To Love, Honor, and Perish 

Squeaky Clean Mysteries

Paperback, ebook 

November 14, 2013

by Christy Barritt 

• Paperback: 262 pages
• Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform 
• ISBN-13: 978-1493770564

How could God let this happen? 

Just when crime scene cleaner Gabby St. Claire’s life is on the right track, the unthinkable happens. Gabby’s fiancé, Riley Thomas, is shot and remains in life-threatening condition only a week before their wedding. 

Gabby is determined to figure out who pulled the trigger, even if investigating puts her own life at risk. But as she digs deeper into the facts surrounding the case, she discovers secrets better left alone. Doubts arise in her mind and the one man with answers is on death’s doorstep. 

An old foe from the past returns and tests everything Gabby is made of—physically, mentally, and spiritually. Will her soul survive the challenges ahead? Or will everything she’s worked for be destroyed?

My thoughts: TO LOVE, HONOR, AND PERISH is a continuation of Ms. Barritt's The Scum of All Fears. Most of Ms. Barritt's books are stand-alone, as I've read them totally out of order and wasn't lost, but this one isn't. You have to read The Scum of All Fears to even have a clue what she's talking about. 

TO LOVE, HONOR, AND PERISH is just as much a horror as The Scum of All Fears, but this one involves Riley being shot and in the hospital, his survival iffy. The story is flat, the characters (Gabby) not as developed as she has been, and it kind of felt to me as if the author was "beating a dead horse."  I didn't enjoy this book as much as I have Ms. Barritt's others,  If you like cozy mysteries, there is a mystery involved, but it also seemed as if she was "giving it all away" though there are some red herrings thrown in, in case you miss the obvious.  3 stars.