The Lanvin Murders

The Lanvin Murders by Angela M. Sanders is why I read books. I go through a ton of them, all because, every once and a while, I discover a gem like this. The Lanvin Murders is true entertainment and I have to hand it to Ms. Sanders for deftly handling the layering of this story. What I expected it to be a light, fluffy, Cool Whip type of read turned into something much deeper and more complex. A little bit of historical fact thrown in with accurate descriptions of the setting for atmosphere blended with a complex plot and you have a book that will keep you turning those pages. I also fully appreciated the way the red herrings kept me diverted and led down the garden path. This book is sort of the literary equivalent of the Winchester house that was built with doors leading nowhere and crooked pathways that ended up at dead ends. It makes tracking down the clues great fun. Joanna Hayworth is the protagonist. The owner of a vintage clothing store, she’s way more into helping customers find the perfect outfit than figuring out how a customer could have broken into her store and ended up dead. And it would have to be a client that used to sell her marvelous classic dresses that included a certain “to die for” Lanvin coat, but who takes phrases literally? Unfortunately, not the victim Marnie Evans. However, all this is enough to get Joanna’s detective wheels turning, and even a warning from her friend/employee Apple about “bad vibes” doesn’t keep her from becoming involved. The negatives? It doesn’t really have any. While the ending was more protracted and drawn out than I would have liked it to be, I forgave it because it did deliver. And the ending was more befitting a movie or film so perhaps it was done with this in mind since it culminated in quite a visual. What can I say? I loved the storyline, loved the quirky characters and loved the way this story is written. Because of all of the above, I heartily recommend The Lanvin Murders to those looking for an enjoyable, fast, satisfying read!

This is a fun read with interesting characters and good writing. I loved the main character, her quirkiness and spunk, and was intrigued by the story line right away. If you are the least bit interested in fashion, you will like the book for that alone, but throw in a mystery and some shady characters and you have the recipe for a good book. I'll definitely read more of Sanders' work.

Angela M. Sanders puts a new twist on murder mysteries. With a lighthearted tone despite the serious nature of the topic, Joanna, the owner of Tallulah's Closet, a vintage store in Oregon, becomes entangled in a decades old score between two groups of people who have held each other at bay for years. A coat left at the store is the key, no pun intended, to solving the murders occurring around Joanna. Although the plot moves along quickly, Joanna seems to be stuck in a time warp and it is apparent she is not quick on her feet. Although the murder is solved not all of the conflicts are resolved seamlessly. A worthwhile read that will keep you entertained and provide you will information about 1940's fashion. You may actually figure out the ending of the plot a bit before Joanna, but not much because of various twists along the way.

The descriptions of vintage clothing are wonderful. I loved the main character, Joanna, and all of her quirky friends. The plot twists were ingenious. And all of this was in a book that is imaginative and relatively clean - references to a character's past as an exotic dancer, etc. no sex scenes!

***Spoilers Here*** This book started out rather fascinating, vintage clothing store, the owner Joanna, dressed in vintage, decorated her home in vintage, drank from teacups with dainty linen napkins. She buys a vintage fur from an elderly customer, Marnie, then low and behold, Marnie winds up dead in her store (when it was closed) with the fur draped over her. So, the race to find out what happened to Marnie is on and Joanna, obviously much smarter than the police, begins her investigation into Marnie's past as a stripper, and hunts down her friends. Great, right? Enter-Paul, the dude sent to change the locks on her door after Marnie's body is found. While you think there is going to be a romance headed your way, Paul is a very minor side character and Joanna mostly pushes him away and you rarely see him until the end. Enter - numerous other characters from Marnie's past, to include a son she'd given up for adoption. Throughout the story, we are given vivid description of the vintage clothing, vintage jewelry, vintage furniture, etc, etc. which is great, but incredibly distracting. There were several times I became so wrapped up in the descriptions that I forgot what the mystery was and who got murdered (more than one here.). By about 70% I just wanted the mystery to move along. By the end of the book, I had more questions than answers. I'm still not sure why Nina killed Don or how the cops figured it out, I still don't know why Troy (Marnie's son she put up for adoption) wound up in the home of his biological father's (now deceased) window's home (that's a mouthful), I still don't know what the mysterious papers were that everyone was after, and was Franklin-the-plumber (Troy's bio-father) actually writing a history on his tribe? His professor wife didn't seem to think so, so what was that stack of papers on Ray's (Franklin's brother) table? And why did Joanna have to go from being a reasonable person to making stupid/reckless decisions towards the end of the book ? I hate when that happens with the main characters. I know it seems like a lot of issues, but the book was a good story, I just feel things regarding the mystery could have been spelled out a bit clearer.

Joanna Hayworth has a tiny vintage clothing store called Tallulah's Closet. A regular customer, Marnie, turns up one day with a beautiful fur coat by a designer called Lanvin that she wants to sell. Marnie has been coming to the store for about a year and in that time, has told Joanna a bit about her past life. She was a club dancer who had amassed a large collection of designer clothes from her admirers. Now, sadly, she is a painfully thin, chain smoking, wreck of woman who is reduced to selling her clothes to make ends meet. When she turns up in the store dead, covered by the fur coat, Joanna feels compelled to investigate. I was really gripped by the story and the vivid descriptions of the vintage clothes. Whilst not a fan of vintage clothing, there is a growing market for this kind of thing and the descriptions certainly prompted memories of the styles and fabrics of the past few decades. The characters were very well drawn as was the neighbourhood setting and the mystery was an intriguing one. My only reservation was that there were quite a few loose ends left untied at the end of the book. Whilst the references to the police officer who was a little too knowledgeable about the clothes were beautifully done, some of the references to both homosexuality and transexuality were, in places, a little too subtle and I would have liked to know a bit more about the clubs and their staff. There was also clearly some kind of link between Marnie and Joanna that was never fully explained and personally, I hate being expected to read the next book to find out more. Apart from this, it was a good, solid mystery with a fascinating background. A very good read.

The references to vintage clothing make this book exceptional. Look forward to reading more books in this series and by this author.

Captivating story

Hey, there! Here we are again! I have just finished reading the Lanvin Murders – Book 1 from the Vintage Clothing Mysteries collection, from Angela Sanders. Joanna owns a vintage store in Portland, and her life starts to get upside down after she finds a key in the pocket of a Lanvin coat an old women sells her. This woman is found dead, afterwards, and this is where the “thriller” begins. It is definitely not a deep and dense thriller, that makes you think who the murder is and every time something happens you wonder whether this or that could be the killer. It is a fresh book, very cozy and you cannot stop reading it, and I really enjoyed going through it; the way the author describes all the vintage environment of the store, the way Joanna dresses, it really pleased me. There is also a potential romance-to-be in the air, so it also makes the reading pleasant – I must confess sometimes I was willing to know the end of the romance rather than the end of the case lol. Also, a lot of things seemed not to be explained by the end of the book (Eve's store, what became of Remmick, Andrew, Nina and Troy). I am not sure whether these are answered on the next two books, but anyways I felt like I wanted to know more about the other elements of the story. On Goodreads I read a lot of people criticizing Joanna's personality, but I personally think there was nothing wrong in that sense… Honestly. So, although it is not a deep murder investigation book, as I was not expecting, it is quite a quick read because it really gets your attention. Recommended, but I must warn you it is a “comfort-reading” rather than a real thriller. I would, however, read the sequence undoubtedly. See you on the next trip! Denise

This had quite a pleasant kind-of-hipsterish, slightly more sophisticated feel than the usual run of cozy mysteries. Quirky works in this well-written book. The mystery itself is intriguing and well constructed and the fact that vintage clothing is integral to the plot is another bonus. I very much enjoyed the tentative relationship that develops between Joanna and Paul throughout the story, which avoids arch coyness and gives the reader a pleasant frisson. I was guessing to the end - about the mystery AND the relationship!