Death of a Mad Hatter

In McKinlay’s delightful second Hat Shop mystery (after 2013’s Cloche and Dagger), a wealthy widow places a large, quirky order at Mim’s Whims, the London hat shop that Scarlett Parker and her cousin, Vivian Tremont, inherited from their grandmother. Scarlett and Viv’s satisfaction in completing the hats, however, is marred with the demise of the widow’s son, Geoffrey Grisby, who was poisoned while wearing one of their creations on his head. Scarlett discovers that any number of relatives might have wanted the mean, prissy Geoffrey dead. Meanwhile, other mysteries hover about the cousins’ shop. Is their grandmother haunting Mim’s Whims? Why does Viv refuse to tell Scarlett anything about her love life? And will Scarlett find romance with her dashing childhood friend and the store’s business manager, Harrison Wentworth, or will she stubbornly maintain her pledge to avoid dating for a year? Cozy fans will eagerly await Hat Shop #3. [em]Agent: Jessica Faust, BookEnds. (May) [/em]