Helpful Score: 8
I loved this book, which really surprised me because much of it concerns fashion, both current and vintage, which I have no interest in. [Hey, it's not entirely my fault - I grew up in a time and place where 'haute couture' meant your jeans and your sweatshirt were both clean at the same time...] But the author sold it to me and I actually found it very interesting.
The heroine, Madeira [call me Mad] Cutler, head design assistant in a New York fashion house is called home to Mystic Falls. Officially shes supposed to help her youngest sister plan her wedding and unofficially shes supposed to make sure there is going to be a wedding at all. An old friend of the groom has shown up and is acting like SHE is going to be the bride. Not good but Mad can fix anything which turns out to be a very good thing when she stumbles over the corpse of the usurper strangled with Sherrys wedding veil and it looks like little sister is the prime suspect. Of course she plans to fix this by finding out who really did the deed.
To this end she snoops, she gossips, she pulls strings all while going up against Detective-Sergeant Lytton Werner. The same Werner who in third grade she called little wiener in the school cafeteria a nickname he has never escaped even when he became a 6+ foot hunk. And, yeah, he still blames her. He considers her his own, personal thorn
And then her life gets really strange it seems that besides being able to see ghosts [her family home is a haunted 250 year old inn] some vintage clothing gives her glimpses into their past owners lives. While she finds this spooky and disconcerting, it does help her solve the current crime [and sheds much needed light on past crimes as well.] She finally breaks down and tells Nick, her on-again-off-again boyfriend, FBI agent and brothers partner, about the visions and eventually he comes to believe her. The trick is how to get the good detective to look in the right places without explaining how she got the information and without a lick of proof because she is definitely NOT telling him about the visions!
All this is going on while Mad is having her own personal crises she decides to quit her job, buy the old carriage house/hearse barn and turn it into an upscale [very, very upscale] dress shop selling high end vintage clothing and her own designs which will be named Vintage Magic. It comes complete with yet another ghost one that is handsome, charming, and fond of chatting with those that can see him.
A word about the sex in this book theres sizzle but all the actual contact takes place off screen.
Vintage Magic Mysteries
1. A Veiled Deception
2. Larcency and Lace
3. Death by Diamonds
4. Skirting the Grave
The heroine, Madeira [call me Mad] Cutler, head design assistant in a New York fashion house is called home to Mystic Falls. Officially shes supposed to help her youngest sister plan her wedding and unofficially shes supposed to make sure there is going to be a wedding at all. An old friend of the groom has shown up and is acting like SHE is going to be the bride. Not good but Mad can fix anything which turns out to be a very good thing when she stumbles over the corpse of the usurper strangled with Sherrys wedding veil and it looks like little sister is the prime suspect. Of course she plans to fix this by finding out who really did the deed.
To this end she snoops, she gossips, she pulls strings all while going up against Detective-Sergeant Lytton Werner. The same Werner who in third grade she called little wiener in the school cafeteria a nickname he has never escaped even when he became a 6+ foot hunk. And, yeah, he still blames her. He considers her his own, personal thorn
And then her life gets really strange it seems that besides being able to see ghosts [her family home is a haunted 250 year old inn] some vintage clothing gives her glimpses into their past owners lives. While she finds this spooky and disconcerting, it does help her solve the current crime [and sheds much needed light on past crimes as well.] She finally breaks down and tells Nick, her on-again-off-again boyfriend, FBI agent and brothers partner, about the visions and eventually he comes to believe her. The trick is how to get the good detective to look in the right places without explaining how she got the information and without a lick of proof because she is definitely NOT telling him about the visions!
All this is going on while Mad is having her own personal crises she decides to quit her job, buy the old carriage house/hearse barn and turn it into an upscale [very, very upscale] dress shop selling high end vintage clothing and her own designs which will be named Vintage Magic. It comes complete with yet another ghost one that is handsome, charming, and fond of chatting with those that can see him.
A word about the sex in this book theres sizzle but all the actual contact takes place off screen.
Vintage Magic Mysteries
1. A Veiled Deception
2. Larcency and Lace
3. Death by Diamonds
4. Skirting the Grave
Helpful Score: 7
This book was a good start to a new magical mystery series. It had lots of twists and turns for mystery lovers like me with just a hint of steamy romance mixed in. Although it was a little heavy with the insider fashion references and the main characters constant use of fashion related puns was a little annoying. All in all it was a fun read. I can't wait to read the next one!
Connie A. (jazzysmom) -
Helpful Score: 4
I really like series reads on occassion. Something a little less serious to dive into. This was a "hit the spot" book #1. It was fun and well written. I am now interested enough to search out the rest of the story. It is nice to read about vintage dresses, family and a little murder for frosting on the cake.
Sheila A. (mysterylady) -
Helpful Score: 3
Loved it!! I'm not really that into to clothes & fashion, but I thoroughly enjoyed the storyline and characters. Can't wait to read the next book in the series!
1st book in the Vintage Magic series.
1st book in the Vintage Magic series.
Helpful Score: 3
Had high hopes for this book, but I was disappointed. The exclamations used by the main character (a fashion designer's assistant and seamstress) were just too cutesy. Got really tired of "What the Hermes?" It simply felt unnatural. I'd wager if anyone really talked like this, people who had to listen to it would get very irritated after a while. Just too much of it.
The plot was kind of thin, the characters not fleshed out enough. Some of the sentences seemed disjointed; they lacked a good flow.
Not the worst book I've ever read, but I won't be getting the next book in this series.
The plot was kind of thin, the characters not fleshed out enough. Some of the sentences seemed disjointed; they lacked a good flow.
Not the worst book I've ever read, but I won't be getting the next book in this series.
Cathy C. (cathyskye) -
Helpful Score: 2
First Line: My father would never have asked me to take a leave of absence from my job in New York City if he could have handled my sister's wedding and the "Jezebel" plotting to preempt it without me.
Madeira (Maddie) Cutler takes a leave of absence from her design job in a New York fashion house to go home to Connecticut to help with her younger sister's wedding. Sherry is looking forward to having Maddie design a spectacular wedding dress just for her, but at dinner they learn that the groom's mother has an heirloom dress and veil that she fully expects to be used. Not only that but a former girlfriend is draped all over the husband-to-be.
When the Jezebel later turns up dead, Sherry is the prime suspect, and Maddie isn't about to let something like that spoil her sister's wedding. What she knows that most other folks don't is that she's going to have a little extra help: Maddie not only can see the occasional ghost, she can touch fabrics and see things associated with the clothing's past.
This is a light, fun read-- perfect for curling up on a cold winter afternoon. I loved Maddie's fashion- and fabric-inspired way of cursing ("son of a stitch", "wooly knobby knits", etc.). It shows a lot more education and imagination than the usual profanities. I also loved the bits that dealt with design and vintage clothing.
The mystery was a bit weak; the killer seemed very obvious to me, but all the characters clucked and scratched everywhere in the barnyard but inside the hen house. Me? I was enjoying myself and more than content to watch them cluck and fuss. When I need something light and fun, I know that I'll be able to turn to this series for a pleasurable read.
Madeira (Maddie) Cutler takes a leave of absence from her design job in a New York fashion house to go home to Connecticut to help with her younger sister's wedding. Sherry is looking forward to having Maddie design a spectacular wedding dress just for her, but at dinner they learn that the groom's mother has an heirloom dress and veil that she fully expects to be used. Not only that but a former girlfriend is draped all over the husband-to-be.
When the Jezebel later turns up dead, Sherry is the prime suspect, and Maddie isn't about to let something like that spoil her sister's wedding. What she knows that most other folks don't is that she's going to have a little extra help: Maddie not only can see the occasional ghost, she can touch fabrics and see things associated with the clothing's past.
This is a light, fun read-- perfect for curling up on a cold winter afternoon. I loved Maddie's fashion- and fabric-inspired way of cursing ("son of a stitch", "wooly knobby knits", etc.). It shows a lot more education and imagination than the usual profanities. I also loved the bits that dealt with design and vintage clothing.
The mystery was a bit weak; the killer seemed very obvious to me, but all the characters clucked and scratched everywhere in the barnyard but inside the hen house. Me? I was enjoying myself and more than content to watch them cluck and fuss. When I need something light and fun, I know that I'll be able to turn to this series for a pleasurable read.
Deborah H. (littlepine) -
Helpful Score: 1
The first book in the Vintage Magic series that is a woven mystery, laced with magic and a touch of romance. Highly recommended for a quick and fast read. I am looking forward to the next book in the series.
Helpful Score: 1
Nice first book in the series. Not as good as Juliet Blackwell's series Second Hand Spirits. Both deal with vintage clothing. I think Blackwell;s characters are more vibrant. With htat said it was a quick, pleasant read and I will read the second book in the series as well.
Helpful Score: 1
I loved this book! Mystery isn't normally my genre of choice, but the minute I picked up this first installment of the Vintage Magic series, I was hooked. Seriously--I went out and borrowed the next four books in the series (all that had been published to-date) from the library because I couldn't even wait for them to come to me through PBS! Maddie is hilarious; I found my self laughing aloud repeatedly, even when there were other people around to stare at me strangely. The paranormal aspect isn't really heavy, just an interesting spice to the story's recipe. Do yourself a favor and read it!
This was an o.k. read --- the town, city, characters were all interesting, liked how the past fit in with the vintage clothes but I had to work at finishing the story --- thus a 3 rating!
I just couldn't get into this book. It moved too slowly for me at the beginning and I felt no connection to the characters. Putting it back out into the wild without reading any more. Too many books sitting in my bookcase waiting for my attention.
Madeira Cutler and her roommate, Eve Meyers, are returning home from New York City to Mystick Falls, Connecticut, for different reasons: Eve, to take a teaching position, and Maddie, to plan the wedding of her youngest sister, Sherry. But Maddie is thinking of leaving NYC behind permanently though. With Eve not coming back to their shared apartment and her career as the first assistant to the fashion designer, Faline, sucking the soul right out of her, she is thinking now might be the time for a change. Seeing her hometown, her family, and hunky, on again/off again, beau, FBI agent Nick Jaconetti, reinforces her feeling that returning to Mystick Falls may be her future.
The girls arrive at the Cutler family home just in time for Sherry and Justin's engagement party, and swanning it around through all the guests is Sherry's soon-to-be mother-in-law, awful Deborah Vancortland. At her side is Jasmine Updike, Justin's ex-roommate from college, and the girl Deborah is pushing forward as a better match for her son than Sherry. But as the party heads toward a surprise reveal of Sherry's vintage wedding gown, Maddie discovers Jasmine's dead body upstairs in one of the family bedrooms strangled with Sherry's vintage wedding veil. As the police fix their eyes on Sherry as their prime suspect, Maddie, Eve, and Nick try to turn up clues to identify the real killer.
A Veiled Deception is the first book in Annette Blair's A Vintage Magic Mystery series, and it was an absorbing and entertaining debut especially with the fashion references and Maddie's newly-emerging talents in the paranormal arena. She is a budding psychic and has been having visions of the past when she touches certain pieces of vintage clothing. The relationships between the characters were what I felt were really magical though. From the barely-restrained steam between Maddie and Nick to the close sisterly bonds between Maddie and Eve or Maddie and Sherry, character interaction really shone with special emotion. I recommend this book for cozy mystery readers that enjoy a little romance and like (or, at least, don't mind) the presence of paranormal elements in their stories.
A very nice cozy mystery. I read it on a trip & it was great, light entertainment.
The right dress can be magic; the wrong one -- murder! From the national bestselling author of Sensations Witch series comes the new Vintage Magic mystery series, featuring Madeira Cutler. While opening her own vintage clothing shop, Maddie must clear her familys name when her sisters wedding festivities hit a snag: murder.
