Fatal Fascinator

Starred review from November 1, 2022

Piper May is planning her "wedding of the year," to be held at Waverly Castle. She convinces cousins Scarlett Parker and Viv Tremont, co-owners of the hat shop Mim's Whims, to make the fascinators for her bridesmaids. Scarlett ignores the fact that Viv and Piper are frenemies. She also ignores the comments that Piper's fianc� is a bully. By the time Scarlett and Viv arrive at the castle with the wedding photographer, the bridal party is already on edge. Piper is snippy. Her fianc� is demanding and arrogant. The bridesmaids are at war and in tears. Even the parents are obnoxious. But Scarlett couldn't be happier with the story of a castle haunted by a bride, who died before her wedding, and the gorgeous gardens and landscape. She's not quite so happy when she finds a body in the library, and the police inspector won't let anyone leave the castle grounds. When she learns her friends are suspects, Scarlett sets out to find a killer. VERDICT McKinlay's mysteries are always humorous and a little offbeat with heartwarming relationships between close friends. This seventh "Hat Shop Mystery" (following Buried to the Brim) fits that description perfectly.--Lesa Holstine

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November 15, 2022
An invitation to a wedding at an ancient castle lures two London hat-shop owners into a dangerous adventure. Scarlett Parker--the business half of Mim's Whims, where her cousin Vivian Tremont is the creative genius--and her photographer friend Andre Eisel have a chance meeting with "Bridus horribilis" Piper May, who's desperate to have Viv make the fascinators for her bridesmaids. Neither Viv nor Andre wants to leave London, but Scarlett, who's planning her own wedding to Harrison Wentworth, can't resist the beauties and amenities of Waverly Castle when Piper invites them all to the wedding. Viv and Andre reluctantly agree after Viv's tempted by the presence of legendary hatmaker Dominick Falco. The castle and grounds are stunning, the company not so much. Dooney Portis, the obnoxious groom who bullied Andre when they were schoolmates, is marrying for money; Piper's looking to improve her social status. Bridesmaid Sunny is pregnant by Dooney, which may or may not be the reason Scarlett finds Dooney dead in the library. It all seems like a game of Clue, and at least one of the staff attributes the death to a curse, though the cause turns out to be cyanide poisoning. Histrionics and vitriol abound, but Scarlett and her friends are determined to solve a mystery marked by past and present secrets, hidden passages, and even a maze. A cast of unlikable suspects makes it easy to enjoy this amusing murder hunt without getting overinvested in anyone.

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January 1, 2023
Scarlett Parker persuades her cousin, noted milliner Vivian Tremont, to create the fascinators for Piper May's wedding after Piper's milliner abruptly flees the country. Scarlett thinks the weekend at Waverly Castle will be fun, and she wants to vet the venue for her own upcoming nuptials with Harrison. Scarlett, Vivian, and their good friend Andre, a wedding photographer, head to the castle, where they discover that Piper is something of a bridezilla. When the groom, Dooney Portis, with whom both Andre and Vivian have a history, is killed before the wedding, the guests and staff are not allowed to leave the castle. Scarlett investigates, with the help of her friends and her fianc�, to clear Andre, who is a suspect due to his having been viciously bullied by Dooney when they were children. Life at a stately home, along with details about the millinery business, frame this engaging cozy populated by well-drawn characters.

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