It's Actually Happening: The Killer Wedding Is Nearly Here

I have been sitting on this book for what feels like forever, and I can finally say it out loud: The Killer Wedding is launching on March the 31st and you can preorder now.

I'm terrified. I'm thrilled. I'm the literary equivalent of a bride who's planned the wedding for months and is now standing in the vestry thinking what have I done — which, funnily enough, is not a million miles from how one of my characters feels. Although her reasons are slightly more dramatic than mine. She has an ex-intelligence handler trying to murder the groom. I just have imposter syndrome and a spreadsheet full of launch tasks.

So What Is It?

The Killer Wedding is a comic thriller. A romantic mystery. A love letter to the English country house novel, except someone's brought a knife to the wedding and someone else has filled the hot tub with lobsters.

Here's the short version: James Ashworth-Pemberton is wealthy, trusting and fundamentally decent. He falls madly in love with Anastasia, a brilliant Ukrainian tech entrepreneur, and proposes within months. His best friend Henry; a dry, sharp Whitehall insider who narrates the whole thing, starts watching. Because beautiful women at yacht parties are rarely there by accident.

He was right to watch. But he was wrong about what he was watching for.

What follows is the most catastrophic, hilarious, and I hope, genuinely thrilling wedding day you've ever read. There are exploding drones. There's a grandmother who asks the wedding planner about security perimeters. There's a bride who came to her own wedding with a knife strapped to her garter. And there's ketchup. The ketchup is important. Trust me.

Why This Book?

I wanted to write the book I wanted to read: something that made me laugh out loud on a train while also making me desperate to turn the page. Something with genuine stakes and genuine warmth. I wanted characters you'd want to have dinner with — or in Freddie's case, characters you'd want to have dinner near, at a safe distance, with a fire extinguisher handy.

The tone I was aiming for? PG Wodehouse meets le Carré. The comic timing of Four Weddings with a proper thriller plot underneath. If you love Richard Osman, Anthony Horowitz, or Knives Out, I wrote this for you.

The Cast

One of the things I'm most proud of is the cast. They started as characters and became people I genuinely care about. Henry, the narrator, with his bone-dry observations and fierce loyalty. James, who is so good it's almost stupid; the man once gave his coat to a stranger and caught a chill for three weeks rather than mention it. Anastasia, who is simultaneously the most beautiful woman at the wedding and the most dangerous person in the building.

And the supporting cast: Granny, who is basically M from James Bond after two glasses of champagne. Freddie, who solves every problem by making it considerably worse. Marcus and Tariq, the sheep farmer and the immaculate urbanite, who dance together at the reception like they found their rhythm long before the music started. Elizabeth, the mother-in-law, who has opinions about candelabras. Plural opinions. About a single candelabra.

I love them all. Even Viktor, and he's trying to murder someone.

The Cover

Can we talk about the cover for a moment? Because I am obsessed with it. The red background. The bride glancing over her shoulder with a knife in her hand. The blue lobster. The tagline: A Very British Rom Com. It tells you exactly what kind of book this is, and I cannot stop looking at it.

What Happens Now

The book launches on March the 31st. Between now and then, I'll be sharing character teasers, quote cards, behind-the-scenes snippets, and probably far too many photos of that cover. If you want to follow along, I'm on Instagram and Twitter/X etc at @SophieTukeBooks.

And if you'd like to be among the first to read it, sign up for my newsletter, I'll be sending out advance reader copies soon and I'd love honest reviews from people who enjoy laughing while reading.

This is Book 1. There will be more. The same cast, the same voice, the same blend of comedy and chaos and the occasional assassination attempt. I already know what happens in Book 2. It involves a baby. James is not remotely prepared.

But that's for later. Right now, it's all about the wedding. And I cannot wait for you to be there.

The Killer Wedding launches 31st March 2026. Available on Kindle and paperback.

Sophie x