SKIRTING THE GRAVE, the latest installment in Annette Blair's Vintage Magic Mystery series, brings back all the things I love about this series: great characters, cool vintage fashion, intriguing mystery, and just a touch of magic. The "who will she pick" love triangle added a fun romantic element. I also spent way too much time trying to visualize the clothes and accessories Ms. Blair describes with such appreciation. She made me want to hunt thrift stores for vintage bargains. SKIRTING THE GRAVE is definitely in style for any fan of cozy mysteries.

Fashionista Maddie Cutler's closet is definitely jam packed. She is kept busy running her vintage clothing store and trying to sort out what she feels for on-again, (currently) off-again boyfriend Nick Jaconetti and grade-school nemesis turned hot cop Det. Lytton Werner. Maddie's flighty sister Brandy feels no hesitation adding to the load. Brandy has talked Maddie in to organizing a 50's themed fund-raiser and mentoring a design intern, Isobel York. Maddie arrives at the Mystick Falls train station only to discover that Isobel has died under suspicious circumstances. The mystery deepens when a woman claiming to be Isobel shows up at the home Maddie shares with her father. Who is dead and who is sitting in her living room? Maddie's ability to "read" the history of the clothes she touches will be critical in helping her, Nick, and Werner solve the case before it's too late.