Deadly Fashion
Page 24
I took it out and put it on my finger. By some miracle, it fit perfectly. “It’s beautiful.”
“Your father had a ring of your mother’s he said fit you, so I used that to get the right size. It’s all right?”
My jaw dropped before I managed to say, “My father knows we’re engaged?”
“Yes.” When he saw the look on my face, he cringed.
“The ring fits. We’re engaged. And my father knows.” I took a deep breath. “Two out of three isn’t bad.”
Then I smiled and hugged him close. “In fact, it’s tremendous. I love you, Adam.”
“I love you, Livvy. Now if we can stop running all over for our jobs, maybe we can sit down and talk about a wedding. Please.”
I looked at the ring that symbolized his love for me and smiled. “That sounds wonderful. Let’s talk.”
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Also by Kate Parker
The Victorian Bookshop Mysteries
The Vanishing Thief
The Counterfeit Lady
The Royal Assassin
The Conspiring Woman
The Detecting Duchess
The Deadly Series
Deadly Scandal
Deadly Wedding
Deadly Fashion
Author’s Notes
I’ve been fascinated by the clothing styles of the late 1930’s for quite some time. So elegant. So sexy. So mysterious. And this led to my interest in Coco Chanel, a leading French fashion designer who reinvented herself at least twice, but whose styles were so timeless they didn’t need to be changed. She led an amazing life, including designing for the London stage and the American movies as well as taking a British duke for a lover.
I fictionalized her life and came up with Mimi Mareau. Unlike Coco, Mimi began a London haute couture establishment where the action of this story began.
I have to admit, pouring over book after book of clothing designs from the 1930’s while doing research for this book has been a pleasure. I’ve given Olivia my love of fashion, but I’ve also given her the flair to carry off wearing these styles and a talent for sketching them that I lack.
Again, I have to thank Jen Parker, Elizabeth Flynn, and Jennifer Brown for their help in making this a better story.
I hope you enjoy Olivia’s adventures. If you do, tell someone. Word of mouth is still the best way to discover good new reads. Reviews are also a good way to tell others about books that you’ve enjoyed.
About the Author
Kate Parker grew up reading her mother’s collection of mystery books and her father’s library of history and biography books. Now she can’t write a story that isn’t set in the past with a few decent corpses littered about. It took her years to convince her husband she hadn’t poisoned dinner; that funny taste is because she can’t cook. Now she can read books on poisons and other lethal means at the dinner table and he doesn’t blink.
Their children have grown up to be surprisingly normal, but two of them are developing their own love of literary mayhem, so the term “normal” may have to be revised.
Living in a nineteenth century town has further inspired Kate’s love of history. But as much as she loves stately architecture and vintage clothing, she has also developed an appreciation of central heating and air conditioning. She’s discovered life in coastal Carolina requires her to wear shorts and T-shirts while drinking hot tea and it takes a great deal of imagination to picture cool, misty weather when it’s 90 degrees out and sunny.
Follow Kate and her deadly examination of history at www.KateParkerbooks.com and www.Facebook.com/Author.Kate.Parker/
This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual occurrences or persons, living or dead, is coincidental. Historical events and personages are fictionalized.
Deadly Fashion copyright © 2017 by Kate Parker
All rights reserved. With the exception of brief quotes used in critical articles or reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without written permission of the author.
ISBN: 978-0-9964831-8-6 [e-book]
ISBN: 978-0-9964831-9-3 [print]
Published by JDP Press
Cover design by Kim Killion of The Killion Group, Inc.
Digital Formatting by Author E.M.S.
Table of Contents
About DEADLY FASHION
Praise for the DEADLY SERIES
Dedication
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Also by Kate Parker
Author’s Notes
About the Author
Copyright