March 30, 2019 – mjbreviewers

I’m so excited to be a stop on the blog tour for author Gayle Leeson and her new release of Designs On Murder. It is the first book in her A Ghostly Fashionista Mystery series and i really enjoyed it..

Designs On Murder: A Ghostly Fashionista Mystery
Cozy Mystery
1st in Series
Grace Abraham Publishing (March 26, 2019)
Print Length: 229 pages
ASIN: B07MYCQJHB

Purchase Link

Amazon

What if you discovered your lively new friend wasn’t really…alive?

Amanda Tucker is excited about opening her fashion design studio in Shops On Main, a charming old building in historic Abingdon, Virginia. She didn’t realize a ghost came with the property! But soon Maxine “Max” Englebright, a young woman who died in 1930, isn’t the only dead person at the retail complex. Mark Tinsley, a web designer with a know-it-all attitude who also rented space at Shops On Main, is shot in his office.

Amanda is afraid that one of her new “friends” and fellow small business owners is his killer, and Max is encouraging her to solve Mark’s murder a la Nancy Drew. Easy for Max to want to investigate–the ghostly fashionista can’t end up the killer’s next victim!

Image result for retail complex clipart

The characters are well rounded and well developed. Amanda is hardworking, trustworthy and very talented in fashion design. It is no wonder that she decides to open a fashion design studio. Max is a ghost who happens to reside where Amanda opened her shop. Max is funny, quirky and sweet and she added so much to this story. I really like paranormal cozies so Max makes the book extra special. And I thought that Grandpa Dave was wonderful and I thought the relationship between him and Amanda was very special.

The mystery was well plotted and carried on well throughout the book. There were enough clues to sift through and a couple of very questionable suspects. There were also some surprising twists and turns that I really enjoyed.

The author is very talented in her descriptive writing and through her words I could picture the clothing being designed and the stores in Shops on Main. The writing style flows smoothly and the book is a quick easy read.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a well crafted cozy mystery. And if you like a bit of paranormal with your cozies, like I do, then you have to check this book out.

I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book provided by the publisher, Grace Abraham Publishing, and NetGalley, which I greatly appreciate.

Gayle Leeson is a pseudonym for Gayle Trent. Gayle has also written as Amanda Lee and Gayle Trent. As Amanda Lee, she wrote the Embroidery Mystery series, and as Gayle Trent, she writes the Daphne Martin Cake Mystery series and the Myrtle Crumb Mystery series. Going forward, Gayle intends to keep her writing until the Gayle Leeson name. She has a series of women’s fiction novellas set in a shopping mall that has been converted to include micro-apartments (the Kinsey Falls series) and has just begun this new cozy series, the Ghostly Fashionista Mystery series. Another Down South Cafe novel is slated for release in August with book two in the Ghostly Fashionista series scheduled for October.

Author Links

Newsletter sign-up form: https://forms.aweber.com/form/14/1780369214.htm

Website: www.gayleleeson.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/GayleTrent @GayleTrent

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GayleLeeson/

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Gayle-Leeson/e/B01NBSTBDU/

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/gayle-leeson

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/426208.Gayle_Trent