Armed and Glamorous: A Crime of Fashion Mystery (Crime of Fashion Mysteries) PDF
Preview Armed and Glamorous: A Crime of Fashion Mystery (Crime of Fashion Mysteries)
Armed and Glamorous A CRIME OF FASHION MYSTERY E B llen yerrum AN OBSIDIAN MYSTERY Praise for the Crime of Fashion Mysteries “Devilishly funny... Lacey is intelligent, insightful, and spunky... thoroughly likable.” —The Sun (Bremerton, WA) “Laced with wicked wit.” —SouthCoastToday.com “Byerrum spins a mystery out of (very luxurious) whole cloth with the best of them.” —Chick Lit Books “Ellen Byerrum has a hit series on her hands.” —The Best Reviews “Fun and witty...w ith a great female sleuth.” —Fresh Fiction “[A] very entertaining series.” —The Romance Reader’s Connection Grave Apparel “A truly intriguing mystery.” —Armchair Interviews “A fine whodunit...a humorous cozy.” —The Best Reviews “Fun and enjoyable... Lacey’s a likable, sassy and savvy hero- ine, and the Washington, D.C., setting is a plus.” —The Romance Reader’s Connection “Wonderful.” —Gumshoe Raiders of the Lost Corset “A hilarious crime caper.... Readers will find themselves laughing out loud.. . . Ellen Byerrum has a hit series on her hands with her latest tale.” —The Best Reviews “I love this series. Lacey is such a wonderful character.... The plot has many twists and turns to keep you turning the pages to discover the truth. I highly recommend this book and series.” —Spinetingler Magazine continued... “Wow. A simplistic word, but one that describes this book per- fectly. I loved it! I could not put it down!... Lacey is a scream, and she’s not nearly as wild and funny as some of her friends. The story line twists and turns, sending the reader from Wash- ington, D.C., to France and finally to New Orleans....I loved everything about the book from the characters to the plot to the fast-paced and witty writing.” —Roundtable Reviews “Lacey is back, and in fine form... .This is probably the most complex, most serious case that Lacey has taken on, but with her upbeat attitude and fine-tuned fashion sense, there’s no one better suited to the task. Traveling with Lacey is both entertain- ing and dicey, but you’ll be glad you made the trip.” —The Romance Reader’s Connection Hostile Makeover “Byerrum pulls another superlative Crime of Fashion out of her vintage cloche. ...All these wonderful characters combine with Byerrum’s . . . clever plotting and snappy dialogue to fash- ion a...keep-’em-guessing-’til-the-end whodunit.” —Chick Lit Books “So much fun.” —The Romance Reader’s Connection “The read is as smooth as fine-grade cashmere.” —Publishers Weekly “Totally delightful...a fun and witty read.” —Fresh Fiction Designer Knockoff “Byerrum intersperses the book with witty excerpts from Lacey’s ‘Fashion Bites’ columns, such as ‘When Bad Clothes Happen to Good People’ and ‘Thank Heavens It’s Not Code Taupe.’ . . . Quirky... interesting plot twists.” —The Sun (Bremerton, WA) “Clever wordplay, snappy patter, and intriguing clues make this politics-meets-high-fashion whodunit a cut above the ordinary.” —Romantic Times “Compelling.... Lacey is a spunky heroine and is very self- assured as she carries off her vintage looks with much aplomb.” —The Mystery Reader “A very talented writer with an offbeat sense of humor and tal- ent for creating quirky and eccentric characters that will have readers laughing at their antics.” —The Best Reviews Killer Hair “[A] 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, Killer Hair adds a crazy twist to the concept of ‘capital murder.’ ” —Sarah Strohmeyer, Agatha Award–winning author of The Sleeping Beauty Proposal “Ellen Byerrum tailors her debut mystery with a sharp murder plot, entertaining fashion commentary, and gutsy characters.” —Nancy J. Cohen, author of the Bad Hair Day Mysteries “Chock-full of colorful, often hilarious characters . . . Lacey herself has a delightfully catty wit....A load of stylish fun.” —Scripps Howard News Service “Lacey slays and sashays thru Washington politics, scandal, and Fourth Estate slime, while uncovering whodunit, and dunit, and dunit again.” —Chloe Green, author of the Dallas O’Connor Fashion Mysteries “Killer Hair is a shear delight.” —Elaine Viets, national bestselling author of Murder Unleashed Other Crime of Fashion Mysteries by Ellen Byerrum Killer Hair Designer Knockoff Hostile Makeover Raiders of the Lost Corset Grave Apparel Armed and Glamorous A CRIME OF FASHION MYSTERY E B llen yerrum AN OBSIDIAN MYSTERY OBSIDIAN Published by New American Library, a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario M4P 2Y3, Canada (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.) Penguin Books Ltd., 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England Penguin Ireland, 25 St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2, Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd.) Penguin Group (Australia), 250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell, Victoria 3124, Australia (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty. Ltd.) Penguin Books India Pvt. Ltd., 11 Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi - 110 017, India Penguin Group (NZ), 67 Apollo Drive, Rosedale, North Shore 0632, New Zealand (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd.) Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty.) Ltd., 24 Sturdee Avenue, Rosebank, Johannesburg 2196, South Africa Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England First published by Obsidian, an imprint of New American Library, a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc. ISBN: 1-4362-2608-2 Copyright © Ellen Byerrum, 2008 All rights reserved OBSIDIAN and logo are trademarks of Penguin Group (USA) Inc. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or oth- erwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book. publisher’s note This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibil- ity for author or third-party Web sites or their content. The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book via the Internet or via any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage elec- tronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Some years ago, when I was happily laid off from a miser- able job, I mentioned to a friend that I had always thought it would be fun to see what being a private investigator was all about. That free-spirited friend and fellow playwright, Barbara McConagha, dared me to do it and promised that if I found a course, she would take it with me. In the Com- monwealth of Virginia, successfully completing a state- certified course is the basic requirement for becoming a PI. I located a school in Northern Virginia, and off Barbara and I went to study the art and craft of private investigation. We learned the federal and state laws, failed a vehicle surveil- lance exercise (and passed on the remedial exam), fired handguns at the range, listened attentively (and otherwise) in class, and, of course, gathered lots of material for later works of fiction. It was a great experience, and I’d like to thank Barbara publicly for making that dare and taking that class with me. A bit of that material might have made it into this book, as part of Lacey’s experiences in taking her PI course. Thanks also go to PI Howard Miller for his patience and information through the years and for letting me return again and again to take those in-service classes. Any errors in the art and craft of being a private investigator are, of course, my own. Many thanks go to my friend Lloyd Rose for listening to me throughout writing this book and assuring me yet again that I would live through it. Thanks also to my friend Jay Farrell, for reassuring me that the more arduous the book writing process, the better the book. I would also like to thank my editor, Anne Bohner, and Liza Schwartz, and my agents Donald Maass and Cameron McClure. Finally, there are not enough words to describe the love and loyalty that my husband Bob Williams has always shown during the process of writing my books. He is my best friend, my champion, my critic, my supporter. I am eternally grateful.
Description:The list of books you might like
