Harlow Jane Cassidy has been back in Bliss, Texas, now
long
enough for Buttons and Bows, her dressmaking business to
only thrive but start expanding. She was raised in Bliss,
but left for New York for awhile to pursue her fashion
design dreams. Family business called her back to Texas,
and she found herself staying for a variety of reasons.
One
of the things currently keeping her in Bliss is her
boyfriend Will, an architect.
She and Will have settled into a nice relationship,
including Will's daughter, the high-school aged, Gracie.
Similar to all the Cassidy women, Gracie has found out
that
she, too, has a charm that she must learn to both be at
peace with and learn to harness and control. Thanks to
Butch Cassidy, all of his female descendants have a
certain
charm to contend with. Since Gracie is distantly related
to
Harlow, Harlow has been helping her become comfortable
with
the charm and what it means for the rest of her life.
With homecoming season in full swing, Harlow is busy
designing and creating dresses for many of the local young
women. In addition to dresses, Harlow is also helping the
young women with the traditional mums. These mums have
been
made annually and are decorated with trinkets that are
meaningful to each person. Each mum takes awhile to make,
but Harlow would hate for anyone to go without since
they've
been such a tradition for so long in Bliss. However, all
of
the homecoming festivities are overshadowed with grief
when
the father of Gracie's boyfriend is killed in a car
accident. Worse, the police suspect that Gracie's
boyfriend, Shane, is responsible for the death of his own
father.
Shane's mother, Miss Reba, asks Harlow to investigate,
knowing Harlow's past reputation for solving crimes.
Harlow
is reluctant to step in since the local police chief is
now
her step-father and she'd like to keep family peace -- not
to
mention that if she finds out that Shane actually was
responsible, she knows it would break Gracie's heart.
However, she commits to looking into things despite her
misgivings. Her investigation turns up secrets that she
never imagined, and as she keeps digging, she isn't sure
how
comfortable she is revealing the information she has
discovered, let alone how this information helps narrow
down
suspects, rather than narrow down the list.
As usual, this was an excellent instalment in the
Magical
Dressmaking Mystery series. Harlow's sense of humour,
intelligence, and compassion make her both a great amateur
sleuth, as well as a wonderful role model for the high
schoolers she works with during this book, including
Gracie.
The solution to the mystery was unexpected in the best of
ways, and the same can be said of both the culprit and the
revealing of who the culprit was. All in all, this
remains
one of my favourite series.
Harlow Jane Cassidy is swamped with homecoming couture
requests. If only she didn't have to help solve a murder,
she might get the gowns off the dress forms....
Harlow is doing everything she can to expand her dressmaking
business, Buttons & Bows, without letting clients know
about her secret charm. When she has a chance to create
homecoming dresses with a local charity and handmade mums
for several high school girls--including Gracie, whose
father, Will, has mended Harlow's heart--she is ready to use
her magical talents for a great cause.
But when Gracie's date for the dance is accused of murder,
Harlow knows things won't be back on course until she helps
Gracie clear the football player's name. If Harlow can't
patch up this mess before the big game, her business and her
love life might be permanently benched.
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