Haberdasher Crasher

Last fall, I fell in love with Jenn McKinlay's Wait For It.  But since then I found out that McKinlay writes more than romcoms.  She's also a cozy mystery queen, penning three series, one each about cupcakes, books, and, yes, hats.  Being a clotheshorse, I went for the headgear, beginning my millinery mission with book one, Cloche and Dagger.  

Heartbroken after an affair with a married man, Scarlett Parker flees Florida for London and Mim's Whims, the hat shop that she and her cousin Viv inherited from their grandmother.  Yet when Scarlett arrives, she finds that her cousin is missing.  Not that anyone else is alarmed.  Famous for having a head for hats but not business, Viv often takes off for parts unknown in search of exotic hat-making materials.  Mysterious disappearance notwithstanding, I love Viv's enthusiasm for and commitment to her craft.  So I was charmed by McKinlay's description of her and her grandmother's artistic spirit:

"Mim had the same temperament as Viv.  They were artists first and businesswomen second.  I'd known Mim to get obsessed with a particular hat style or a color -- there had been an infamous chartreuse stage -- or if she'd found a vintage hat that she wanted to make over, it positively took over her brain.  . . . There was something spectacular and otherworldly about Mim when she'd been consumed by her creative fire." (37-38)

It almost makes me want to chuck it all to open a shop in jolly old England.  Well, except for the murder bit.  Things turn serious when the hat shop's most difficult -- not to mention titled -- customer is found stabbed while wearing one of Viv's bespoke creations.  For a cozy, the description is a bit graphic, and I had to keep telling myself to focus on the cranial couture instead of the stab wound.  Because even in the land of make believe, fashion serves as a sanity-saving distraction.   

Speaking of which, just for fun, here's (most of) my own hat collection:

None of these toppers is of boutique caliber, having come from Kohl's, JCPenney, Amazon, and in one case each, Doll's Kill and Modcloth.  But then again, none resulted in a fatality either. 

If only that dead duchess had gone with a chain store chapeau. 

Space Cowgirl Pearls: Cacti and Aliens

Cactus pillow: Kohl's

Sunglasses: Nordstrom Rack; Purse charm: The Tote Trove; Fuchsia bangle: Mixit, JCPenney; Green bracelet: Parade of Shoes; Blue bracelet: Cloud Nine, Ocean City; Ring: Making Waves, Ocean City; Yellow and green bangles: B Fabulous: Bag: Xhilaration, Target; Shoes: Katy Perry Collection

Albuquerque Alien Barrette Brooch

Top: Amazon

Blue and Yellow Blooms Necklace

Skirt: Vylette, Kohl's

Shoes: Katy Perry Collection; Bag: Betsey Johnson, Amazon; Sunglasses: Amazon; Bracelet: Amrita Singh, Zulily

Cactus Cassette Necklace

Top: Bar III, Macy's

Shorts: Nine West, Kohl's

Yellow bangles: B Fabulous; Mint bangle: Decree, JCPenney; Striped bangle: Kohl's; Beaded bangle and rings: Mixit, JCPenney

Colorblock Cactus Barrette Brooch

Top: Collectif X, Modcloth

Beauty Is In The Eye Of The Boulder Necklace

Shoes: Katy Perry Collection, Amazon

Skirts: Amazon

Bag: Betsey Johnson, Boscov's

Top: Mighty Fine, Kohl's

Boots: 2 Lips Too, Zulily

Top: Marshalls

Blue belt: Mixit, JCPenney; Silver belt: Boscov's; Big beaded bracelet: Francesca's; Green bracelet: Cloud Nine, Ocean City; Rainbow bracelet: Zulily; Blue bracelet: Arizona Jeans, JCPenney; Small beaded bracelet: ZAD, Zulily; Ring: Charlotte Russe

Purple top: So, Kohl's

Fabulous Felt Desert Barrette

Saguaro Scene Necklace

Skirt: Bongo, Sears

Cartoon Cacti Necklace

Shoes: Nine West, Kohl's; Bag: Olivia Miller, Amazon; Barrettes: The Tote Trove

Top: Mighty Fine, Kohl's

To anyone thinking, what's with this Jersey girl cranking out all these cacti?, I say this: if I knew the answer to that one, then I'd switch to pine trees.  But there's just something mysterious yet comforting about the signature shape of the saguaro.  It's like a three-fingered hand waving hello, a seasoned survivor of the sun-scorched desert signaling that it's going to be okay.  And that goes double for its little green friend.  Yes, this here almond-eyed alien head knows a thing or two about being tough.  

Albuquerque Alien Barrette Brooch

Appearing at a Phoenix funhouse near you, the Albuquerque Alien (which, I realize, makes no sense, since extra-terrestrials are meant to frequent Roswell, not Albuquerque, and Phoenix is in Arizona.  As for the funhouse -- just, yeah.  I'm powerless when it comes to alliteration), is primed to party.  And for the purposes of this post, so am I.

And by party I mean, of course, read.  I ordered Jenn McKinlay's Wait For It just because it had cacti on the cover.  This bright poolside scene depicts the desert of my dreams: lush, exotic, and heavily hydrated.  

The story itself was enjoyable too, a haters-to-lovers romance with some spot-on office politics mixed in.  (To be clear, the haters-to-lovers don't work together.  Their particular brand of tension stems from a landlord-renter relationship.)  Freelance graphic designer Annabelle Martin flees Boston -- and a marriage proposal -- to take a creative director job in Phoenix.  While the warm weather is a welcome change, dealing with conniving coworkers -- as opposed to just her couch -- isn't.  Still, extrovert Annabelle gamely takes on this added stress for the benefit of workplace camaraderie.  Although I didn't relate to her on that level, I did find her to be fun and colorful and wanted good things for her.  Also, I love that she took her cranky landlord to the desert to see a meteor shower.  Never underestimate the magic of moonlit cacti.  

And now for some vegetation found right here in Jersey:     

Yes, it's red leaves wreathed by pine needles!  It doesn't get much more Pinelands than that.  Seeing it last weekend in a parking lot made me 1) happy because, the wonders of nature and all, and 2) sad because it was a reminder that soon, if I want to make it to this or any other parking lot while it's still daylight, then I'm going to have to leave the house before four o'clock. 

Mother Nature -- cacti notwithstanding -- you are a cruel mistress.