Applying her Manhattan fashion sense to the sensibilities of a Long Island clientele, Kelly Quinn is setting new trends with second-hand name brand apparel—and finding killers with a deadly sense of style . . . The fortunes of Kelly’s Lucky Cove Resale Boutique are sinking fast—literally, as the weathered roof of her grandmother’s old consignment shop springs a new leak with every rain. She … grandmother’s old consignment shop springs a new leak with every rain. She hopes her latest client, overnight fitness and social media sensation Tawny Nicole, has enough valued and wanted items she can sell fast enough to keep her roof from crumbling down.
When Kelly arrives at Tawny’s home to appraise her attire, she’s stunned to find Serena Dawson, “the Dragonista of Seventh Avenue,” there. The last time she saw her ex-boss was when Serena humiliatingly and publicly fired her from her New York City job. Now Tawny is married to Serena’s ex-husband and is caught in the crossfire of some unfinished divorce settlements.
But when Kelly returns to Tawny’s the following day, she discovers her dead body—and Serena standing over it. Her former employer may be nasty and unrepentant, but she’s no killer—prompting Kelly to pick up the threads to try and find the real culprit . . .
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This is the third installment in what I find to be an entertaining series. Kelly Quinn just can’t catch a break. Her resale boutique is just barely in the black and she desperately needs a new roof. Things start to look up a bit when she signs a new consignment client but even then she can’t catch a break. After returning to the new client’s home to do yoga, Kelly finds her old boss standing over the dead body of her new client. Now, the boss that treated Kelly so badly desperately needs her help to clear her name. We’ve all had that boss where you think what it would be like to hold their future in your hands. This time, Kelly has that opportunity.
The mystery was well done and there are plenty of obvious suspects. But, as I’ve learned over my many years of reading cozy mysteries, the obvious suspect is not always the killer. I enjoyed the clues woven into the story and the challenge of trying to figure out committed the murder. I am happy to report I was partially correct in my guess for a change.
I love that the author threw in some unexpected twists dealing with Kelly and some of the secondary characters. This is the part of the story that I didn’t see coming, but I think it opens up a number of future storylines to see how this plays out.
I voluntarily read a digital advanced reader copy provided to me by the publisher, Lyrical Press, through Netgalley. The thoughts and opinions expressed in the review are my own.
The best in a strong series! How to Frame a Fashionista has Quinn hitting the jackpot when a social media influencer offers to place a large portion of her awesome closet, including a prime designer purse, in Quinn’s resale boutique. Naturally nothing can be easy for our young entrepreneur! She soon discovers a body with her New York nemesis, the boss who fired her from her dream job, standing over it! Author Debra Sennefelder balances Quinn’s concerns for the shop with her need to resolve the murder and makes both parts of her life compelling reading. Quinn and her friends are sure the win the hearts of readers. This third book in the Resale Boutique series is the biggest winner so far.
I requested an ARC for How to Frame a Fashionista because I have found the series to be delightful. It is my favorite book of the series and my friends and followers will be hearing about it because I loved it.
If the person who you formerly worked for was an absolute self-absorbed, narcissistic witch who kicked you out of your dream job suddenly needed your help proving they were innocent of a crime, would you drop everything to help them out??? I’m not sure I would go out of my way, but the main character in this story definitely would. The author has done an excellent job of developing the main character’s personality with an unwavering need to help others. This book really delves into that “need” in this book and unearths the connection to the past that has helped drive the character to help others and that is why it is so easy to connect to the characters in this series. The author has taken the time to really flesh out the characters and by doing so makes her plots that much more interesting than other books. I am far from a fashionista, but I love reading this series as I get a little fashion education, but mostly I get pure entertainment from the mystery that is woven into the plot. I can’t wait to see what happens next in our budding resale boutique fashionista’s future as this book left the field wide open for adventures to come!
A fun and interesting book! Kelly gets a consignment of designer clothes from resident fitness guru, Tawny Fallow. When she arrives, she discovers her former boss at Tawny’s house. The next day, Kelly arrives at Tawny’s to do some yoga and finds her former boss, Serena, standing over Tawny’s dead body. Serena is the obvious suspect and actually asks Kelly for her help in clearing her name. Kelly is reluctant to help, but after years of being flighty and running away from things, she ends up helping. Kelly is also having issues with money as her business is still struggling and the roof needs to be replaced. Her boyfriend, Mark, seems to be less than supportive of her as well. I really enjoyed seeing Kelly trying hard to change how she handles things and seeing her grow up and become more responsible. I look forward to reading more of this series and seeing where things go with her boutique and her relationships with her friends and family.
How to Frame a Fashionista by Debra Sennefelder is book 3 in the A Resale Boutique Mystery. This is a great series and book three did not disappoint..
There are plenty of plot twists in this easy to read Cozy. The majority of the characters are likeable as is the setting. There is romance and humor. This installment dropped a bombshell of a secret.
I was given an ARC by Lyrical Press and NetGalley for an honest review.
Kelly has worked hard to reach this point in her life. She went to college to study fashion and landed a dream job at a department store in New York. All was going well until her shrew of a boss fired her without batting an eye, not a hope of talking it through to figure out what went wrong. At the same time her grandmother passed away and left Kelly her house/business – a resale clothing store plus misc.items for sale. Kelly dives in and works to rebrand the store to become trendy and make more money. Let’s be honest, having an eye for high end fashion like a Fendi bag (it’s more than most pay for a months rent) nets a bigger commission than a whole rack of mid priced clothing from the shopping channel. Her fashion blog and other freelance writing help but her bread and butter rests with the talent she has at finding the big ticket items. These days she needs the money to stay even marginally in the black and to repair her leaking roof. When she meets her new client, Tawny and sees her vast array of OMG items she wants to consign…..well Kelly can see the roof fixed and a few bucks in the bank, too.
Not so fast – this chance at income comes with a huge catch in the form of her ex-boss, The Dragonista who fired her and changed the course of her life. Turns out she was the first wife of Tawny’s husband (it’s complicated) and the sparks are flying with those three. When Kelly next sees The Dragonista and Tawny, Tawny is dead and the #1 suspect is The Dragonista. Honestly, I would have walked away and let the police, lawyers and the court to sort it out but Kelly isn’t wired that way and she agrees to help track down the killer.
The mystery was solid and kept me guessing. We also learn more about Kelly’s family and her very unlikable uncle. Other revelations are made in Kelly’s various relationships and the ending left me eager to read the next book.
My thanks to the publisher Kensington and to NetGalley for giving me an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.
Upscale Resale Cozy Murder Mystery
This is such a fun series! I am far from a clothes-horse or fashion fanatic, but this is fun! Besides excessive fashion information, the reader learns about Fendi, Louboutin, and cute little red booties. The mystery plot is very good. The final resolution comes as quite a surprise. I felt like I was solving it along with our heroine. I have read the entire series and have really enjoyed each book. I think the reader could read them in any order and enjoy them as well as if they read them in order. I received this ARC book for free from Net Galley and this is my honest review.
Read 11.30.2020
I am officially done with these books – I have tried to continue on and have put up with the MC’s shenanigans, but this book was just too much. Every time the MC said she had learned a lesson and was going to be better, you could be sure that the next couple pages would be proving those statements wrong. And don’t get me wrong, I like nice stuff. I lived in several affluent NYC suburbs for 7 years and grew to love the finer things of life, but I have never, ever, seen someone as obsessed with that life and the clothes and shoes and purses as Kelly is. It is almost grotesque how much she covets what she cannot have [to the point of being willing to think about doing things hinkly to be able to get what she wants – no, she ends up NOT doing it, but its the idea that she even thinks about it. It is just wrong and obsessive and really, gross] and to be mad that she has to be RESPONSIBLE and put a roof on the business that is also her H O M E instead of getting that Fendi bag she obsesses over the whole book. That is not grown up behavior, it is not business owner behavior and it certainly isn’t the behavior of someone who is trying to reform.
Add in all the really stupid things she does throughout the course of the murder and investigation and you are just left wanting to smack her. Add in the new secrets she has learned about her family [and that is really unnecessary], her stupid boyfriend and her inability to truly learn, and you have a hot mess of a book. I didn’t enjoy this one at all. There was just so much of it that was totally unbelievable that it wasn’t enjoyable and by the time the reveal happened, I had figured much of it out. So disappointing.
Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Fun and interesting whodunit. The characters were entertaining and the mystery kept me guessing. I would so enjoy working with Kelly in her resale boutique.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. My thoughts and opinions are my own and without bias or favor.
Debra Sennefelder has another perfect ensemble with How to Frame a Fashionista, book three in the Resale Boutique Mysteries. There is so much going on in this book, we finally get to meet the Dragonista who fired Kelly from her job in Manhattan, Kelly is continuing with her self-growth, we find out more about Ariel’s accident, and Sennefelder drops another huge bomb when it comes to Ariel, Kelly’s friend from high school. And, of course, Kelly solves a mystery with a lot of help from her friends.
The Who Dunnit was a bit easy for me to solve, but I didn’t know the entire motive right away. But, as always, there’s much more to cozies than just solving the mystery. And Sennefelder does an excellent job with the character development, outfit details, and as mentioned before, there is a whopper of a twist in How to Frame a Fashionista.
Another great book in the Resale Boutique Mysteries, and while it can be read as a stand alone, it’s always more fun to start at the beginning, and in this series the first book is Murder Wears a Little Black Dress.
In the third book of the series Resale Boutique How to Frame a Fashionista was a wonderful read. Kelly’s Lucky Cove Resale Boutique is doing well except for the roof that is need of desperate repair. Kelly is hoping to get items that will sell fast from Tawny Nicole, the newest sensational fitness guru.
Unfortunately Kelly runs into her old boos, Serena Dawson, over Tawny’s dead body. Did Serena kill Tawny over her ex husband, Jason that married Tawny? Will Kelly help Serena prove that she is innocent? You will have to red the story to find out.
Debra Sennefelder did a wonderful job creating the characters with unexpected twists and turns within the story.
I won a kindle copy from Goodreads! The thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.
First of all, I enjoy a beach setting even in the wintertime. Secondly, I love a murder mystery that’s so complex I can’t figure out who the culprit is until the ending! Protagonist Kelly Quinn leads an interesting life as the owner of a resale boutique and a freelance fashion writer; not to mention the occasional times she dons her magnifying glass and steps into her Nancy Drew shoes.
In the third installment of the Resale Boutique mystery series, Kelly’s past rears its ugly head in the presence of her former boss, Serena Dawson, who’s in town to seemingly make trouble for her ex husband and his wife, Tawny, a fitness and diet guru. Serena finds trouble when she’s accused of murder!
The story is very interesting and selecting the killer from the suspect’s provided is very challenging. The author does a first rate job creating a seemingly simple plot then layering in a lot of subterfuge for readers to dig through to get to the bottom of the perpetrator’s agenda. It was cool how a resale item held the clue to the final showdown. Fortunately, Kelly has a great supporting cast of friends who assist her with her sleuthing research, and all ends well. I highly recommend this captivating cozy series.
I honestly reviewed a digital arc provided by NetGalley and Kensington Lyrical Publishing. All opinions are my own.
A murder mystery, problematic past, family secret and trouble with her boyfriend make for a bad combination for Kelly Quinn. On top of that her business is in need of some serious cash to make repairs. But Kelly forges ahead and makes some surprising discoveries.
I liked that there were multiple aspects of the story that were concluded by the end yet a couple left dangling to entice me to read future stories in the Resale Boutique series. Thanks to Lyrical Underground and NetGalley for an ARC. The opinions expressed are my own.
Enjoyable cozy mystery. Part of a series but works well as a standalone.
The protagonist is a bit down on her luck but is trying hard to get her business to be profitable-she inherited it from her grandmother and is working hard to modernize it. She also inherits an older building and has challenges with it as well. She has a good friend/employee network that adds to the story and the world building.
I was able to figure out the murderer rather early on but still enjoyed getting to the denouement.
I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley but any opinions expressed are my own.