Life for the staff of the West End boutique Christophe et Cie is hard enough with all the pressures of delivering the ambitious Mr. Bevan's vision—and then comes murder, a poisoning via the toxic crystals of hat-cleaner, pitching haute couture into heinous crime.
Faced with a fashionable collection of overwrought designers, buttoned-up models, downtrodden sales girls and tyrannical middle-managers, the dashing Inspector Charlesworth of Scotland Yard must disentangle workplace grudges from deadly motives before the killer can make a trend of murder.
CHRISTIANNA BRAND was the pseudonym of Mary Christianna Milne (1907–1988), a British crime writer who was born in British Malaya. She is best known for her mystery novels featuring series detective Inspector Cockrill, though she also wrote several acclaimed short story collections and authored the Nurse Matilda book series for children.