Book 19, 2020

[chez_jae]

A Passion for Haunted Fashion by Rose Pressey

My rating: 2 of 5 stars



Earlier today, I slogged through the rest of A Passion for Haunted Fashion, which is the sixth installment in Rose Pressey's "Haunted Vintage" mystery series. The story is told in first person pov by the main character, Cookie Chanel. Cookie loves vintage fashion, has her own vintage clothing shop, and she can see and talk to ghosts.

Cookie takes on the challenge of being the costume designer for the local theater's production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. There, she meets the ghost of Peggy, a young woman who was murdered in the 1950's. However, when a new murder takes place in the theater, and Cookie's BFF, Heather, is implicated, she turns her attention to investigating the crime. Goaded on by her dearly departed friend, Charlotte, as well as Peggy, Cookie bumbles around, asking questions and narrowly avoiding one scrape after another. Once again, I cannot for the life of me fathom why Cookie doesn't have Charlotte follow a suspect or listen in on a conversation, rather than doing it herself. Oh, but the author cleverly addressed this issue by revealing Cookie's opinion that Charlotte doesn't always pay enough attention or remember what she's overheard. I wonder if they all heard my eyes rolling?

Of course, Cookie's boyfriend, police detective Dylan Valentine, isn't happy that she's sticking her nose into things, yet he doesn't seem reluctant to share information with her. I also found it a bit disconcerting that each time Cookie and Dylan went on a date, Charlotte and Peggy tagged along. I guess ghosts have no sense of personal boundaries. In the meantime, Heather has grown utterly despondent and basically has resigned herself to the fact that she'll be going to jail. Seriously?!


- Cookie is scared when someone rings her doorbell. Gee, it's too bad that someone couldn't just, you know, walk through the door and see if anyone was out there.
- $19.95 for a dozen red roses?! I'm going to buy flowers there from now on.
- When Dylan begins looking into Peggy's circumstances, he mentions something about her body being found. However, towards the end of the book, there is a discussion about the possibility of finding her remains. *head desk* Editing, people.
- The climax happens when someone calls Cookie and informs her that the killer is hiding out in a cabin by the lake. When Cookie wisely (for once!) asks 'why don't you call the police?', the caller responds that the killer has a gun, will be watching for the police, and shoot them. So what does Cookie do? She goes out to the cabin herself, without calling the police, for fear Dylan will get shot! OMGuh. Dylan is a cop; I think he can handle himself in this situation. Makes me wonder how Cookie has lived this long. She has the survival instincts of a lemming.

These books are so inane that I have trouble getting through them. Unfortunately, I've bought these books, and I will read them, or else! I mean, on their surface, they're cute enough, but I just can't get over how vapid Cookie is, nor how no one seems to grasp the concept that the ghost(s) can eavesdrop without getting caught or, you know, killed. Aside from that, the story was almost entirely Cookie's ham-handed investigation. She's hardly ever at her own shop, and she barely goes to the theater to work on that project. Ridiculous.

Favorite lines:
♦ "It seems we have a bit of a pickle on our hands."
♦ "Apparently, people have things for hats around here."

The plot staggered rather than flowed, and Cookie is not a smart cookie. It made for a vexing read. Two stars.

Comments

[oracne]

That sounds annoying! Maybe save them for when you need something inane? Or do you just want to slog through?

[chez_jae]

I think I have one more in this series. Le sigh. I mean, they're cute, and I like the paranormal element. I just can't get past how Cookie doesn't make use of her resources--the ghosts!