Mayhem at a Halloween Wedding, the second book in the Halloween Bookshop Mystery series, is the latest release from Emmeline Duncan. Released on July 29, 2025, it takes readers to a small town in Oregon that celebrates Halloween year-round. Bailey Briggs runs the family bookshop and loves Halloween. This year, Bailey’s college friend is in town to get married with a handful of other college friends as part of the bridal party. On the night of the town’s Halloween parade, there’s an explosion, and among the chaos, someone is murdered. Who would do such a thing? And are the two events related?
I want to thank Kensington Cozies and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of Mayhem at a Halloween Wedding. All opinions presented here are my own.
Synopsis from Goodreads
There’s more to celebrate this Halloween when Bailey’s college friend Raven prepares to walk down the aisle in spooky seasonal style. As a bridesmaid, Bailey is overwhelmed helping with wedding preparations while the annual holiday festival scares up business for her bookstore. She also finds herself playing peacekeeper between fellow bridesmaids Colby and Ivy, whose arguments add even more conflict to the already simmering tensions within the wedding party between the groom’s traditional family and the bride’s bohemian parents.
Trying to ease stress and enjoy the spirit of the season, Bailey arranges the bachelorette party on the night of the Halloween parade. Everyone agrees to join in the festivities and dress up in costume. But running into several people dressed as the Grim Reaper turns out to be a bad omen. An explosion rocks the route, causing panic. When the smoke clears, Ivy is found dead, believed to be murdered—and Colby is questioned by police after several witnesses report the very public clashes between the two bridesmaids. Narrowing down the list of suspects to prove Colby’s innocence means Bailey will have to find a motive that drove a killer—and keep her friend’s wedding bells from becoming funeral knells . . .
Positives
- A quick and easy read.
- Under 300 pages.
- Halloween!
Negatives
- Family drama = bigger mystery?
My Opinions
Mayhem at a Halloween Wedding is the perfect addition to the Halloween Bookshop mysteries. It’s a fantastic blend of cozy mystery and Halloween!
Elyan Hollow is a town that was used as the filming location for an iconic Halloween movie. The movie has such a huge fan base that people come from all over to see the filming sites. What’s a town to do when that happens? They lean into it and celebrate what has made them famous. Several businesses in town have Halloween-themed names, and a month-long Halloween festival is held.
Elyan Hollow is a small town where everyone seems to know everyone else. Bailey lives in the house her mom grew up in and runs the bookshop that her grandfather first opened. Several of her friends are either people she attended school with or individuals who watched her grow up. It’s that kind of small town!
The new additions to the cast are welcome. As is the developing relationship between Bailey and Rex. Some of the family drama from the first book has carried over to this book. And it leaves me wondering if there’s a larger, overarching mystery at play.
If you are a fan of movies like Hocus Pocus and Halloweentown, you probably would love to visit the towns where they were filmed—a town much like Elyan Hollow. While waiting to take that trip, why not give Mayhem at a Halloween Wedding a read?
Are you looking for some more books to read? Check out my bookish lists, book reviews, and monthly reading wrap-ups.
Discover more from Read! Bake! Create!
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
This sounds fun! I was thinking of picking up the first in the series this fall, so maybe I’ll have to see if I can get to them both!