A high-society wedding in the New Jersey seaside resort town of Cape Crest ends in disaster in Kieran Scott's People Will Talk. As Kate Brian, Scott (Regrets Only) is a writer of bestselling teen fiction, including the Private series; here, she creates a juicy mystery featuring beautiful people, private jets, a brawny butler, and a perfect beachside backdrop for the Instagram influencers invited to the festivities.
Centered around the suspicious death of an unpopular socialite on the night of her extravagant nuptials, Scott's narrative alternates among the three women who are suspects in the murder investigation. The deceased is Tilly Dansforth, an heiress and mean girl who snatched heartthrob and fellow elite Peter Frank from right under the nose of his girlfriend, Maya Romero, a Wimbledon champion. Scott reveals Maya's backstory, including her rise to tennis fame and her romance with Peter, alongside that of wedding planner Catherine Farr and local bakery owner Leanne Gladstone. Each has a motive for murdering Tilly, but there is no shortage of people who detested the victim, including Peter's controlling mother, Camilla.
Tilly's death was caused by "the most decadent chandelier money could buy"--a monstrously elaborate 300-pound wedding prop insisted on by the bride--that fell and crushed her. As the police investigation gathers steam and Peter's cheating heart pines for Maya, shocking betrayals come to light that will alter the lives of all three women forever.
This engrossing mystery proves that all the money in the world can't shield a bride from her worst excesses. --Shahina Piyarali