audiobook (~8 hours), cozy mystery fiction series

Fresh off a bad breakup that went viral online, Scarlet flees her native Florida to join her cousin Vivian in the family hat shop business in Notting Hill, London. Instead of her cousin, she's met at the airport by a handsome (but suspicious?) young man who used to have a crush on her.

Audiobook is skillfully narrated with British and American accents, and the plot moves quickly and purposefully (though it is less of a detective mystery than it is a cozy little story surrounding a murder and a disappearance, with relatively few clues leading to the conclusion), and there is sufficient chemistry between Harrison and Scarlet, if that is what you're looking for. ( )

Scarlett Parker has just arrived in London -- mostly to escape her home in Florida. It seems that a video of her has gone viral, and not a good one. So, since she's half-owner in her late grandmother's hat shop, her cousin Vivian Tremont has convinced her that this is where she needs to be right now. But when she arrives, she's met at the airport by Viv's business manager, Harrison Wentworth. There's no sign of Viv, and Harrison assures her that she's disappeared before (which Scarlett knows) and it's nothing to worry about.

But Scarlett knows nothing about running a hat shop, although she does have help from Viv's employee, Fee. Still, it;s not enough when she's visited by Lady Ellis, who insists she have the hat Viv made for her, but Scarlett can't find it. Lady Ellis is naturally upset, and Scarlett does find a beautiful hat that's been closeted away, and Lady Ellis tells her that that's the hat. Unfortunately, but this time, she's also promised Lady Ellis that they'll use her as a model in a photo for their shop, and the woman leaves, looking smug.

It's also quite of a coincidence that while out walking she notices a shop nearby that's about to open, and it happens that the man she meets, Andre, is a photographer. It doesn't take much to convince him that she should be the one to photograph Lady Ellis. So all is done, and they set out the following Friday morning to do so. When they arrive at the manor, the housekeeper goes to inform the woman, but they hear her shriek, and Scarlett soon discovers that she's been murdered -- and is wearing only the cloche she gave her.

Then things begin to get sticky -- it seems that Lord Ellis has been in love with Viv forever; Viv still can't be found; and there's a break-in at the shop. Now Scarlett, with the help of Harrison, is in a hurry to find Viv and find out who wanted the woman dead. But it seems Lady Ellis might have been the first victim, but Scarlett will be the next, if she doesn't keep on her toes...

This is the first book in the Hat Shop Mysteries, and it's a very good beginning. While it doesn't 'grab' you at the first, it does keep you interested enough to keep going, and I'm glad I did. I've never visited a milliner (they really aren't a big thing here in the states), but I would like to visit Vivian and Scarlett's shop, only because the description of the hats seem so lovely. I'd probably even wind up purchasing more than I could afford!

The characters are definitely something else - Scarlett seems out of her depth, but trying very hard to leave her past behind (not going to happen right now); Harrison is more than he seems at first, and Andre and Nick are perfect in this series - I love their sense of humor and Nick is a complete hoot. I'm still on the fence about Vivian: she might be a brilliant hatmaker, but just disappearing on a whim seems awfully selfish to me. I don't care about the reason; it's annoying. So I will have to see in the next one how things progress with her.

The mystery was done nicely. While there weren't a lot of suspects, it also made it easier to sift through them, and I do like that it wasn't extremely easy to figure out who the killer might be. When the murderer was discovered, you couldn't help feeling a bit sorry for them and understand the reason they were driven to it, while still knowing that it also made them unhinged at the last. Still, murder isn't condoned in any way.

When all is said and done, I enjoyed this book immensely. I loved the ending and the teaser that gives us something to look forward to in the next book. Recommended. ( )

I am not usually drawn to mysteries or romances with a paranormal aspect to them. I just tend to have a preference for realistic fiction unless I'm specifically going in for a good ghost story, which is seldom. However, this new series from Jenn McKinlay is amazing. The notion that their chic little hat shop is being haunted by the presence of their grandmother is only a very tiny portion of the story with no real ghost (think Aunt Dimity), but only a feeling or awareness, instead. I love the characters, even Scarlett who is a little dramatic and scatterbrained. I've already picked up the second and third in the series and can't wait to read more. ( )

Bridget Blogs Books for my thoughts ( )

This book is about a 20 year old girl whose name is Scarlet. In the book she goes to live with her cousin Vivian, who is a hatmaker in London. When she gets there Vivian's friend Harrison picks her up and explains to her that Vivian has gone missing. However they both don't think much about it because Vivian often disappears for a few weeks and then reappears with some new feathers or ribbon for a hat. Later that week Scarlet goes with her friend Andre to take photographs of a countess (Lady Elise) and they find her dead wearing only the hat she had picked up from the shop earlier in the week. Police arrive and the main suspects for the crime if Vivian, because she has been missing and has held a grudge against Lady Elise. Later in the book Scarlet is nearly killed by whoever killed Lady Elise. About 2 days later Vivian arrives and is put under arrest and then freed when Scarlet figures out it was Lady Chievers, who is one of Lady Elise's friends, she goes to jail and all is well.

I thought this book was very good, it had lots of suspense and I ended up reading it in one day just to figure out who killed Lady Elise. It nice to read a book that took place in a real place that I had been to, however Mim's Whim's, the hat shop where this all takes place, does not exist outside of your imagination. I loved the characters in the book, they are all very relatable. ( )