Hostile Makeover: A Crime of Fashion Mystery

After dodging death from a falling "Hot Donuts Now" Krispy Kreme sign, Lacey finds herself under a Jinx. Thus starts the third book, "Hostile Makeover" in the Crime of Fashion series. Sent to interview Amanda Manville, who went from Ugly Duckling with a Heart of Gold to a gorgeous, Supermodel with Screaming Diva Tempertantrums after appearing on the Chrysaslis Factor reality make-over show, Lacey is just as interested in finding out what happened to Amanda's pre-makeover fiance, Caleb Collingwood, as she is in reviewing Amanda's move into the world of fashion designer. Amanda has other plans for Lacey, claiming a crazed pyscho killer is stalking her. Having read of Lacey's earlier success at finding killers, Amanda asks Lacey to solve her murder if she is killed. The jinx results in Lacey's beloved Z being stolen from the garage at work. The news of this auto-theft, brings Lacey's mom, Rose, and former Cheerleader sister, Cherise "Lethal Feet", out from Colorado for a visit. Her family is arriving the weekend she and Vic are supposed to spend out of town consumamting their tenuous relationship. To make matters worse, Vic has an out of town guest too, Montana, his ex-wife. Montana is back to reclaim her man. Supermodel Amanda is killed in a drive by shooting, and the car used was Lacey's Z. Lacey finds herself trying to cautiously hunt for the killer, more out of anger over the treatment of her Z, than for the deceased supermodel. The list of suspects include: Amanda's sister, Zoe, who designed the fashion line, power couple the Powers who helped back the line, Dr. Spaulding who transformed Amanda into a beauty, and John Tyler Hunter best-friend of Amanda's missing fiance Caleb. Lacey tries to work on the murder, while fending off her mom and sisters attempts to re-decorate her apartment and assist her with her search for the killer. Their disapproval of her past crime solving quickly changes to interest when they realize she was asked by Amanda the Supermodel to find the killer. Lacey is surrounded by her usual sidekicks: Stella, Brooke, Damon, Tony, and Turtle Dove-who was Amanda's bodyguard. Turtle Dove has the potential for being another love interest for Lacey, if Vic cannot decide between his ex-wife and her. When Lacey finally figures out who the killer is, he has a very special ending in mind with her in a starring role. The killer is captured with some special help from her sister, Cherise "Lethal Feet" and her mom. The introduction of her mother and sister added more depth to Lacey's character, and they provided some good comic relief, especially with their obsession with all things marked "Smithsonian". Photographer Hansen's character played a larger role in this book, but local neighborhood psychic Marie's appearances were limited to phone calls. Marie's character was more prominent in the first book, and now she seems to have been put on the back burner. I hope the author brings Marie out more in upcoming b

Lacey Smithsonian is interviewing Amanda Manville, reality TV makeover success story turned model. Apparently all the makeover surgeries turned her sweet personality into that of a diva gone bad. All Amanda wants to talk about is the death threats she's received. She requests Lacey's help in stopping the stalker. Lacy doesn't take much stock in the existence of a stalker. That is until Amanda is killed. She and her boyfriend Vic Donovan are planning a getaway weekend until Lacey's mother and sister descend upon her. How can she investigate Amanda's murder, survive her relative's visit, and keep Vic from meeting then? With Amanda's unpopular personality, the list of suspects is quite long. How can Lacey weed out the real killer without putting herself in danger or her family since they keep tagging along? I really like Lacey. She's so down to earth and fun. I like her vintage clothing, too. Her quirky family and relationship with Vic spice things up as well. I live not far from DC, and Ms. Byerrum has the fashion tone of Washington down to a T. The tidbits always add to the story. Lacey's friends and co-workers are great additions to the story as well. I highly recommend this book and the whole series. Check out: [...]

So they're calling Byerrum's series "chick lit mysteries." Well, I'm a guy and I like chicks, I like lit, and I love this series. Okay? Deal with it. (I even like Washington, DC, believe it or not, and I'm a New Yorker.) Byerrum really gets this place and the whole weird Washington atmosphere of government conspiracies that sound real but turn out to be fantasy, and the stuff that sounds like stand-up comedy but turns out to be real. And she makes it funny and sarcastic and suspenseful too. She writes great funny women characters, at least to me, but then I'm a guy, I only date funny women, what do I know? (Who wouldn't want to date Lacey Smithsonian, she's smart, witty, looks great in a devastating suit, and knows how to use a weapon. What's not to like?) Any guy who's sat through an episode of "Extreme Makeover" will wonder what would happen if the latest made-over reality TV diva turned out to be a killer witch on wheels, and that's where this one takes off. "Killer Hair" was a knockout, "Designer Knockoff" was even better, and "Hostile Makeover" hits it out of the park. This one gets two thumbs up from me. Guys, read the funny parts (there's plenty of 'em) to your girlfriends, this chick-lit mystery will make you a chick magnet.

With the third installment of Lacy Smithsonian and her crimes of fashion series Ellen Byerrum carries on in style! Why can't Law and Order be as inventive and original? Lacey is a reluctant detective and relentless columnist. A fearlessly stylish woman in the testosterone power center of the world. Ellen Byerrum has created a refreshingly original and thoroughly enjoyable read. In this installment Lacey meets reality or at least the leftovers from reality television, and it isn't pretty. With her 1940's fashion flair she is off to cover the story and upstages her journalist peers, the style mullahs and the police. Even CSI would miss these fashion clues. What I like the most are the Crimes of Fashion and Fashion Bites columns. I wish they were syndicated in my local paper. Looking forward to the next one... and in the meantime maybe Hollywood could get a clue and instead of stiletto superheros and sidekicks with cleavage, they could put Lacey on the fashion detective beat.

Ellen Byerrum pulls another superlative Crime of Fashion out of her vintage cloche, simultaneously sticking a hatpin in America's spinning-out-of-control passion for makeovers. Now, Byerrum spins a mystery out of (very luxurious) whole cloth with the best of them, featuring characters we come to know and love a little bit more each time (Lacey Smithsonian, her boss Mac, sometime paramour Vic, best friend Brooke) and even some we've come to know and not love (evildoer-with-sugar-and-chocolate, food editor Felicity). But her talent for creating memorable one-off and secondary characters is positively Dickensian. This time, we meet devil's spawn dress designer Amanda Manville, who won a makeover contest that turned her as ugly on the inside as she became beautiful on the outside; Tate Penfield, Amanda's secretive ex-fiance; jinxman Harlan Wiedermyer (read the first couple of paragraphs of the book and laugh out loud); my favorite new characters, Lacey's mom Rose and her former cheerleader sister Cherise; and on down to a waitress in a donut shop spotting her potential 15 minutes of fame. All these wonderful characters combine with Byerrum's gift for clever plotting and snappy dialogue to fashion a perfectly entertaining, keep-em-guessing-til-the-end whodunit. I look forward to each installment in Ellen Byerrum's Crimes of Fashion series. Be sure to read the first two Lacey Smithsonian novels, DESIGNER KNOCKOFF and KILLER HAIR, if HOSTILE MAKEOVER is your first. Just by coincidence, Bob Woodward's book on Deep Throat happened to be the book I read right before this new book of Ellen's. This DC expatriate will take Lacey Smithsonian's wacky Washington world any day of the week over the real Washington, DC, of Watergate and other, more recent, evildoings.