Missy DuBois’s Louisiana hat studio is the destination for Southern brides who want to make a fashion statement. But designing headpieces isn’t her only talent, she’s also got a head for solving murders . . .It’s not uncommon for folks to live it up a little too much on New Year’s Eve. But when Missy walks into her parking lot at Crowning Glory on New Year’s Day and discovers professional wedding … professional wedding planner Charlotte Deveraux inside a whiskey barrel, the poor woman isn’t just hung over . . . she’s dead. Since the murder weapon was an old hat stand that belonged to Missy, her customers are cancelling appointments and everyone in town seems to be turning up their noses at her. Despite plenty of intrigue to motivate a hatful of suspects, suspicion keeps falling squarely on Missy. All the more reason to clear her name—or the next veil she designs will come in a shade of black . . .
more
I was entertaining and a great way to spend time during Covid!
A surprise ending!
This author always delivers a good read. Always enjoyable.
Why This Book
I won this book through a cozy mystery group. I’d not read the author’s work before, but I do enjoy cozies and have family in Louisiana. I took a chance on entering the giveaway contest and reading it.
Plot, Characters & Setting
Missy is a hat designer who stumbles into crimes in a small Louisiana town. She’s ~30ish, dating a dressmaker and a true southern girl. In this book, Missy finds a dead wedding planner outside her store, killed with one of her hat-making tools. When her business begins to suffer, she investigates the crime, having successfully helped the local police on two prior cases. She also goes on a few dates with her dressmaker and another character, ultimately deciding who is better for her. When she figures out the crime before the police, she finds herself smack in the killer’s hands and forced to protect herself.
Approach & Style
This is the third book in the cozy series and is told in first-person POV from Missy, the main character. I read the ~170 page Kindle version in about three hours. Chapters are short. Writing is average, a bit stilted and formal for my taste, but still a good read.
Strengths & Suggestions
The story makes sense. The characters are diverse. The writing is clear. The setting is one of the better parts. In a world full of cozies, it has a place for readers who prefer settings in the southern US and mysteries involving clothing or weddings. For me, it was an average read where I enjoyed it, but something was also missing. It felt a little too formulaic without an ability to really attach to any of the characters. I also recognize that this setting may have been part of the reason I didn’t feel strongly about the overall series, and it may be better to read from the first book to get into the story. I might give the first one a try in the future as the mystery had several good components, especially in the red herrings and side-stories.
About Me
For those new to me or my reviews… here’s the scoop: I’m Jay, an author who lives in NYC. My debut novel, Watching Glass Shatter, can be purchased on Amazon. I write A LOT. I read A LOT. And now I blog A LOT. First the book review goes on Goodreads, and then I send it on over to my WordPress blog at https://thisismytruthnow.com, where you’ll find the revealing and introspective 365 Daily Challenge – words and humor. You can also find all my social media profiles to get the details on the who/what/when/where and my pictures. Leave a comment and let me know what you think. Thanks for stopping by. Note: All written content is my original creation and copyrighted to me, but the graphics and images were linked from other sites and belong to them. Many thanks to their original creators.
The holidays are here and everyone is celebrating throughout the south. Holidays are generally happy times until Missy discovers the body of Charlotte, a local wedding planner stuffed inside barrel Missy uses as a rain barrel. Certain she’s dead, Missy calls the police. The murder weapon? Well, of course it’s something Missy owns.
Due to proximity and the suspicion that Missy is to blame, customers are calling to cancel appointments which means lost revenue. Whomever is setting her up apparently plans to not only take Missy down but her business, as well. It is now time for extreme damage control and an even more extreme venture into solving the murder. The accusations are ruining her livelihood and threatening to undue all of her hard work building up Crowning Glory.
There is a distance between Missy and Ambrose not seen in other books. The relationship doesn’t seem as strong as it should be after books 1 and 2. The strain gives the relationship and investigation in Someone’s Mad at the Hatter a completely different atmosphere. The discord helps add realism to the story. Fortunately, this doesn’t overshadow the mystery and the slow burn of Missy’s business. Instead of being consumed by love or the problems, the book just continues on at the same pace as the others in the series.
I found the book to have a pretty weak ending, surprising me, since the endings of the previous books were great. The reveal of who committed the crime wasn’t the most creative. I’m not letting the disappointment turn me off from the series though. Plus, there is a bonus – I didn’t really know who did it so the ending worked out. The author does a great job in character development and world building. The vivid descriptions allow me to formulate the story in my mind as I read along. She also gives the reader plenty of viable suspects that I enjoyed investigating right along with Missy.
I look forward to the next book.
This is my first time reading this author but it won’t be the last! I loved this main character with all of her flaws and snoopiness. It was a fun read with a pretty good mystery and who doesn’t love a book set in the South? Fabulous food, fabulous homes, fabulous characters. Doesn’t get any better than that and Ms. Bretting captures all of them. Good job!
I received a free copy of this book and voluntarily chose to review it.
Very predictable storyline. Not recommended
Not very good. I don’t expect too much from most cozy mysteries but some are quite good- this one is not. The author keeps repeating things over and over and uses inane local colloquial phrases over and over. The plot – if you can call it that- was disjointed. The resolution of the mystery came out f the blue and could not have been reasoned from the story. So altogether it was not a good read.
This series just keeps getting better and better. The characters are really gaining some depth to flesh them out further and the humor just keeps on rolling! An entertaining plot that leaves you guessing as to which of the potential suspects is really the guilty party. I can’t wait to read the next book in the series to see what happens next to the cast as well as to how the relationships among the characters further develop.
I was wavering between a like and ok rating. Missy is a proactive sleuth, she was out and about talking to people which I like. I also like all the local touches Bretting puts in to give the reader a sense of place. However, the killer outs themself, a big no-no for me. The supposed romance with Bo (aka Ambrose) is really weak, so not feeling it at all (doesn’t get any better in the following book). Lance would be a more believable romantic partner if the author was willing to brave the biracial couple issue.
So, I was left feeling a little let down after reading Hatter, but not enough to not give the next book a try.
I received my copy from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.
Missy decides to go into work, even though it’s New Years Day, to take care of some things while Ambrose works with a client. When she arrives and discovers a body in the whiskey barrel she uses as a rain gauge she wonders who it could be and why dump the body there. It turns out to be Charlotte Deveraux, a local wedding planner that Missy likes and has worked with on several occasions. Things start to go down hill when people learn that the weapon used was a rain gauge that Missy made, and clients start canceling. She decides she can’t just stand by and do nothing so she jumps into investigative mode and learns that Charlotte had plans to expand her business, and that would have stepped on a bunch of toes. With an ever expanding list of suspects Missy delves deeper into just who could have wanted Charlotte dead. This was such a fun read, I love a well put together cozy and those set in the south are a favorite. They always evoke wonderful memories with their sayings, food, and characters and this one was no different. If you aren’t from the south you will definitely get a dose of southern life and will be tickled by all the unique sayings. I look forward to seeing more of these characters in the future and what life has to offer up next.