Synopses & Reviews
Home of the helmet hairdo and congressional comb-over, Washington, D.C., is a hotbed of fashion faux pas. If anyone should know, it’s “Crimes of Fashion” columnist Lacey Smithsonian. She dishes out advice to the scandal-scorched and clothing-clueless, doing her part to change this town—one fashion victim at a time.... SHAWL TALE
Washington, D.C., fashion reporter Lacey Smithsonian has always believed clothes can be magical, but she’s never thought they can be cursed. Until now. Lacey’s best friend, Stella, is finally getting married, and at her bachelorette party, fellow bridesmaid—and fortune-teller—Marie Largesse arrives with a stunning Russian shawl. A shawl, Marie warns, that can either bless or curse the wearer. When a party crasher who mocks the shawl is found dead the next day, the other guests fear the curse has been unleashed. But Lacey has her doubts, and she must employ all her Extra-Fashionary Perception to capture a villain who has vowed that nobody at this wedding will live happily ever after….
Review
Lacey is intelligent, insightful and spunky...Thoroughly likable." The Sun (Bremerton, WA)
Review
Praise for the Crime of Fashion Mysteries:
"First-rate." --Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)
"Great fun." --Suspense Magazine
"Lacey Smithsonian skewers Washington with style." --national bestselling author Elaine Viets
Synopsis
Lacey can't wait to see France for the first time with friend Magda Rousseau, corset creator for D.C.'s wealthiest and kinkiest. Lacey's job there is to report on haute couture, but the real reason for the trip is the supposed Rousseau lost treasure: a corset lined with jewels. But just before the big trip, someone poisons Magda. Could it have something to do with the priceless corset? To find out, Lacey must follow a dangerous thread that will lead her to the answers--and perhaps the missing jewels.
Synopsis
Lacey is busting with excitement for her first trip to France. She’ll be with her friend Magda Rousseau, corset creator for D.C.’s wealthiest (and kinkiest) citizens. And—best of all—the trip’s on her newspaper’s dime, since she’ll supposedly be there to report on haute couture. The real reason for the trip, though, is the Rousseau family mystère: the whereabouts of a lost corset lined with jewels supposedly stolen from Russia after the assassination of Czar Nicholas’s family. But just before the big adventure, someone poisons Magda. Could it have something to do with the priceless corset? To find out, Lacey must follow a thread from Normandy to New Orleans....
About the Author
Ellen Byerrum writes the popular Crime of Fashion Mysteries, set in bustling Washington, D.C., “The City That Fashion Forgot.” While researching fashion for her sleuth, Lacey Smithsonian, Byerrum has collected her own assortment of 1940s styles, but laments her lack of closet space. She has been a D.C.–based news reporter, a playwright, and, even though she’s moved away from the East Coast, she holds a Virginia P.I. registration.