Review: A Veiled Deception by Annette Blair

First line: My father would never have asked me to take a leave of absence from my job in New York City if he could have handled my sister’s wedding and the “Jezebel” plotting to preempt it without me.

From the back cover: With years of experience working for a top New York designer, Madeira Cutler has learned to appreciate the clean line, rich texture, and elegant draping of a finely crafted garment. It’s not until Maddie goes home to Mystick Falls, Connecticut, for her sister’s wedding, however, that she discovers her understanding of fashion goes much deeper…

Before the accessory shopping and fittings can begin, the festivities hit a snag when Maddie finds her sister’s nemesis strangled with the bride-to-be’s veil. In between opening her own vintage clothing shop and keeping the wedding on track, Maddie’s determined to perform her own investigation to clear her family’s name. she soon finds that her best witness may be an antique wedding dress that magically unveils to her the secrets of those who have worn it. But if the gown doesn’t talk fast enough, the lives of everyone Maddie loves will surely fall apart at the seams.

My thoughts: This is the first in the Vintage Magic Mystery series and I really enjoyed it. A Veiled Deception is a humorous, light, magical story that blends a light romance with a light mystery. Maddie’s return home elicits the bitter sweetness of one’s hometown as both good and bad memories are both never too far away. Upon her return home, Maddie realizes she has inherited a psychic ability from her deceased mother. Maddie can read vintage clothes, during which dizzying readings she sees snippets of things that happened while the clothes were being worn. It’s this ability that helps her in solving the mysterious death of Jasmine, the “Jezebel” that has set her designs on her sister’s finance. Being this is the first in a series, we are introduced to a whole cast of characters, from her literary quoting professor dad, to a hundred-year-old spinster privy, to the town’s secrets to the now-hunky police chief trying to live down the nickname Maddie christened him with in high school, to a movie-star handsome ghost, along with her sister, her brother, her aunt and her on-again, off-again beau. It is a quick, fun read and I am eager to read the next installment of this series, Larceny and Lace.

(I purchased this book.)