Helpful Score: 1
What a great start to a new series! I absolutely fell in love with the MC and all the other characters in this book. Plenty of action and intrigue with good doses of humor. I highly recommend this book, if you like Jenn McKinlay's other series you are sure to love this one.
Helpful Score: 1
Really, really great start to a new series! As a fan of her other series(s)--I was not disappointed here. Great characters; great setting and great story! Cannot wait for the next one!
Helpful Score: 1
Jenn McKinlay's first foray across the pond is a success. Although her main character is half English, she's lived in the United States for most of her life, so she becomes acquainted with London at the same pace as the reader does. Once again McKinlay has created a smart, sassy woman with a sense of humor that kept me laughing out loud. Scarlett doesn't wait for Vivian's return or for someone else's invitation before she's out exploring Portobello Road and making new friends. She also doesn't wait to give dishy Harrison Wentworth a piece of her mind whenever he infuriates her (which is often).
Other characters, such as Fee the shop assistant, Wentworth, Vivian, Ferd the Bird, and her new friends Nick and Andre round out a cast that has a lot of potential. Even a reader like me who has an aversion to millinery can enjoy the information McKinlay shares about hats, their design and creation. Since this series is set in England, don't be at all surprised if there's the merest whiff of a spirit (and I'm not talking single malt).
Jenn McKinlay is one talented writer. She has me reading (and enjoying) books set in hat shops when I hate hats. She has me reading (and enjoying) books about coupon clippers and bargain shoppers when I don't enjoy shopping. This woman could probably find some way to convince me that I'm not allergic to pineapples and strawberries. I'm most definitely looking forward to reading more about Scarlett Parker and her adventures in London!
Other characters, such as Fee the shop assistant, Wentworth, Vivian, Ferd the Bird, and her new friends Nick and Andre round out a cast that has a lot of potential. Even a reader like me who has an aversion to millinery can enjoy the information McKinlay shares about hats, their design and creation. Since this series is set in England, don't be at all surprised if there's the merest whiff of a spirit (and I'm not talking single malt).
Jenn McKinlay is one talented writer. She has me reading (and enjoying) books set in hat shops when I hate hats. She has me reading (and enjoying) books about coupon clippers and bargain shoppers when I don't enjoy shopping. This woman could probably find some way to convince me that I'm not allergic to pineapples and strawberries. I'm most definitely looking forward to reading more about Scarlett Parker and her adventures in London!
"Scarlett Elizabeth Parker, put down the MoonPie and listen to me," Vivian Tremont ordered.
Scarlett and Vivian are cousins that inherited their grandmother's hat shop in London. Scarlett has always lived in Florida while Viv continued to keep Mim's Whims running in London. After a disastrous encounter with her boyfriend goes viral, Scarlett heads to London to get a grip on her life. She learns from childhood friend Harrison that Viv has gone missing before her arrival. Scarlett attempts to keep the shop open with the help of assistant Fiona and Harrison. The murder of a customer throws everyone into the investigation.
This is a very well done mystery. I love the characters in all their quirkiness. Nick and Andre are superb! It's interesting to see Scarlett try to think on her feet and keep the shop going in Viv's absence. I was hoping for millinery tips. Not that I plan to make hats but I do love to wear them!
Excellent start to the series. I look forward to catching up with everyone in the next book.
Scarlett and Vivian are cousins that inherited their grandmother's hat shop in London. Scarlett has always lived in Florida while Viv continued to keep Mim's Whims running in London. After a disastrous encounter with her boyfriend goes viral, Scarlett heads to London to get a grip on her life. She learns from childhood friend Harrison that Viv has gone missing before her arrival. Scarlett attempts to keep the shop open with the help of assistant Fiona and Harrison. The murder of a customer throws everyone into the investigation.
This is a very well done mystery. I love the characters in all their quirkiness. Nick and Andre are superb! It's interesting to see Scarlett try to think on her feet and keep the shop going in Viv's absence. I was hoping for millinery tips. Not that I plan to make hats but I do love to wear them!
Excellent start to the series. I look forward to catching up with everyone in the next book.
Great first in a new series. I enjoyed this one a lot. It has the 'cozy'-English Tea, hat shop, Notting Hill. It has the two young ladies who star as main characters (one is not present for most of the story, as she is missing). The other characters are charming, well described, and very fitting, and I even liked the male star of the book, he was interesting and the story line was not contrived as it sometimes is. Ms. McKinlay has a way with her words, and this is true of the word play throughout, with Scarlett (MC) and her new friends, as well as the shop intern, Fee. It has the slight oddity-Fred, the raven. It has London in the springtime weather. The whole book comes together nicely, and has me looking for the second one soon.
Overall I liked it, but there were a few too many pages spent on her flirtation with Harrison. I did not love the ending. But, it was good enough to read another from the series.
I really liked this new series. The characters were a good group I had a hard time putting this one down. Good story and liked the setting
Loved it! This was my first book by this author. I will definitely read more.
This review from another person says exactly what I would about the book. So I am giving them credit, and using their review.
Credit: drebbles (Arlington, MA USA)
This review is from: Cloche and Dagger (A Hat Shop Mystery) (Mass Market Paperback)
Scarlett Parker has fled to England after her very public breakdown was caught on film and went viral. She is hoping to lay low in England working in the hat shop she and her cousin Viv inherited from their grandmother. Unfortunately, things in England aren't quiet - Viv is missing, Scarlett stumbles across a murder victim, and someone is targeting her and the hat shop. Scarlett is in real danger and fears that Viv is too. Can Scarlett solve both the murder and the disappearance of her cousin?
"Cloche and Dagger" is the first book in Jenn McKinlay's Hat Shop cozy mystery series and the series already looks like a winner. I love the premise and set up. Scarlett is a well-written and sympathetic character. McKinlay takes a big gamble in having Viv gone for a large part of the book (it can be hard to care about a character we haven't even met) but she pulls it off quite well. I love the descriptions of the hats - I am a hat person and I could easily picture them and they sounded gorgeous. I also like the side characters - Harrison (he and Scarlett have great chemistry) and the (almost inevitable in a cozy mystery) gay sidekicks Andre and Nick. There is a running gag in the book involving puns that adds a lot of humor to the book without becoming annoying. But what really makes this book such a delight to read is the intricate plotting of the mystery - I was completely fooled by some of the red herrings McKinlay put in the book. This is my favorite type of mystery where, as plot twists are revealed, you find yourself flipping back and rereading certain passages in the book and realize how expertly McKinlay pulled the wool over your eyes. This couldn't have been easy to write and is extremely well done.
"Cloche and Dagger" is an excellent cozy mystery and I look forward to the next book in the series.
Credit: drebbles (Arlington, MA USA)
This review is from: Cloche and Dagger (A Hat Shop Mystery) (Mass Market Paperback)
Scarlett Parker has fled to England after her very public breakdown was caught on film and went viral. She is hoping to lay low in England working in the hat shop she and her cousin Viv inherited from their grandmother. Unfortunately, things in England aren't quiet - Viv is missing, Scarlett stumbles across a murder victim, and someone is targeting her and the hat shop. Scarlett is in real danger and fears that Viv is too. Can Scarlett solve both the murder and the disappearance of her cousin?
"Cloche and Dagger" is the first book in Jenn McKinlay's Hat Shop cozy mystery series and the series already looks like a winner. I love the premise and set up. Scarlett is a well-written and sympathetic character. McKinlay takes a big gamble in having Viv gone for a large part of the book (it can be hard to care about a character we haven't even met) but she pulls it off quite well. I love the descriptions of the hats - I am a hat person and I could easily picture them and they sounded gorgeous. I also like the side characters - Harrison (he and Scarlett have great chemistry) and the (almost inevitable in a cozy mystery) gay sidekicks Andre and Nick. There is a running gag in the book involving puns that adds a lot of humor to the book without becoming annoying. But what really makes this book such a delight to read is the intricate plotting of the mystery - I was completely fooled by some of the red herrings McKinlay put in the book. This is my favorite type of mystery where, as plot twists are revealed, you find yourself flipping back and rereading certain passages in the book and realize how expertly McKinlay pulled the wool over your eyes. This couldn't have been easy to write and is extremely well done.
"Cloche and Dagger" is an excellent cozy mystery and I look forward to the next book in the series.
