Jane Reads: The Brim Reaper by Diane Vallere | #Samanthapalooza! Tour w/ Review & Giveaway

Thursday, June 8, 2017

The Brim Reaper by Diane Vallere | #Samanthapalooza! Tour w/ Review & Giveaway

The Blurb

Former fashion buyer Samantha Kidd is in over her head

With no job prospects on the horizon, former fashion buyer Samantha Kidd convinces boyfriend and shoe designer Nick Taylor to give her a job in his showroom. When an over-the-top collection of vintage Hollywood costumes comes to Samantha Kidd’s hometown, it brings a hat box full of hype. Close friend Eddie is in charge of the exhibit but when hype turns to homicide, he turns to Samantha for help. Brimming with good intentions, she loops in the cops, but after one too many cloche calls, she’s soon in over her head. If she can tear the lid off the investigation, it might mean a feather in her fedora. And if she can't? She might get capped.

#3 in the funny and fashionable Samantha Kidd Cozy Mystery Series is a hat trick!

The Brim Reaper by Diane Vallere
Series: A Samantha Kidd Mystery, #3

Genre: Cozy Mystery

Publisher: Polyester Press

Publication Date: December 3, 2013
Paperback: 266 pages
ISBN-10: 0984965343
ISBN-13: 978-0984965342
eBook File Size: 640 KB
ASIN: B00H03A1MW

The Review

I just read an amazing book, y'all — The Brim Reaper, the third book in the Samantha Kidd Style & Error Mystery series by Diane Vallere. Let me tell you a little about it.

Samantha is helping her friend Eddie (a old high school classmate) with a museum exhibit of costumes, shoes, and hats collected from mid-century movies. After some trouble with the hat collection, they discover a body in the museum.

Samantha's new boyfriend, Nick, wants her to be safe rather than sleuthy, so she stays away (or tries to) from the museum and looks for another job. The only one she can come up with is showroom manager for Nick. But if she's working for him, can she still be his girlfriend?

Alas, her good intentions to stay away from the investigations at the museum are all for naught. [You're not surprised, are you?]. What ensues is a fun and funny conglomeration of fashion, mischief, mayhem, mishaps, shenanigans, clues, red herrings, sleuthing, and hats.

I recommend The Brim Reaper to all cozy mystery fans, especially those who like madcap caper cozies. If you're a fan of Gretchen Archer's Davis Way Crime Caper series or Diane Vallere's other series (Madison Night Mad for Mod Mysteries, Polyester Monroe Material Witness Mysteries, and Margo Tamblyn Costume Shop Mysteries), I think you will particularly enjoy reading about Samantha Kidd in The Brim Reaper.

I absolutely love The Brim Reaper, which has earned our highest rating of Five Kitties!

Five out of five kitties

Note: I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of The Brim Reaper.

All opinions shared are 100% my own.

Follow the #Samanthapalooza! tour!

Stay tuned tomorrow, for my review of Book #4, Some Like It Haute.

The Author

About Diane Vallere

I’m a former fashion buyer turned mystery writer, trading fashion accessories for accessories to murder. I was bit by the mystery bug as a kid reading Trixie Belden, Connie Blair, and The Three Investigators. Now I’m writing four series: the Samantha Kidd Mysteries, the Madison Night Mysteries, the Material Witness Mysteries, and the Costume Shop Mysteries.

The Margo Tamblyn Costume Shop Mysteries debuted with A DISGUISE TO DIE FOR, which introduces Margo Tamblyn, costume shop owner, who helps solve a murder after one of her clients is found dead at his own costume party (dressed as Sherlock!). MASKING FOR TROUBLE, the second in the series, was released in October 2016, just in time for Halloween. DRESSED TO CONFESS, book three, is expected to be released on August 01, 2017.

The Polyester Monroe Material Witness Mysteries feature Polyester Monroe, who inherits the fabric shop where she was born. Books include SUEDE TO REST, CRUSHED VELVET, and SILK STALKINGS. Each one contains a craft project.

The Madison Night Mad for Mod Mysteries feature a modern day interior decorator who specializes in mid-century design (studying Doris Day movies to get the look right). Books are PILLOW STALK, THAT TOUCH OF INK, and WITH VICS YOU GET EGGROLL. The fourth, THE DECORATOR WHO KNEW TOO MUCH, was just released in April 2017. A prequel novella, Midnight Ice, can be found in OTHER PEOPLE’S BAGGAGE.

The Samantha Kidd Style & Error Mysteries feature former fashion buyer turned amateur sleuth Samantha Kidd. Books in that series include DESIGNER DIRTY LAUNDRY; BUYER, BEWARE; THE BRIM REAPER; SOME LIKE IT HAUTE; GRAND THEFT RETRO; and PEARLS GONE WILD. The seventh, CEMENT STILETTOS, will be released in June 2017. (A short story, JUST KIDDING [free download at Amazon, Kobo, and iTunes], tells the story of how Samantha first met shoe designer Nick Taylor.)