I fell in love with this wonderful series last year, and Deadly Patterns by Melissa Bourbon, the third book in the Magical Dressmaking mystery series, is even better than the first two!
The town of Bliss, Texas is getting ready for the Winter Wonderland festival, with a fashion show being held in the old Denison house that was being remodeled for a grand reopening. But instead of taking care of some last minute details, Harlow Jane Cassidy falls on a body – literally.
Who wanted Dan Lee Chrisson dead? Recently divorced, Dan Lee had left his wife and baby son for Maggie, who works for Harlow’s grandmother. Was it his ex-wife, Raylene, or her sister, Hattie, who was heard threatening the victim shortly before he was found dead? The list of suspects seems to grow the more questions Harlow asks. The sheriff and his deputy son believe it was Raylene, but the ghost of MeeMaw, Harlow’s great-grandmother, asks Harlow to believe that Raylene is innocent.
As she nurses her cuts and bruises from her fall, Harlow tries to figure out who the murderer is, but all she finds are more secrets. As her relationship with Will Flores deepens, Harlow must decide whether to tell him her own family secret about Butch Cassidy, the infamous outlaw. Unraveling the threads of Dan Lee’s past leads to an old robbery by Bonnie and Clyde.
Is this about that robbery, or is it about an old poker game that caused Charles Denison to lose the house to Justin Kincaid? Was Dan Lee killed by his sister-in-law, who wanted revenge for her sister? Harlow must use the Cassidy family charm to solve the mystery before the murderer gets away scot-free.
Please forgive me, I’m not that good at writing a review. I loved the story. This is the third in the series, and with each book, the stories have gotten better. I love how Meemaw makes her presence know through the old pipes in the house, or by flipping pages in a magazine, or various other mischievous ways. Melissa Bourbon weaves a beautiful tale of a close knit family with an interesting family secret that very few people know about; they just think the Cassidy women are a little strange. There is a little bit of a history lesson in each book, whether it is about Butch Cassidy and his gang, or in this case, Bonnie and Clyde. I wish I was just as creative about describing the town of Brookdale from my Lizzie Crenshaw mysteries as she is with the town of Bliss.
Deadly Patterns gets two thumbs up from me, or five out of five stars. It’s available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
Author Teresa Watson 