Haute Mess

They'd be wrong.

My name is Dora Lee Griffen, and I've spent my life in the fashion industry, from my revolutionary 1987 collection to my current small shop just a block from my penthouse at the Royal Griffen Hotel. My family once owned this grand old building, back when it was still a proper hotel. Now it's luxury apartments, but I came with the deal. So did the fresh flowers in every hallway. Mother would have insisted.

When rising star designer Ethan Kemper is found dead in the building's sauna, the jammed door makes one thing clear: this was no accident. Someone trapped that young man and left him to die.

The police are investigating, but I have advantages they don't. I saw Ethan arguing with his business partner that afternoon. I've heard whispers about stolen designs, threatened careers, and secrets the fashion world would rather keep buried. And I've been in this industry for five decades. I know how sharp the knives are beneath all that silk and sequins.

With my loyal Boston terrier mix Pippa by my side, my best friend Viola offering advice of questionable helpfulness, and my own decades of fashion expertise, I intend to find out what really happened. Even if it means playing the confused old lady to get people talking. Even if one of my suspects might be closer to home than I'd like.

Someone in my building is a killer.

And I'm just the woman to unmask them.