A Disguise to Die For by Diane Vallere is the first book in the NEW “Costume Shop” mystery series. Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime, February 2016

Someone is dressed to kill in the debut Costume Shop Mystery from the national bestselling author of the Material Witness mysteries.

No sooner does former magician’s assistant Margo Tamblyn return home to Proper City, Nevada, to run Disguise DeLimit, her family’s costume shop, than she gets her first big order. Wealthy nuisance Blitz Manners needs forty costumes for a detective-themed birthday bash. As for Blitz himself, his Sherlock Holmes is to die for—literally—when, in the middle of the festivities, Margo’s friend and party planner Ebony Welles is caught brandishing a carving knife over a very dead Blitz.

For Margo, clearing Ebony’s name is anything but elementary, especially after Ebony flees town. Now Margo is left to play real-life detective in a town full of masked motives, cloaked secrets, and veiled vendettas. But as she soon learns, even a killer disguise can’t hide a murderer in plain sight for long.

Every time I read a book from Diane I know it’s going to be a fashionable hit and her latest entry is a runway splash. Imagine when the woman who means the world to you becomes a prime suspect, what are you to do? For Margo, it’s to clear her friend’s name and bring a killer to justice.

This was a very enjoyable read and I love how the author’s characterization is developed, so much so that I felt that I was part of the action in this fast-paced drama that quickly became a page-turner as I had to know how this all will play out. The author did a great job in disguising the clues with plenty of suspects, including a killer that was hiding in plain sight. I enjoyed how nicely the mystery was executed with engaging dialogue, a lovable cast of characters, and a perfect backdrop of a costume shop that added to how the story was told, becoming its own player. The humor contained within the pages of this tale was an added bonus. This is a great debut and I look forward to more fashionista adventures with Margo and her friends in the next book in this wonderfully crafted series. Bonus recipes are included.