall over the upcoming festivities.

Something old, something red, something stolen, something dead.


Love is blind. At least for Bernadette. But she doesn’t need to see the butterflies flitting around the springtime flowers. She feels them in her stomach whenever her fiancé, Jack, enters the room. Her friend Agnes, on the other hand, isn’t having any of it. “Once a member of Sunset Hall, always a member of Sunset Hall!” That’s how it’s supposed to be. Bernadette’s plan to leave the house share and its residents behind stings. Nevertheless, Agnes and the not-so-sprightly gang of pensioners launch into wedding planning mode after a last-minute spot opens at the high-class Foxglove Manor—in just two weeks.

The minimum number of guests to even get the champagne fountain bubbling is twenty—a tall request for a couple in their eighties—not to mention the high likelihood of conflict among said guests since Bernadette was once a police informant, and Jack has never been on the “right side of the law.” Just when they think they have the guest list squared away—with some help from Charlie’s newfound expertise in online dating—a threatening note appears at the house. Agnes and the others decide to hide it from the betrothed, not wanting to cause them stress. With the help of a private investigator (another person to add to the guest list!), Agnes digs into the case of the poison pen letter, determined to help the wedding go off without a hitch . . . aside from the bodies they’ve already had to hide from the blushing bride.
Praise for the Agnes Sharp mysteries

“Operates in its own skewed universe. Fans of the Thursday Murder Club books will find much to like here.”
The New York Times Book Review

“Swann’s mystery is different, delightful and deep.”
The Washington Post

“[An] offbeat, often funny mystery.”
Afar Magazine

“A deliriously clever plot with warmly drawn characters, dollops of tension and dark secrets. Brilliant!”
—Helene Tursten, bestselling author of An Elderly Lady Is Up to No Good
Leonie Swann grew up near Munich and earned degrees in philosophy, communications, and psychology from Munich University and the Munich School of Philosophy. Her debut novel, Three Bags Full, was published in 2005 and became an instant hit, leading the German bestseller charts for months. It has since been translated into twenty-six languages and won the prestigious Glauser Prize for crime fiction in the debut category, as well as the PETA Award. She has now published six books and lives and works in the English countryside near Cambridge.


Amy Bojang is a translator of German-language literature. She has an MA in Modern and Contemporary German Studies from the University of Nottingham. In 2017, she was selected by the journal New Books in German for their Emerging Translators Programme. She lives in England.

About

Bernadette’s big day is fast approaching, but with the RSVPs comes an anonymous note that puts a sinister spin on the traditional wedding rhyme, casting a pall over the upcoming festivities.

Something old, something red, something stolen, something dead.


Love is blind. At least for Bernadette. But she doesn’t need to see the butterflies flitting around the springtime flowers. She feels them in her stomach whenever her fiancé, Jack, enters the room. Her friend Agnes, on the other hand, isn’t having any of it. “Once a member of Sunset Hall, always a member of Sunset Hall!” That’s how it’s supposed to be. Bernadette’s plan to leave the house share and its residents behind stings. Nevertheless, Agnes and the not-so-sprightly gang of pensioners launch into wedding planning mode after a last-minute spot opens at the high-class Foxglove Manor—in just two weeks.

The minimum number of guests to even get the champagne fountain bubbling is twenty—a tall request for a couple in their eighties—not to mention the high likelihood of conflict among said guests since Bernadette was once a police informant, and Jack has never been on the “right side of the law.” Just when they think they have the guest list squared away—with some help from Charlie’s newfound expertise in online dating—a threatening note appears at the house. Agnes and the others decide to hide it from the betrothed, not wanting to cause them stress. With the help of a private investigator (another person to add to the guest list!), Agnes digs into the case of the poison pen letter, determined to help the wedding go off without a hitch . . . aside from the bodies they’ve already had to hide from the blushing bride.

Reviews

Praise for the Agnes Sharp mysteries

“Operates in its own skewed universe. Fans of the Thursday Murder Club books will find much to like here.”
The New York Times Book Review

“Swann’s mystery is different, delightful and deep.”
The Washington Post

“[An] offbeat, often funny mystery.”
Afar Magazine

“A deliriously clever plot with warmly drawn characters, dollops of tension and dark secrets. Brilliant!”
—Helene Tursten, bestselling author of An Elderly Lady Is Up to No Good

Author

Leonie Swann grew up near Munich and earned degrees in philosophy, communications, and psychology from Munich University and the Munich School of Philosophy. Her debut novel, Three Bags Full, was published in 2005 and became an instant hit, leading the German bestseller charts for months. It has since been translated into twenty-six languages and won the prestigious Glauser Prize for crime fiction in the debut category, as well as the PETA Award. She has now published six books and lives and works in the English countryside near Cambridge.


Amy Bojang is a translator of German-language literature. She has an MA in Modern and Contemporary German Studies from the University of Nottingham. In 2017, she was selected by the journal New Books in German for their Emerging Translators Programme. She lives in England.
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