Table Of ContentGrave
Apparel
A CRIME OF FASHION MYSTERY
E
B
llen yerrum
A SIGNET BOOK
Praise for the Crime of Fashion mysteries
“Lacey Smithsonian skewers Washington with style.”
—Elaine Viets, national bestselling author of
Murder with Reservations
“Devilishly funny... Lacey is intelligent, insightful and
spunky.... Thoroughly likable. —The Sun (Bremerton, WA)
“Byerrum spins a mystery out of (very luxurious) whole cloth
with the best of them....” —Chick Lit Books
“Fun and witty... with a great female sleuth.”
—Fresh Fiction
“[A] very entertaining series.”
—The Romance Reader’s Connection
Raiders of the Lost Corset
“A hilarious crime caper . . . readers will find themselves
laughing out loud. . . . Ellen Byerrum has a hit series on her
hands with her latest tale.” —The Best Reviews
“I love this series. Lacey is such a wonderful character....The
plot has many twists and turns to keep you turning the pages to
discover the truth. I highly recommend this book and series.”
—Spinetingler Magazine
“Wow. A simplistic word, but one that describes this book
perfectly. I loved it! I could not put it down! . . . Lacey is a
scream, and she’s not nearly as wild and funny as some of her
friends. The story line twists and turns, sending the reader from
Washington, DC, to France, and finally to New Orleans....I
loved everything about the book from the characters to the plot
to the fast-paced and witty writing.” —Roundtable Reviews
“Lacey is back, and in fine form.... This is probably the most
complex, most serious case that Lacey has taken on, but with
her upbeat attitude and fine-tuned fashion sense, there’s no one
better suited to the task. Traveling with Lacey is both entertain
ing and dicey, but you’ll be glad you made the trip.”
—The Romance Reader’s Connection
continued...
Hostile Makeover
“Byerrum pulls another superlative Crime of Fashion out of her
vintage cloche. ...All these wonderful characters combine
with Byerrum’s . . . clever plotting and snappy dialogue to fash
ion a...keep-’em-guessing-’til-the-end whodunit.”
—Chick Lit Books
“So much fun.” —The Romance Reader’s Connection
“The read is as smooth as fine-grade cashmere.”
—Publishers Weekly
“Totally delightful...a fun and witty read.” —Fresh Fiction
Designer Knockoff
“Byerrum intersperses the book with witty excerpts from
Lacey’s ‘Fashion Bites’ columns, such as ‘When Bad Clothes
Happen to Good People’ and ‘Thank Heavens It’s Not Code
Taupe.’ . . . Quirky... interesting plot twists.”
—The Sun (Bremerton, WA)
“Clever wordplay, snappy patter, and intriguing clues make this
politics-meets-high-fashion whodunit a cut above the ordinary.”
—Romantic Times
“Compelling....L acey is a spunky heroine and is very self-
assured as she carries off her vintage looks with much aplomb.”
—The Mystery Reader
“A very talented writer with an offbeat sense of humor and tal
ent for creating quirky and eccentric characters that will have
readers laughing at their antics.” —The Best Reviews
Killer Hair
“[A] rippling debut. Peppered with girlfriends you’d love to
have, smoldering romance you can’t resist, and Beltway insider
insights you’ve got to read, Killer Hair adds a crazy twist to the
concept of ‘capital murder.’ ”
—Sarah Strohmeyer, Agatha Award–winning
author of The Cinderella Pact
“Ellen Byerrum tailors her debut mystery with a sharp murder
plot, entertaining fashion commentary, and gutsy characters.”
—Nancy J. Cohen, author of the
Bad Hair Day Mysteries
“Chock full of colorful, often hilarious characters. . . . Lacey
herself has a delightfully catty wit....A load of stylish fun.”
—Scripps Howard News Service
“Lacey slays and sashays thru Washington politics, scandal,
and Fourth Estate slime, while uncovering whodunit, and dunit,
and dunit again.” —Chloe Green, author of the
Dallas O’Connor Fashion Mysteries
“Killer Hair is a shear delight.” —Elaine Viets
Other Crime of Fashion Mysteries
by Ellen Byerrum
Killer Hair
Designer Knockoff
Hostile Makeover
Raiders of the Lost Corset
Grave
Apparel
A CRIME OF FASHION MYSTERY
E
B
llen yerrum
A SIGNET BOOK
SIGNET
Published by New American Library, a division of
Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street,
New York, New York 10014, USA
Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto,
Ontario M4P 2Y3, Canada (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.)
Penguin Books Ltd., 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England
Penguin Ireland, 25 St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2,
Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd.)
Penguin Group (Australia), 250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell, Victoria 3124,
Australia (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty. Ltd.)
Penguin Books India Pvt. Ltd., 11 Community Centre, Panchsheel Park,
New Delhi - 110 017, India
Penguin Group (NZ), 67 Apollo Drive, Rosedale, North Shore 0745,
Auckland, New Zealand (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd.)
Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty.) Ltd., 24 Sturdee Avenue,
Rosebank, Johannesburg 2196, South Africa
Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices:
80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England
First published by Signet, an imprint of New American Library,
a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
ISBN: 1-4362-4720-9
Copyright © Ellen Byerrum, 2007
All rights reserved
REGISTERED TRADEMARK—MARCA REGISTRADA
Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication
may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any
form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise),
without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher
of this book.
PUBLISHER’SNOTE
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product
of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons,
living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility
for author or third-party Web sites or their content.
The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book via the Internet or via any other
means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law. Please
purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage elec
tronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Thanking everyone who has helped keep my spirits up, answer
my questions, and inspire me in the process of writing this book
would be impossible. Please know that I am grateful to you all.
First I must thank my patient husband, Bob Williams, who is
my number one helpmate, friend, and supporter.
My sincere thanks go to Mary Ann Grena Manley of Project
Northstar, and to “Breezy,” for giving me insights into the
plight of the homeless and children at risk. Any factual errors
are mine alone, of course. I am also grateful to my editor, Anne
Bohner, and my agent, Don Maass, for their guidance.
I want to make a special acknowledgment, which I neglected
to make in an earlier book, to the teacher who first interested
me in Russian history. Reg Holmes made the Russia of Peter
the Great and Ivan the Terrible come to life with a great deal of
detail and humor. He is not responsible for any factual errors in
Raiders of the Lost Corset, Lacey’s previous adventure, but the
book benefited greatly from his inspiration.
