Review: A Fitting End by Melissa Bourbon

A Fitting End by Melissa Bourbon

Series: A Magical Dressmaking Mystery, #2

Signet

February 2012

Format: Paperback, 320 pages

Source: Personal copy

Former Manhattan fashion designer Harlow Jane Cassidy has a gift for
creating beautiful dresses. But when Harlow becomes the prime suspect in
a murder investigation, she’ll need more than her sewing skills to
unravel the mystery…

Business is booming at Harlow’s
custom-dressmaking boutique, Buttons & Bows, even with her
great-grandmother’s ghost hanging around the shop. But thanks to the
fast-approaching Margaret Moffette Lea Pageant and Ball, Harlow has her
work cut out for her when Mrs. Zinnia James hires her to make her
granddaughter’s pageant gown.

With the debutante ball
getting the whole town of Bliss, Texas, into a tizzy, Harlow knows her
dress has to be perfect. But when a local golf pro is found stabbed to
death with dressmaking shears, the new deputy thinks Harlow and Mrs.
James conspired to commit the crime. Now Harlow has to finish the dress
on time and clear her name before the next outfit she designs is a
prison jumpsuit…

My thoughts: This is the second in Melissa Bourbon’s Magical Dressmaking cozy mystery series and I really am enjoying this series. Despite the fact that I have absolutely no talent when it comes to making clothes, I really enjoy reading about the trade and love that this series not only targets that, but also includes a little mystery to move things along.

Being that this is the second book in the series, we are still getting to know the main characters and there were some new ones introduced as well. What I really liked is that in this installment, we got some more background information on the “gifts” that the Cassidy women seem to possess. Again, as I’m not really a big fan of the whole paranormal, I find that Melissa Bourbon uses just enough to enhance the storyline without going over the top, in my opinion. I did enjoy the family tree that is included in the back of the book. I admit that once I realized it was there, I found myself referring to it quite frequently as part of the storyline involved family history and pedigree.

As with the first book in this series, I kept guessing who did it and kept finding myself having to re-evaluate that choice as the book progressed. To me, that’s what keeps me coming back for more. If I can figure it out every time, it gets kinda boring. I do hope that for this series, I’m kept on my toes!

How do you feel about mysteries that you can always solve – do you enjoy them as much as those that keep you guessing?

Books in this series:

1. Pleating for Mercy
2. A Fitting End 
3. Deadly Patterns
4. A Custom Fit Crime