Wedding Wipeout by Jacob M. Appel

Hello Bookworms!,

        A few months ago, I won a book on goodreads.com. The book was Wedding Wipeout by Jacob Appel. This was my first time reading a book by Mr. Appel, though I understand that this was not his first book published. The following is what I thought:

Summary

        Two spinsters have been prevented from marrying by a terrible stipulation in their late father’s will: If one sister marries, she is disinherited and the other sister takes the whole fortune.  Suddenly, Florence decides that this stipulation no longer matters to her and she is married but not before 3 extraordinary things happen. First, she tells her family that she’s broken the will. Second, she fights horribly with the one nephew she truly loves. Third, her sister whom she’s lived with and never fought with refuses to come down stairs for the wedding.

        While all these happenings are strange enough, everything changes when Florence is found dead in her bed. Soon, one of Florence’s lawyers will turn to a Rabbi who enjoys proving that every problem has a rational explanation. That Rabbi is Rabbi Kappelmacher.

Review

        I always like a good mystery. When I looked at Wedding Wipeout on Goodreads it seemed like it might be really good.

        The mystery of Florence Einstein’s death was good. The explanation took thought. Unfortunately, there were too many red herrings. It took almost ten pages near the end just to address them and the Rabbi and other members talked in circles so much that it became a headache to keep all the information straight.

        A major issue I had with Wedding Wipeout was Rabbi Kappelmacher’s character. He rarely explained things to his assistant, yet when his assistant asked questions, Rabbi Kappelmacher berated Assistant Rabbi Steinmetz. It was upsetting to read and felt totally uncalled for. Also, Rabbi Kappelmacher is supposed to be a man of faith yet he lies constantly, is very self-centered, is rude, and smokes like a freight train. All of this plus the fact that several elements of the storyline were extremely unrealistic really ruined the story for me.

        Personally, I was just pretty glad when this book was over and I don’t think I’ll be reading any more Rabbi Kappelmacher Mysteries. However, I saw many people who gave the book 5 stars so if you like mysteries, It might be worth a try (Though for me, I’d rather have G.K. Chesterton’s Father Brown. ;) ).

View Wedding Wipeout on Amazon

Until next time,

                Lizzie <3