Barbara J. Wilson
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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 6
Average rating: 4.0 of 5
A very pleasant surprise 5 out of 5 stars.
4 of 4 people found this review helpful.
I admit it - after reading the back cover, I was expecting this to be just another forgettable, gimmicky, amateurish foray into mystery fiction. I was very pleasantly surprised. Wilson's distinct style comes through right away, and she gives milliner Brenda Midnight an excellent voice that makes her fun to get to know as she discovers strengths she never knew she possessed. Brenda Midnight owns Midnight Millinery - the Greenwich Village hat shop from which she took her name - and the book opens with Brenda working diligently on the bridal veil for the high-profile, high-profit wedding her dress designer friend Carla won the contract on. This brief intro takes us right into the mystery action as a woman dressed from head to toe in hot pink bursts into the shop, pulls a gun on Brenda, and demands all of the hats for the wedding party. Once Brenda gets over the initial shock of being robbed, she tries to consult Carla on a plan of action for salvaging the wedding, which is just a few days away, only to discover that Carla has been freshly murdered.
To make matters worse, if you can imagine that, Carla bled all over the bridal gown, and the police eschew Brenda's Lady in Pink connection to follow up on bogus accusations that Carla was a prostitute with drug connections. Brenda must now deal with an irate bride and her mother, the ruin of her reputation in the fashion industry, and the loss of her close friend whose name is being dragged through very muddy headlines. Unable to concentrate on her fall line of hats, Brenda turns to her ex-boyfriend Johnny, who isn't a detective but played one on TV once, for help finding the Lady in Pink and restoring Carla's reputation.
What ensues is madness. Brenda impersonates a legal temp in search of a connection between the bride and the Lady in Pink and falls for the law firm's computer consultant, who may or may not be involved in Carla's murder. Brenda's computer nerd friend hacks into the law firm's personnel files, teams up with Carla's artist neighbor to turn Brenda's shop into a desktop publishing studio, and tries to get Brenda and Johnny back together. Johnny, researching his next cop role, buddies up with the investigating officers and, with his agent's help, gets them back on track and locates a connection to an infamous hit man named Snake. (I don't want to spoil it for you by revealing any details, but Snake's non-hostage scene had me laughing out loud.) Also in the mix are an obnoxious yuppie intent on procuring Carla's condo, a secretary intent on blackmailing her boss for a trip to Europe, a philandering art gallery owner, a tiny canine bundle of energy named Jackhammer, a box of hand-sewn silk ties, an estate collection of medieval textiles, an Internet romance, and a dispute over an ugly shag rug.
Wilson deftly combines serious reflection on death and crime with fun potshots at the conventions of the modern mystery novel. The characters are quirky and full of surprises, adding texture without being annoying, and Greenwich Village itself lends character to the book's events. The pacing was excellent, and I thoroughly enjoyed Wilson's witty use of the language. I hope the rest of the series is as good as this one.
(adapted from a "Skullduggery" review)
Editorial Review:
Meet Brenda Midnight
She's a savvy young designer with her own hat shop, who has never even thought of chasing crooks. But when crime invades her cobblestone Greenwich Village neighborhood and the cops don't have a clue, Brenda has to drop everything, including her hats, to catch a thief. . .and a killer.Chasing The Lady In Pink
There's big money to be made if Brenda and her dress designer friend Carla can create the high society wedding of the year. Carla's covering the bride and her maids with dresses to die for, and Brenda's doing the hats. But just as Brenda's finishing the last of the exquisite headgear, she's held up by a woman in a hot pink suit, who escapes with the entire collection. Brenda takes off after her high priced hats and runs straight into her friend Carla -- dead! It's bloody murder -- but Brenda can't convince the men in blue that they should be chasing the mysterious Lady in Pink -- who may have come up with her own design. . . .for murder.
