But if you're like me and haven't read any of the previous books, you might not want to start with this one.  I felt as if I'd dropped into the middle of this book and was never entirely able to figure out who's who or what's what.  Although I was at a bit of a loss with the relationship between all the characters, the mystery here was crystal clear and rather clever. 

Anneke Haagen develops computer games, as well as other computer-related work at her company Haagen/Scheede Computer Solutions.  She belongs to a private on-line mailing list called GameSpinners, a list for computer game designers.  Vince Mattus, a caustic and not particularly well-liked member of the list, is murdered by a letter bomb.  When the police search his home, they discover a document listing the names of the members of GameSpinners entitled "The Blackmail Game."

Anneke believes Vince was merely developing a new computer game, but the FBI agents investigating the case have already jumped to the conclusion that Vince was blackmailing the members of the list and one of those members chose to end the blackmail...permanently.

That makes Anneke a suspect, as well as Karl, by association.  With their wedding fast approaching, it was up to Anneke and Karl to "help" the FBI along with their investigation if they wanted to be able to leave town for their honeymoon.

None of the suspects, or even the victim, have ever met.  Their interactions have all been over the Internet and it's through the mailing list that Karl and Anneke conduct their investigation.

Readers who love computers, computer games and mailing lists will probably enjoy The Wedding Game. Since the whole of my computer knowledge would fill a thimble, there were several portions of the book that were a bit slow-going for me.

Although the author attempted to give distinct personalities to each member of the list, I did have problems keeping each member straight.  When you have no physical descriptions to differentiate characters, and most of the dialogue was computer-related, I think you need to really be into computers to get the most out of the plot. 

Anneke and Karl are both likable characters, but again, I think I would have derived a bit more pleasure from the book had I read the previous installments.  For instance: I wasn't sure why Anneke was so hesitant about the wedding.  Karl seemed terrific and incredibly understanding.  The "maid of honor" is a man called Michael Rappoport.  I never figured out what his relationship to the couple was, although he planned their entire wedding.

I'm certain these questions were answered in previous books, but I spent far too much time wondering about them here instead of enjoying the story. Author Susan Holtzer has a crisp, concise style that made it easy for this computer ignorant reader to attempt to follow the action, although the discovery of the murderer seemed a bit rushed.

Fans of the series will certainly want to read The Wedding Game, but if you're a newbie, this is definitely one series book that does not stand well alone.

--Karen Lynch