Copy Cap Murder (Hat Shop Mystery, #4)

by Jenn McKinlay

The New York Times bestselling author of At the Drop of a Hat returns to her London hat shop with a fresh tale of milliners and murder.


For Scarlett Parker, part of the fun of living in London is celebrating the British holidays, and she’s excited to share her first Bonfire Night with her cousin Vivian Tremont. Invited to a posh party by their friend Harrison Wentworth, Scarlett and Viv decide to promote their hat shop, Mim’s Whims, by donning a few of their more outrageous creations. The hats prove to be quite the conversation starters as the girls mix and mingle with the guests—never suspecting that one of them is a killer. 

It’s a cold, clear night, perfect for the British tradition of tossing a straw stuffed effigy of Guy Fawkes, traitor to the crown, onto the bonfire. But instead of a straw man, they realize in the heat of the moment that the would-be Guy Fawkes is actually Harrison’s office rival and he’s been murdered. Before the smoke has cleared, Harrison is the Metropolitan police’s prime suspect, and Scarlett and Vivian must find the real homicidal hothead before their dear friend’s life goes up in flames.

• ISBN10: 0425279588
• ISBN13: 9780425279588
• Publish Date: 5 January 2016
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Penguin Putnam Inc
• Imprint: Berkley Publishing Corporation,U.S.
• Format: Paperback (US Mass Market)
• Pages: 304
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780425279588

Reviews

[Mystereity Reviews]

The latest exploits of the Mim's Whims women has them going to a Guy Fawkes party at a house owned by Harry Harrison's boss. After an altercation, one of Harry Harrison's co-workers is found dead and Ginger Scarlett sets out to prove Harrison's innocence.

I dived into this right after finishing At The Drop Of A Hat, and there was a lot to like. The plot was very well done, I don't think I ever had a firm suspect in mind, and the culprit was a surprise. With that being said, the ending was too far-fetched and improbable for me to give it 5 stars. I did like that this book revealed a little more about Harrison's and Viv's pasts. Considering what an integral part of the story they are, there hasn't been much detail on them up until now, and the characters are one-dimensional. Also a shame, since the charming characters make the series as good as it is.

Overall, a great read and I'm already looking forward to the next in the series.

[MurderByDeath]

Well, what do you know?  McKinlay is back and writing like she used to!   

This is the writing I remember: great characters, London setting, really good mystery plotting and NO stupid love triangles, but what earns this book an extra 1/2 star over the last one is that Scarlett stops harping on about her stupid moratorium of no dating for one year.  She's still sticking with it, but by the end of the book it's all in name only.  I'll bet McKinlay will be stubborn enough to write at least one more book that has this resolution keeping Scarlett and Harrison apart, but at least we don't have to listen to Scarlett going ON about it.  The UK to US 'translation' thing is much more seamless this time around too; much more subtle and natural.   

I think my only niggle about the entire book was one of the final scenes, where the killer is revealed.  It's very fast paced, exciting, edge of your seat stuff, but it lost its credibility about halfway through; the killer is long past the point of no return - there's no coming out of the situation looking innocent, but the charade continues on nonetheless.  Once Scarlett left the building, everything else felt excessive and over-the-top.  Still, it was a damn sight better than a lot of the plotting McKinlay's done in recent books and it was a fun ride.   

The story ends on a very sweet, but not sappy, scene and I feel like my faith in this author has been restored somewhat.  I'll happily look for her 5th hat shop book and hope for more like this.