Book 103, 2025

[chez_jae]

Costumes & Cadavers by Katherine H. Brown

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


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I read an e-novella last night--Costumes & Cadavers by Katherine H Brown. It’s the first in the “Sassy Supplies” series of cozy mysteries. The main character is Charity Basham, who owns the craft shop, Sassy Supplies.

When Charity hosts a Halloween party, she is puzzled when people compliment the skeleton in her back yard. Charity didn’t place a skeleton back there. Instead, it’s a dead body in costume, and since Charity’s fingerprints are on the murder weapon and it came from her shop, she’s a suspect. Determined to clear her name, Charity searches her records to see who may have bought one of those X-acto knives, but her sleuthing puts her in the sights of a killer.

This was cute and fun and perfect for Halloween, but it was too short to get much of a feel for any of the characters. The plot was smooth, despite its brevity. However, it was somewhat simplistic. Good reading for young adults.

Favorite lines:
♦ Being a cat owner was not great for self-esteem, that’s for sure.
♦ It spoke sad volumes about humanity when murder is better for business than advertising.

Okay, but just okay. Average score of three.


1. Does the mc work at/as one of the following: baker/bakery/sweet shop/tea shop/coffee shop, library/librarian, antique/vintage shop, book store, fashion/boutique, bed & breakfast? No, she owns a craft store.
2. Does the mc live at her (or his) place of occupation? No
3. Is the love interest involved in law enforcement? (Police officer, sheriff, detective, PI, FBI) Yes, she is interested in the detective.
4. Does the mc have a dog/cat as a pet? Yes, a cat
5. Is the mc's BFF either a gay guy or a ditzy/zany woman? No BFF was mentioned
6. Did the mc find the body? Not exactly, but she’s the one who discovered it WAS a body.
7. Did the mc wind up in mortal danger at the end of the book? Yes
8. Is the mc's mother either: dead, absent, far removed, ditzy and dithering, or overbearing/disapproving/meddling? Yes...I guess? I don’t recall any mention of her mother.
9. If mother is dead/absent, does the mc have another mother-figure (grandmother, aunt, mom's friend, or an older friend)? NA
10. Is the mc child-free? (Either no children or else grown children--i.e. no small children to look after) Yes