Designs On Murder: A Ghostly Fashionista Mystery
Cozy Mystery
1st in Series
Grace Abraham Publishing (March 26, 2019)
Print Length: 229 pages

Synopsis

What if you discovered your lively new friend wasn’t really…alive?

Amanda Tucker is excited about opening her fashion design studio in Shops On Main, a charming old building in historic Abingdon, Virginia. She didn’t realize a ghost came with the property! But soon Maxine “Max” Englebright, a young woman who died in 1930, isn’t the only dead person at the retail complex. Mark Tinsley, a web designer with a know-it-all attitude who also rented space at Shops On Main, is shot in his office.

Amanda is afraid that one of her new “friends” and fellow small business owners is his killer, and Max is encouraging her to solve Mark’s murder a la Nancy Drew. Easy for Max to want to investigate–the ghostly fashionista can’t end up the killer’s next victim!

Review

This delightful new series by Gayle Leeson combines the paranormal world with Max, a ghost from the 1920s; fashion through Amanda’s designs; a touch of romance, and a murder that throws everything together despite the wishes of the characters.  If nothing else, you will want to read the story for Max and her quirky phrases, which weren’t quirky for her time period, as they will give you a chuckle.

The cast of characters is not large and the author does a great job of pushing several characters to the forefront as potential suspects. While these characters may not have committed the act, they are not totally innocent as there are several other sub-stories that tie everything together.  As I was reading the book I kept coming back to one character that just seemed suspicious for some reason.  Turns out I pinned it on the right character!  And there is some resolution tied to other characters that seemed shady.

You will probably fall in love with Grandpa Dave.  He is the sort of family member everyone should have because he looks out for Amanda and supports her hopes and dreams, unlike her mother.  We only get a small glimpse of her mother but let me tell you she is a piece of work!  Thankfully her father is down to earth and helps manage her mother’s outbursts.

There is the start of a romance between Amanda and Jason.  Jason is a new tenant to the building where Amanda has just opened her shop, so they are getting to know everyone together.  They also have complimentary businesses – she designs clothing and he is a photographer.  I like that they take their relationship slowly and aren’t rushing into anything too crazy too soon.

When you read this book (notice I didn’t say “if”!) you will want to read the author’s notes because she provides detail for Max’s actions and reactions based on when she lived in the 20s.  I appreciated the research she did for this book and I am sure you will too.

We give this book 5 paws up and can’t wait for the next book in this series.

About the Author

Gayle Leeson is a pseudonym for Gayle Trent. Gayle has also written as Amanda Lee and Gayle Trent. As Amanda Lee, she wrote the Embroidery Mystery series, and as Gayle Trent, she writes the Daphne Martin Cake Mystery series and the Myrtle Crumb Mystery series. Going forward, Gayle intends to keep her writing until the Gayle Leeson name. She has a series of women’s fiction novellas set in a shopping mall that has been converted to include micro-apartments (the Kinsey Falls series) and has just begun this new cozy series, the Ghostly Fashionista Mystery series. Another Down South Cafe novel is slated for release in August with book two in the Ghostly Fashionista series scheduled for October.

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