Pleating For Mercy by Melissa Bourbon Ramirez
Family legend tells that Butch Cassidy threw a gold coin into an ancient Argentinean fountain and wished that his firstborn child and all who came after would live a charmed life. And the Cassidy women have been charmed. Oh not in any traditional sense. Harlow Jane Cassidy's grandmother is a goat whisperer, her mother can make any plant grow and her great grandmother always got what she wanted. Harlow's charm has not yet made itself known and she's thinking maybe the Cassidy charm has skipped right on past her.
Harlow returns to Bliss, Texas when her great grandmother, affectionately known as Meemaw, passes away...but that is not to say she gave up the ghost. Harlow opens Buttons and Bows, a custom dressmaking shop, in Meemaw's house and among her first customers is her childhood friend Josie. Her wedding is two weeks away and the bridal shop where she had ordered her dress closed, leaving Josie without her dress and her deposit. She desperately needs a miracle from Harlow, a bridal gown for herself and dresses for the bridesmaids. Harlow, betting her sewing machine can beat the galloping clock, starts designing.
One night while waiting with her mother for Josie to return for a fitting, they overhear an argument. The shrubs hide the participants and the voices are too low to catch the words but the tone of the conversation is very clearly angry. A short time later, a shaken Josie stumbles into the house. She found her bridesmaid, Nell, dead in Harlow's front yard.
With the help of Meemaw, who communicates by turning pages in a book, making a racket in the pipes and moving objects around the house, Harlow pieces together the dresses and sews up the murder. And in the end, Meemaw does have it her way. Harlow is back in Bliss and Meemaw's match making plans are heading in the right direction.
I'll be reading A Fitting End, the second book in the Magical Dressmaking Mystery series.
Family legend tells that Butch Cassidy threw a gold coin into an ancient Argentinean fountain and wished that his firstborn child and all who came after would live a charmed life. And the Cassidy women have been charmed. Oh not in any traditional sense. Harlow Jane Cassidy's grandmother is a goat whisperer, her mother can make any plant grow and her great grandmother always got what she wanted. Harlow's charm has not yet made itself known and she's thinking maybe the Cassidy charm has skipped right on past her.
Harlow returns to Bliss, Texas when her great grandmother, affectionately known as Meemaw, passes away...but that is not to say she gave up the ghost. Harlow opens Buttons and Bows, a custom dressmaking shop, in Meemaw's house and among her first customers is her childhood friend Josie. Her wedding is two weeks away and the bridal shop where she had ordered her dress closed, leaving Josie without her dress and her deposit. She desperately needs a miracle from Harlow, a bridal gown for herself and dresses for the bridesmaids. Harlow, betting her sewing machine can beat the galloping clock, starts designing.
One night while waiting with her mother for Josie to return for a fitting, they overhear an argument. The shrubs hide the participants and the voices are too low to catch the words but the tone of the conversation is very clearly angry. A short time later, a shaken Josie stumbles into the house. She found her bridesmaid, Nell, dead in Harlow's front yard.
With the help of Meemaw, who communicates by turning pages in a book, making a racket in the pipes and moving objects around the house, Harlow pieces together the dresses and sews up the murder. And in the end, Meemaw does have it her way. Harlow is back in Bliss and Meemaw's match making plans are heading in the right direction.
I'll be reading A Fitting End, the second book in the Magical Dressmaking Mystery series.
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