HARROWING HATS by Joyce and Jim Lavene

Jessie Morton returns to the Renaissance Faire Village to continue her work toward her Ph.D. At first, it looks like she will be unable to find an apprenticeship but then Chase, her main man and the Village Bailiff, finds her work in the hat shop. She learns a lot from Andre, a man who once worked in Hollywood. Andre has some fabulous stories to share and his abilities with hats are inspiring.

When Cesar, one of the Three Chocolatiers, is found dead in the chocolate shop, Jessie must utilize her detecting skills to discover the killer. As she and Chase investigate, they discover that Andre and Cesar were in competition for the favors of one of the ladies of the village. Cesar was quite a philanderer and the more they learn, the more motives they discover for the village inhabitants.

Add in a series of knights to the village and the jealousy they inspire, Chase disappearing for hours at night, and the usual high jinks that take place in the village and the reader will have a grand time. This is an entertaining read with a well-crafted plot. The identity of the killer was a surprise. Jessie has some tense moments with the secrets that Chase is keeping until she discovers the truth. Jessie and her matchmaking skills will also be in demand.

Readers of the series will not be disappointed. New readers will want to glom the backlist so they don't miss a single minute of Jessie and her crazy life.

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SUMMARY

EXCERPT

"I’m not sure. Security found something strange over at the Three Chocolatiers shop."

"I want to come." I got up too and searched in the dark for my hastily tossed shorts and sandals. "Maybe they’re giving out chocolate samples and it caused a riot."

"It might be better if you stay here. It could be anything. A few weeks ago, one of the goats got into Fabulous Funnels. It was a mess."

Chase gave in gracefully. We walked across the dark, still Village where most people were asleep, dreaming about what lunacy they would get into tomorrow. The lamps glowed softly showing us the way. As though we were at one with the sleeping houses, we were quiet too.

Two security guards were waiting outside the chocolate shop. The front door was open beneath three crossed swords symbolizing the Chocolatiers’ coat of arms. There was a faint light coming from inside.

I nudged Chase with my elbow. "See? What did I tell you? Plenty of chocolate to be had."

He didn’t respond, turning to the security men instead. "What’s up? It better be more than an open door."

"The door was open, like Fabulous Funnels." The other security guard shrugged as though that statement explained it all. "We just walked inside. We didn’t know what was going on. We didn’t touch anything."

I noticed they stayed outside as Chase and I went in. I wasn’t sure if that was because what happened wasn’t serious enough to call Chase and they were scared to come in or because they’d already seen whatever it was and didn’t want to see it again.

Chocolate was indeed everywhere. Not really the edible variety unless you like licking it off the floors, walls, and windows. There have been days when I would’ve done that for a chocolate fix, but that wasn’t the bad thing about this scene.

The Chocolatiers blended their own chocolate mixture (a dark secret) in a huge, stainless steel vat behind the main counter. In the dim light, I could see someone bending over the vat—a large, red, plumed hat covering him.

"It’s Cesar," Chase said. "I guess he had a little too much to drink before he came to make chocolate."

"What a waste!" It was all I could think of—until Chase tried to wake the eldest chocolatier. Cesar fell backwards out of the vat, splashing up another few gallons of liquid chocolate across us and the rest of the shop. He was naked beneath his extravagant, plumed hat, and covered in chocolate.