Freelance writer Janie Austen is back on the scene with a ghostwriting gig to write ads for a chic LA boutique. But when one of the boutique's clerks is found stabbed in the neck with one of her own stilettos, Janie's on the case of death by designer knock-off. Publ. 5/06.

If clothes make the man, then what do Jaine's elastic-waist pants and T-shirts make her? A fashion nightmare, according to her neighbor, Lance. She doesn't expect Lance--who works in the designer shoe department at Nieman Marcus--to understand...which is how she ends up visiting his favorite boutique, Passions. While the couture is definitely not for Jaine, the staff's gossip is. Tiny orange-haired clerk Becky starts complaining about her co-worker Giselle--a.k.a. "Frenchie"--a brittle blonde who, when she's not making fun of customers behind their backs, adds extra-marital notches to her Chanel belt. Though Jaine doesn't land a new look, she does land a new job when Passions' owner gives her a chance to write their new magazine ads. But when Jaine arrives the next morning to pitch her ideas, she finds Frenchie pitched over, stabbed in the neck by one of her own stilettos. Now all Jaine has to do is figure out who hated Frenchie the most, in a case of death by designer knock-off.

Finding herself at her friend Lance's favorite boutique, freelance writer-turned-sleuth Jaine Austen gets a job writing the shop's new magazine ads, but when she arrives for work the next day, she finds one of the staff dead, stabbed in the neck by a stiletto. Reprint.