Genre:

Bliss, Texas, is gearing up for its annual Winter Wonderland festival, but when a mysterious Scrooge ends the merriment with murder, it’ll take more than a ghost from Christmas past to set things right.

Designing a holiday fashion show set in the town’s most prominent historic mansion seems like a job tailor made for dressmaker Harlow Jane Cassidy. But with the mansion’s restoration still in progress and threatening weather on the horizon, she’s feeling on pins and needles more than reveling in holiday cheer.

Having volunteered to play Santa in this year’s festival, Dan Lee Chrisson was ready to move on after his divorce—until Bliss became his final resting place. Discovering his body puts Harlow at the scene of the crime. She’ll need plenty of help from friends and even her late great-grandmother’s spirited sleuthing if she’s to have a ghost of a chance of catching a killer who’s just jumped to the top of the naughty list….

INCLUDES SEWING TIPS

Series: A Dressmaker's Mystery

Review

For fans of:  Madelyn Alt and Wendy Lyn Watson

It’s Christmastime and the tiny town of Bliss, Texas is in the midst of preparations for its annual Winter Wonderland festival.  Dressmaker Harlow Jane Cassidy has her hands full teaching holiday craft classes and designing outfits for the Winter Wonderland fashion show, but that hasn’t stopped festival organizer Helen Abernathy from adding item after item to her to-do list.  She’s going to have to work around the clock in order to get everything done, but it’s Harlow’s first winter back home with her family, so she’s determined to keep hold of her holiday spirit.

Then, however, the festival’s Santa Claus – a man by the name of Dan Lee Chrisson – has a fatal accident, the aftermath of which very nearly claims Harlow’s life, as well.  At first, Harlow tries put the event from her mind, but when Dan Lee’s death is ruled a homicide, she finds herself unable to focus on anything else.  Who killed Dan Lee, and why?  And will he or she strike again?  Can Harlow help the police catch the culprit and restore heavenly peace to Bliss, or will this year’s Yule be decidedly ho ho hum?

Deadly Patterns is the third of Melissa Bourbon’s Magical Dressmaking Mysteries, and it’s a thoroughly engrossing tale, full of wit, whimsy, and Southern charm.  Bourbon’s prose is stylish, her mystery is complex and elegantly constructed, and her lush, vivid descriptions help give her tale an incredibly strong sense of place.

Her characters are marvelous to a one.  Harlow is a pitch-perfect protagonist – smart, funny, and stubborn as a mule, yet also kind, caring, and down-to-earth.  She’s incredibly well developed, and every single one of her emotions, actions, and interactions feels genuine, honest, and earned.  Friends Josie and Madelyn make for fantastic sidekicks and provide great comic relief.  And you couldn’t ask for a better love interest than architect-slash-handyman-slash-single-father Will Flores. Yes, he’s dreamy, and the pages on which he appears with Harlow practically smolder, but he’s also an incredibly compelling character in his own right, and I look forward to getting to know him better in future books.

Perhaps my very favorite character, though, is the one who says the least:  Harlow’s great-grandmother, Loretta Mae (a.k.a. Meemaw).  The dearly departed Meemaw haunts Harlow’s home with meddlesome glee, providing love and support when needed, but also occasionally giving her great-granddaughter a much-needed kick in the ass.  It’s a truly unique spin on the traditional haunted house tale, and that, in combination with the Cassidy family charm (you’ll have to read the books to find out what I mean by that) provides just enough of a supernatural twist to set Bourbon’s books apart from the pack.

If you’re looking for a great traditional mystery with a decidedly non-traditional spin, you’ve found your match in Melissa Bourbon’s Deadly Patterns; it’s fun, it’s fresh, and it’s just the thing to help get you in hall-decking mood.

Reviewed by Kat

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