cover image DESIGNED TO DIE

DESIGNED TO DIE

Chloe Green, . . Kensington, $22 (252pp) ISBN 978-1-57566-665-5

Dallas O'Connor, freelance fashion stylist, continues to charm and amuse in her second frothy adventure following Going Out in Style (2000). After agreeing to do a risky if well-paid promotion shoot for an exciting new menswear designer, Dallas travels from her native Texas to Seattle, prepared to direct the models in their poses under some rugged outdoor conditions. Danger, she says, is her middle name. Dallas is thrilled to meet the design team of Tobin Marconi and Kim Charles, the partners in Tobin Charles, but on a lakeside location near Seattle she sees Tobin furtively accept a large stack of cash. The suspense level rises another notch when a silver Porsche roars past the restaurant, where the quirky cast on the shoot has broken for lunch, and plunges into the lake. Without hesitation Dallas dives in and finds that the unconscious driver is an internationally famous model with whom she once worked. He dies in the hospital the next day. Undaunted, Dallas keeps busy fitting the new models as they arrive. Green describes fashions in loving detail and creates an authentic picture of the advertising world with all the right lingo. Never mind the crime element. Between shots, the models and crew fill their time with clever riddles and "Name That Eyebrow," a game in which players must identify famous people from photos of only their eyebrows. In spite of several corpses and Dallas's own brush with death, this story is more funny than frightening and will reward readers with several prickly puzzles and some really good laughs. (June 5)