April in San Francisco may be all about layers, but it also marks one year since the stylish Rita Jewell began working at Dolce’s, an upscale boutique catering to the city’s trendy socialites. And while it may seem like a glamorous world, someone’s about to get ugly…

Things have been less than pretty for Rita lately. There’s her lackluster love life. Then Dolce hires a new salesgirl. Fast-talking fashionista Vienna Fairchild is young, confident, and horribly entitled. She’s rearranged the store and relegates Rita to answering her phone—and the men are ringing for Vienna as though it were going out of style. Lucky for Rita, Dolce has tickets to a charity bachelor auction—but what to wear?

While Rita opts for something simple, Vienna stuns the crowd in a breathtaking black dress with a pink bow on the back. Rita is even more stunned when she sees Vienna in that same dress the following day—dead on the sales floor of Dolce’s. With Rita’s fingerprints all over the scene and a believable motive, she’s going to need to find some clues and throw together the perfect outfit that says: “I’m innocent.”

Series: An Accessories Mystery

Review

Rita Jewel has loved her job at the exclusive San Francisco boutique Dolce’s from the very first day. However, it now seems her luck is changing – and not for the better. Rita did have three gorgeous men interested in dating her, but now none of them are calling. Then, she goes from being boutique owner Dolce’s star employee to finding herself in the back room doing inventory while young, spoiled Vienna Fairchild gets to help the customers. Just when Rita doesn’t think things can get any worse, she finds Vienna’s lifeless body at Dolce’s and becomes previous beau Jack’s number one suspect.

Rita is an interesting main character. She is very impulsive which sometimes makes her fun, but gets her into trouble which could have been avoided. For example, she plans a dinner party one week after taking one cooking class and invites two of the three men she is interested in. Rita is independent and daring in some ways. She doesn’t hesitate to question suspects in Vienna’s death even when that could put her in danger. However, even though it extremely distressing to her, she won’t ask Dolce why she became so attached to Vienna so quickly and pushed Rita aside to befriend and mentor Vienna.

Rita loves fashion and loves helping her customers. Her life revolves around fashion in all aspects. When discussing Vienna’s upcoming services, Rita ponders to herself, “A more important question came to mind. What was I going to wear to the funeral?”  This starts to cross the line between breezy sense of humor and callousness.

In spite of some of her less favorable traits, I like Rita. I can’t say the same about her boss and supposed friend Dolce. Dolce is generous with lending and sometimes giving Rita designer outfits for events, but otherwise doesn’t act like a friend to Rita. However, Rita adores Dolce. At one point in the story, Rita is happy because Dolce has complimented her outfit and is “delighted” Rita has a lunch date, because “She’s just like that. Always wants the best for everyone.”  It’s obvious Rita truly believes this about Dolce and even says Dolce is like a mother to her. I don’t know if she is supposed to be naïve or if the character of Dolce is just written inconsistently. If Dolce is so kind and caring toward everyone, why does she hire Vienna, take her under her wing, and pretty much ignore Rita until Vienna is killed? Dolce’s actions of turning her back on her friend and employee without explanation seem to completely contradict Rita’s descriptions. I have a hard time relating to the character of Dolce and I also question Rita’s judgment.

Rita makes a good amateur detective, because she’s not afraid to keep asking questions. I enjoyed the story, but sometimes the pacing is off. The scenes with Rita attending cooking school seem out of place and detract from the main story. On the other hand, the style tips and tidbits of information about San Francisco not only fit in with the theme of the story but enhance

This book is the follow up to Shoe Done It, the debut book in the Accessories mysteries. I found the sequel to be missing some of the lighthearted fun of the first book. However, those looking for a humorous fashion-related mystery may want to give the latest by Grace Carroll at try.

Reviewed by Christine

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