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CHICK LIT/CRIME/
HUMOR MYSTERY
KILLER HAIR
Can a bad haircut really kill you?
 
In the first Crime of Fashion mystery, fashion reporter and amateur sleuth Lacey Smithsonian tackles a deadly fashion crime in Washington, D.C., the City Fashion Forgot. A beautiful dead hairstylist, a straight razor, a horrendously bad haircut--the cops call it an open-and-shut suicide, but Lacey's style instincts (and her punk hairstylist, Stella) all say it's murder. Amid ditzy diva stylists, a fog of D.C. scandals and conspiracies, and a wave of "assisted" suicides, Lacey must tease out the twisted truth before she becomes the victim of the Capital City's next fatal coiffure, assisted by her unstoppable stylist, a short-circuited psychic, and the one man she thought she'd never have a second chance with. And they say a bad haircut can't kill you--or can it?
Read A Review:

Lacey Smithsonian is a reporter with the Eye Street Observer in Washington, D.C. She writes the Crimes of Fashion column. Recently her column was about the makeover Marcia Robinson got from Stylettos stylist Angela Wood.

Then Angie is found dead at Stylettos. The police say it is suicide. Anyone who knew Angie and knows the facts of her death does not believe it is suicide. Her hair has been cut off with a straight-edged razor. Angie was proud of her hair and suicide or not would not have done this to herself.

Fellow stylist Stella asks her friend Lacey to investigate Angie’s death. She feels that since Lacey is an investigative reporter, this should be easy. Lacey tries to say no, but saying no to Stella is not easy.

Lacey runs into Victor Donovan who she knew back in Colorado. Now he’s in the area helping his father run his security company. Styletto’s is their new customer. There is a lot of history with Lacey and Vic and this new development just confuses her more.

The FBI seems to be interested in Lacey’s activities and this just makes her more determined to help Stella.

Boyd Radford, owner of Stylettos, is called Ratboy behind his back by the stylists due to his profile. His ex-wife Josephine and their son Beau are not well-liked either.

Then Tammi is found in the Virginia Beach Styletto’s with her hair cut off in much the same way as Angie. She was a stylist there.

Vic tries to convince Lacey to back off as he is concerned for her safety. She won’t listen and ends up putting herself in grave danger when she finally figures out who the killer is.

I like this new series. Lacey is a great character. The author has done a great job of making her believable and three-dimensional. I am looking forward to reading more exploits of Lacey Smithsonian and hope that Victor Donovan will also be in future books.

I always enjoy books set in the DC area since that is where I live. I think it’s more enjoyable to read a book when you can recognize locations mentioned in a book.

I highly recommend this book.

Dawn Dowdle