In this second installment of the Magical Dressmaking Mystery series, Harlow Jane Cassidy (descendant of outlaw Butch Cassidy) finds herself making debutante dresses for the Margaret Moffette Lea Pageant and Ball. The entire town of Bliss, Texas, gets fired up for this event, so Harlow knows that the dress she's making for Zinnia James' granddaughter, Libby, needs to be even more on point than her usual work. Fortunately, she's blessed with a certain charm (thanks to Butch, who has graced all the women in his family with unique abilities). Harlow's charm is that she can envision the perfect dress for the customer and then "enhance" it just right. The wearer needs more confidence? No problem!

The problem that Harlow has to deal with on a daily basis, though, is that her great-grandmother's ghost has decided to hang around the dressmaking shop. She communicates with Harlow regularly by banging on pipes, making floorboards moan, and turning book pages. This could be a fine arrangement if she didn't do this when other people were around leaving Harlow to explain these "incidents."

Things really heat up, though, when local golf pro Macon Vance's body is found with Harlow's dressmaking shears in his body. It appears that someone stabbed him to death with her scissors! Unfortunately, Zinnia and Harlow had a meeting at the hall where the pageant was to be held, and Harlow overheard an argument between Macon and Zinnia. Harlow sneaked out of the hall not wanting to be caught in the position of eavesdropping, but now the new deputy in town suspects that Zinnia and Harlow conspired to kill Macon!

Now, instead of just concentrating on producing a great dress, Harlow must prove that she is innocent. And although she has proof that Zinnia is innocent, she is determined to show that someone killed Macon. After all, surely someone else had a motive to kill the philanderer. This mystery turns up plenty of family secrets and intrigue, some of which shocks Harlow.

A FITTING END was a fun book, with the wide assortment of characters filling the page. At times things could get confusing but with a little concentration, the story flowed from one character to another easily. I enjoyed this book as much as I had the first one, and I liked the ongoing flirtation between Harlow and the handyman, Will. I'm not sure how I feel about the revelation of the rest of the Cassidy charm (I'm being circumspect so as to avoid any spoilers), since it seems that a gaping hole in the plot is left in the wake of this revelation. But I will continue to read the series to see what develops with Harlow Cassidy and her unusual family tree.

Book Summary

Former Manhattan fashion designer Harlow Jane Cassidy has a gift for creating beautiful dresses. But when Harlow becomes the prime suspect in a murder investigation, she'll need more than her sewing skills to unravel the mystery.

Business is booming at Harlow's custom dressmaking boutique, Buttons & Bows, even with the presence of her great-grandmother's ghost hanging around the shop. But thanks to the fast approaching Margaret Moffette Lea Pageant and Ball, Harlow has her work cut out for her when Mrs. Zinnia James hires her to make her granddaughter's pageant gown. With the debutant ball getting the whole town of Bliss, Texas into a tizzy, Harlow knows her dress has to be perfect. But when a local golf pro is found stabbed to death with dressmaking shears, the new deputy thinks Harlow and Mrs. James conspired to commit the crime. Now Harlow has to finish the dress on time and clear her name before the next outfit she designs is a prison jumpsuit...

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