In Deadly Fashion

The ferociously competitive fashion scene of 19th-century New York City makes a delicious backdrop for Simpson’s excellent latest Gilded Age mystery (after Death Takes the Lead). In 1891, Prudence MacKenzie, an heiress turned lawyer and PI, is weeks away from marrying ex-Pinkerton agent Geoffrey Hunter when Brenda Leavitt, the seamstress working on Prudence’s wedding gown, is found murdered. After a bit of poking around, Prudence comes to suspect the true target might have been Brenda’s employer, the talented couturiere Madame Regine, who has been attracting too much attention in Manhattan’s insular dressmaking community to keep explosive secrets from her past in Paris under wraps. Geoffrey’s Southern roots prove just as problematic when a long-lost adversary shows up in his life once more. Simpson’s plot gallops along confidently as suspects emerge and fortunes reverse, but it’s the well-drawn supporting players who make it sing. As the main cast of blue bloods play their games, corrupt police officers and desperate workers circle the action, allowing Simpson to deepen her social portraiture without sacrificing genre thrills. With immersive detail, three-dimensional characters, and walloping surprises, this is a cut above the standard historical whodunit. Agent: Jessica Faust, BookEnds Literary. (Oct.)