Pretty Guilty Women by Gina LaManna is an excellent mystery written as a series of police interviews interspersed with tale of current events.

Quite an unusual layout for me, as I have never read a story told in that form. I have to admit that I found it very interesting.

Three inseparable friends find themselves together after many years apart for a fourth friend's wedding at a luxury spa and resort. Along with them there is another woman who joins celebration as a part of a family through her husband.There is also a fifth woman who comes to the wedding with her infant daughter.

All of them have secrets and problems that they carry with them.
One can't conceive a child, another fears that her husband is about to leave her for another woman, the third is disillusioned with her life as a working mother and wife, fourth carries deep grief after a devastating loss and the fifth is running from something.

Almost as soon as they get together they recognize some deep connection between themselves, they talk, they drink, they try to help each other. Their lives are forever joined after the tragedy that shatters everything.

As we read the reports we find out that there has been a murder, but we don't find out who it is almost till the end of the book. Police detective is trying to find out the truth but his job is made extremely difficult as each of the women is admitting that she is the one who murdered the victim.

Cleverly though out mystery, superbly told. Absolutely gripping. I wasn't able to put it down.

Definite must read!

If you're a fan of Big Little Lies or even Sex in the City, this book is definitely for you.
A fast-paced read, with many characters that i found hard at times to keep up, each main character has a life description and along comes their family, children or not, and the story with each other.
A great summer read for sure but in the end, there were things that for me felt unreliable or unbelievable.
I'll still recommend this book because i really enjoyed it.

This was such a great mystery thriller. I loved the way the author developed the plot and characters throughout the entire story.

There have already been quite a few comparisons between Pretty Guilty Women and Big Little Lies and there are indeed many parallels. This story takes place over a wedding weekend in a resort spa. One of four old friends is getting married and none are really that close anymore. There's also an older woman whose husband is related to the wedding party. These four women (excluding the bride) are involved in a crime, and the book goes from one character to another telling bits of their back story and then telling bits of what happened over the weekend to culminate in the crime. Each chapter opens or closes with short police interrogation. Each woman has her secret or personal drama so each of those also unravels throughout the story. So the structure and the plot are quite similar and some of the subplots are, too.

But I still enjoyed reading it. It was a fast-paced read that kept me up late at night waiting to find out what happened and who died and how each character's back story unfolds. If you enjoyed Big Little Lies, and are looking for something similar, you will enjoy this.

Thank you to netgalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for an early copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was a quick mystery/thriller that reminded me of Big Little Lies. I enjoyed getting to know all of the main characters and their flaws. It is easy to look at others from the outside and think everything is perfect, but you don't truly know what is going on inside of them. I wish some of the internal struggles and dialogue had been spoken about out loud more but then I guess this would be a completely different book. If anything, I hope it makes readers see that everyone has their own struggles and we should support one another. But back to the book. I enjoyed the twists and turns and found myself not wanting to put it down. Each chapter ended with a small cliffhanger making me want to read more. Perfect for a quick summer read.

BRILLIANT.! Someone has been murdered in the lead up to the biggest wedding of the year, and four women all say they did it! Fantastic read, I never knew qho was killed right till the end, with loads of twists. Thorougly enjoyed.

I loved how this book intrigued me from the premise and ultimately delivered! It had the right amount of suspense to keep me glued to the chair that I read it in one sitting!

Pretty Guilty Women by Gina LaManna
Everyone who is anyone has come together to celebrate the union of Arthur Banks and Whitney DeBlu in a week long affair at an exclusive resort/spa. The only problem, on the night of the rehearsal dinner a man is found dead. Now four very different women are confessing to his murder, each telling a different version of how it happened. The question remains who really committed the crime and why?

I really enjoyed this fast paced, action packed story. There was drama at every turn as each woman dealt with their current life, and revisited secrets from her past. Pretty Guilty Women is told from multiple viewpoints, which I loved! It makes for a very speedy read. I also enjoyed how the story was action packed right from the get-go. No a slow start here, it just jumps right in.
I also couldn’t tell where the story was going even at the end. I had no idea who the actual killer was and why until I was told. There was also some side drama happening with each of the individual characters that I couldn’t predict conclusions for either. Even at the end there were questions that needed answering. I wasn’t fully satisfied until the epilogue was over.
The fact that I couldn’t figure anything out made for a great read! Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for this advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!

I really enjoyed this book. It is about four friends who were roommates in college. One is getting married and the other three are going to her wedding at a beautiful resort. I liked all of the characters who were very well drawn. The author did a great job making everything flow so smoothly and the ending was really a surprise. I was pleasantly surprised with that because so many times I have figured out the ending way before the end. This is a all around good read for so many reasons and it will book you from the first page. I highly recommend it for anyone who enjoys this genre.

Thank you Net Galley for this ARC for my honest review.

This book catches you right from the beginning. There are four main characters and you find out right away that they have all confessed to murder. Who was murdered? You do not know. I enjoyed the alternating stories of the four women and the dialog in each chapter with the police. The characters and the discovery of what happened is the heart of the book. Usually the ending of a suspense novel gives the story a big burst at the end but the climatic ending was not what I was hoping for and fell just a little flat for me.

This one felt very reminiscent of BIG LITTLE LIES, but set at a wedding. Told from the point of view of 3 estranged college friends as they meet up at a glamorous resort/spa for a friend's wedding. The book takes place over 36 hours and has a good amount of soap and mystery as each of the women is hiding secrets that will be exposed over the course of the weekend. Does it reinvent the wheel? no. It's VERY VERY similar to BIG LITTLE LIES, down to the police interviews interspersed throughout the book, and the ladies' secrets (abusive spouse, child rearing problems). It was entertaining, but did have a sense of "been there, done that". Enjoyable if you're looking for something similar to BLL.

100% mystery until the very end. The reader will be left with intrigue and questions that will go unanswered, so be prepared! I enjoyed how the author unraveled the plot with the detective asking questions along the way. It built the excitement throughout the book!

There are no words to describe the Banks wedding. A full week of events at a fantastic resort and spa. No expense has been sparred and the event will bring four college friends that have lost touch back together whether they like it or not. But now a man is dead during the rehearsal dinner and three of the friends, plus Lulu have all confessed to having killed him. Who is the dead man? Why are there four women confessing? What actually happened?

This book was a super quick and fun read. You know someone is dead and the detective interviews are interspersed with all the ladies individual life stories. I loved each woman’s story and finding out how everything played into the overall story. I did not see the ending coming which is always a great book in my mind!

This will be a wonderful book to start your labor day weekend with because you will need all that devotion. Once you start, you can't stop. I loved this especially because it goes to show that there is a side to every story for every person involved, and likely none of them are the same. This one will keep you guessing all the way through.

I’m in a mood today. I had vacation last week so you can just imagine the mood I was at work THIS week dealing with fun customers demanding their donuts and frosted cakes 🙂

What I wouldn’t give for a massage…I thought as a child licked the dirty glass containing butter cookies.
Oh god, I would kill for some drinks on the beach, I salivated as a woman screamed at me over the phone furious that we would not open the shop on Sunday for her and only her.

When I realized that the setting of this book was at a spa resort I was so content and envious!! How divine. And the fact that we’re throwing murder and drinks and some fun characters into the mix?! Buddy, I’m all in.

Okay, from the start that book grabbed me. I loved the interview talking head bits. They were dramatic and funny as hell. The scenery was relaxing and if I ever get married (again) I don’t think I’d have a week long spa retreat but that definitely sounds nice. Hell, my 30th is fast approaching so I just might do it up for THAT.

We have a main gang of four women. Four women who confess to a murder. This story centers around a wedding but funnily enough although you hear a lot about the bride, we don’t meet her. Nope. She’s not even the main character which I really love. I have to say I really did love all four of the women. Lulu, Ginger, Kate, and Emily. They equally were great and equally got on my nerves but that’s okay. That’s also human. Out of all of them I have to say that Kate and Ginger are my favorites. Ginger is the mom of the group with 3 kids and Kate is the kick ass lawyer who is dealing with a shit man.

To be fair, I think the book made a good point and spread a great message. And that is that men are shit. How can we argue with this? Thanks for coming to my Ted talk.

I really enjoyed this book. It was a fun summer thriller that made me excited to find out what the hell was going on. I did feel as though there were a few loose ends? But maybe that was just me missing a few things? I also wanted to see more *cough* revenge for one character in particular. But she wound up very happy in the end so maybe I am just feeling very bloodthirsty this week as well.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of this title. All opinions are my own.

The premise really intrigued me and while reading the plot only got more intertwined, the only thing is that I felt like the ending could have been a bit more dramatic having in mind the build-up.
I especially enjoyed the narrative structure: at the beginning of chapters there is an excerpt of detective questioning witnesses about a murder that happened and then the story itself starts a few days previous and leads up to what actually happened, how and why.
To sum up, there were a couple weaker plot points but overall the book is solid, a perfect mystery for summer, nothing gruesome or too heavy, I could recommend it to someone who loved Big Little Lies, it has a similar vibe.

This mystery may work for some readers, as it is light and doesn’t skip on the drama. However, I was hoping for more depth and it just didn’t fill me up. I wanted more from the dialogue.

Loved this book. Definitely would recommend for fans of Liane Moriarty - there's similar pacing and character development within a larger unfolding mystery. Loved the quirky characters and the layout of the storyline.

The description of this book really intrigued me, and I did think it was an enjoyable book. It kind of reminded me of "Pretty Little Liars" (the show more than the books, and not just because of the title) and their foursome. I read this over a particularly beautiful weekend sitting outside enjoying the weather, and it was the perfect book for that type of day. Intriguing, mysterious, yet light and enjoyable, I would recommend this book. Thanks to Net Galley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Pretty Guilty Women is a story about love, loss, and friendships that can stand the test of time. Or can they? It shows the lengths they’ll go to protect the ones they love. I found myself totally attached to these four flawed women. So much that I couldn’t put this book down. I highly recommend this read!

*ARC provided by NetGalley for an honest review.