When fashion columnist Lacey Smithsonian learns that a new fashion museum will soon grace decidedly unfashionable D.C., it's more than a good story-it's a chance to show off her vintage Hugh Bentley suit. And it's not long before the dapper designer himself spots Lacey in the crowd. A reporter at heart, she manages to get all the juicy details about his past-including a long-unsolved mystery about a missing employee. Could it be linked to the disappearance of a Washington intern or the recent Bentley boutique robbery? Lacey sets out to unravel the murderous details in a fabric of lies, greed-and (gasp!) very bad taste...
Ellen Byerrum writes the popular Crime of Fashion mysteries set in bustling Washington, D.C., The City That Fashion Forgot. The books feature style scribe Lacey Smithsonian, who wears vintage clothing and solves crimes with fashion clues. While she's always looking for a little respect and a better beat, Lacey examines and comments on style snafus in her Crimes of Fashion columns and Fashion Bites, included in the books.
Coming in February 2012, DEATH ON HEELS brings Lacey back to Sagebrush, Colorado, the scruffy hard-luck boom town where she earned her reporter's spurs. When an old boyfriend is accused of murder, she grabs her cowboy boots and heads West to prove he's innocent in the death of three women, all left barefoot on lonely country roads. The trip also tests whether Lacey has resolved her past romantic feelings.
SHOT THROUGH VELVET(February 2011) takes Lacey to a velvet factory in southern Virginia on its last day of operation where she finds a blue corpse in a vat of dye.
Ellen's series started with KILLER HAIR (2003), followed by DESIGNER KNOCKOFF (2004), HOSTILE MAKEOVER (2005), RAIDERS OF THE LOST CORSET (2006), GRAVE APPAREL (2007), AND ARMED AND GLAMOROUS (2008).
Two of Ellen's books, KILLER HAIR and HOSTILE MAKEOVER, were filmed as Crime of Fashion TV movies and aired on the Lifetime Movie Network in June and July 2009. They are available for download on Amazon.
While researching vintage fashions for her mysteries books, Ellen has collected her own assortment of dresses and suits from the 1940s, but laments her lack of closet space. Ellen has worked in Washington as a reporter, and she holds a private investigator's registration in Virginia. She also writes plays under the pen name "Eliot Byerrum." A CHRISTMAS CACTUS and GUMSHOE RENDEZVOUS are published by and available from Samuel French Inc.
You can find more about Ellen and her books on her website at http://www.ellenbyerrum.com/. Her blog is located at http://ellenbyerrum.livejournal.com. You can also follow Ellen on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/EllenByerrum and on Twitter at https://twitter.com/#!/EllenByerrum. Thanks for visiting.
