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
Praise for the Crime of Fashion mysteries:
"First rate."—Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)
“Ellen Byerrum has a hit series on her hands.”—The Best Reviews
“Fun and witty…with a great female sleuth.”—Fresh Fiction
“[A] very entertaining series.”—The Romance Readers Connection
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
Review
"A fabulously fun and fashionable new series! Ellen Byerrum tailors her debut mystery with a sharp murder plot, entertaining fashion commentary, and gutsy characters. I’ll look forward to the next installment with reporter Lacey Smithsonian covering style and mayhem in Washington D.C."—
Nancy J. Cohen, Author of the Bad Hair Day Mysteries "Lacey Smithsonian skewers Washington with style in this new mystery series. Killer Hair is a shear delight."—Elaine Viets, Author of Shop Till You Drop
“Cut-wrong hair mingles with cutthroat Washington, DC, in Ellen Byerrum’s rippling debut. Peppered with girlfriends you’d love to have, smoldering romance you can’t resist, and Beltway insider insights you’ve got to read (Pentagon pheromone rays?), Killer Hair adds a crazy twist to the concept of ‘capital murder.’ Bubbles may have to visit.” —Sarah Strohmeyer, Agatha Award-winning author of Bubbles Ablaze
“Lacey Smithsonian is no fashionista—she’s a ‘40s starlet trapped in style-free DC, with a feminist agenda, a cadre of delightfully insane friends, and a knack for stumbling on corpses. Funny, fast and frighteningly accurate. Lacey slays and sashays thru Washington politics, scandal, and Fourth Estate slime, while uncovering whodunnit, and dunnit and dunnit again.” —Chloe Green, author of the Dallas O’Connor fashion mysteries
Review
Lacey is intelligent, insightful and spunky...Thoroughly likable." The Sun (Bremerton, WA)
Review
PRAISE FOR THE DEAD-END JOB MYSTERIES BY ELAINE VIETS, WINNER OF THE ANTHONY AWARD AND THE AGATHA AWARD “A stubborn and intelligent heroine, a wonderful South Florida setting, and a cast of more or less lethal bimbos.…I loved this book.”—#1 New York Times bestselling author Charlaine Harris
“A fast-paced story and nonstop wisecracks.…Elaine Viets knows how to turn minimum wage into maximum hilarity.”—Nancy Martin, bestselling author of Little Black Book of Murder
“Clever.…The real draw, though, is Vietss snappy critique of South Florida.”—Marilyn Stasio, The New York Times Book Review
“Wickedly funny.”—The Miami Herald
“Entertaining…….Viets shines at evoking Floridas vibrant landscapes and even more colorful characters.”—Publishers Weekly
“Hilarious.”—Kirkus Reviews
“The breezy, well-plotted book moves at a fast clip, fueled by Vietss perfect comic timing.”—South Florida Sun-Sentinel
“Delightful, entertaining, and truly insightful.”—Fresh Fiction
Synopsis
Fashion reporter Lacey Smithsonian is touring a failing velvet factory in Virginia on its final day of operations-and finds one of the factory owners dead, lashed to a spool of velvet and soaked in blue dye. The workers are delighted, since they blamed the "Blue Devil" for killing their jobs.
But when another nickname, the "Velvet Avenger", makes the rounds, and ribbons of blue velvet start popping up, it could be more than Lacey's job at stake-it could be her life...
Synopsis
When fashion reporter Lacey Smithsonian moved to Washington, D.C., from rugged, small town Sagebrush, Colorado, she thought she’d never look back. But when her former boyfriend, cattle rancher Cole Tucker, is arrested for the murders of three women, Lacey digs her cowboy boots out of her closet and hops on the next plane.
She is certain of Tucker’s innocence, until he abducts her during a daring courthouse escape. Is Tucker capable of murder, too? Or is there a larger conspiracy in the small town? Lacey needs to rustle up all the help she can get for this case before her old flame is snuffed out for good...
Synopsis
Trench coats? hot or not? The author of Grave Apparel proves you can solve mysteries without sacrificing style...
Unchallenged and unappreciated, fashion reporter Lacey Smithsonian slips on her trench coat and high-heeled gumshoes to pursue a course in private investigation and a shot at a better job.
When a wealthy and erratic D.C. socialite is discovered quite dead outside the classroom, Lacey gets to test those sleuthing skills. Was the victim on her way to share a dangerous secret with Smithsonian? And what does it have to do with a missing Louis Vuitton vintage custom makeup case?
Lacey must mix style with substance to unravel these tangled threads before she, or one of her best friends, gets caught in the sights of a cold-blooded killer?
Synopsis
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...
An up-and-coming stylist, Angie Woods had a reputation for rescuing down-and-out looks-and careers-all with a pair of scissors. But when Angie is found with a drastic haircut and a razor in her hand, the police assume she committed suicide. Lacey knew the stylist and suspects something more sinister-that the story may lie with Angie's star client, a White House staffer with a salacious website. With the help of a hunky ex-cop, Lacey must root out the truth...
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....
Synopsis
Trench coats? hot or not? The author of Grave Apparel proves you can solve mysteries without sacrificing style...
Unchallenged and unappreciated, fashion reporter Lacey Smithsonian slips on her trench coat and high-heeled gumshoes to pursue a course in private investigation and a shot at a better job.
When a wealthy and erratic D.C. socialite is discovered quite dead outside the classroom, Lacey gets to test those sleuthing skills. Was the victim on her way to share a dangerous secret with Smithsonian? And what does it have to do with a missing Louis Vuitton vintage custom makeup case?
Lacey must mix style with substance to unravel these tangled threads before she, or one of her best friends, gets caught in the sights of a cold-blooded killer?
Synopsis
Husband and wife PI team Helen Hawthorne and Phil Sagemont are about to find out murder is no day at the beach
. Theres a dark cloud over Sunny Jims Stand-Up Paddleboard Rental business on Floridas Riggs Beachespecially after one of his clients is killed in a tragic paddleboarding mishap. Sunny Jim is sure it was no accident, and he hires Helen and Phil to find the murderer.
Between competitors poaching his territory, the city threatening to revoke his license, and a wrongful death suit filed by the victims husband, Sunny Jim may soon be up the creek without a paddle. Luckily, he has Helen and Phil on his side. As the couple investigates, they discover dark undercurrents of corruption behind the cheerful facades of the beachfront businesses. But the sands of time are running out, and if they dont catch the killer soon, Sunny Jim wont be the only one to go under
.
About the Author
Elaine Viets has actually worked many of those dead-end jobs in her mystery novels, just like her character Helen Hawthorne. She is the author of the Dead-End Job mysteries, including Final Sail, Pumped for Murder, and Half-Price Homicide, the Josie Marcus, Mystery Shopper series, including Murder is a Piece of Cake and Death on a Platter, and numerous short stories. Elaine has won an Anthony Award and an Agatha Award. She lives in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, with her husband, reporter Don Crinklaw.