All Dressed in White is a collaboration between Mary Higgins Clark and Alafair Burke. This is the 3rd book in the Under Suspicion Series but can be read as a standalone.
Laurie Moran is the producer of Under Suspicion, an intriguing television show that investigates cold cases. The latest cold case is about the missing bride Amanda Pierce.
Amanda had a perfect life. A flourishing career, good friends, loving fiance and was set to inherit the family business. She also overcame cancer.
But on the night before her wedding, Amanda vanished into thin air.
Devastated but refusing to lose hope, Amanda’s mother reaches out to Laurie to help find the truth about her disappearance.
Using the Florida resort which was Amanda’s wedding venue and where she was last seen, Laurie and her team set up interviews and search for evidence to solve the puzzle behind what really happened that night.
Think of it as a Keeping Up With The Kardashians but mystery style!
It’s a mess!
Her fiance is now married to her bridesmaid Meghan.
Her father is a workaholic who had unrealistic expectations of his kids.
Her sister is jealous and resentful of her entire family preferring Amanda over her.
Jeff’s groomsmen are playboys who seem more interested in drinks and women than in finding Amanda.
And of course, her friends are clearly hiding something. (because being honest during an investigation is absolutely stupid, right?)
Secrets are revealed on camera. Tears are shed. There’s a lot of yelling and finger pointing!
But it turns out to be more sinister than imagined.
Amanda’s life is not what it seemed.
Which raises more questions- Is Amanda really dead or like many suggest, did she just decide to leave and start a new life?
With rumors and theories flying around, Laurie and her team work hard to find evidence while also dealing with their own biases and assumptions.
The first thing that caught my eye in the book blurb was the reality TV style investigation. I don’t watch reality shows but they are quality meme and GIF material. I can definitely imagine the Kardashians doing something similar in this situation.
The characters are likable but not as dramatic as I thought they would be. Which is a shame, because I could not stop imagining the final telecast of the show. I think I focused more on the concept of an investigative reality show than the actual mystery. My bad.
But those shows do exist and I have watched a couple before. I wonder if there’s a movie about a reality show where the hosts are trying to find the answers. (If you know any, please drop a comment)
The storyline was decent. I did not realize until we started learning more about Laurie that this book is actually part of a series. I checked out Goodreads and yep, there are 2 previous books. But you can read this one without reading the other 2.
I did find the end rushed and a bit underwhelming. I wanted to see more of the outcome of the investigation. Plus I didn’t find Laurie’s character development all that great. Maybe it’s better throughout the series but as an individual book Laurie did not seem very interesting.
All Dressed in White is gripping and rewarding. It’s a clean simple read with an interesting concept and multiple perspectives. It delivers on the promised mystery with the kind of slow burn excitement that follows you to the end.
This is my second book by Mary Higgins Clark for this book review series and my first book by Alafair Burke. I never knew that Clark collaborated on some of her books so when I saw this at the library I just had to read it. I’m looking forward to checking out more books by Alafair Burke.
Read time – it took me half a day without breaks to read it. This book is an airport read, perfectly sized for a long journey.
Rating – 3.5/5
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I would love to get some book recommendations too! Let me know your favourites and I’ll add them to my library.
Thank you for reading!
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