A missing charity fund. A planted hatbox. A flapper niece under suspicion.
Chicago, 1927. Evelyn Hart has two rules for running her millinery shop: always greet a customer by name, and never let gossip leave the counter. But when the parish’s Winter Fund for orphans vanishes overnight — and a Hart & Feather hatbox is found near the empty safe — gossip lands squarely on her niece, Lottie.
Determined to clear Lottie’s name before whispers ruin them both, Evie follows a trail of swapped tissue paper, mismatched timelines, and the telltale scent of bay rum cologne. Her search takes her from the cozy order of the parish hall to the smoky glamour of The Blue Canary club, where polite gangsters smile too easily and secrets trade hands like playing cards.
With the parish treasurer growing suspicious, a charming underworld figure offering “help,” and Officer Joe Morelli warning her to leave well enough alone, Evie must stitch together the truth before the Winter Fund — and her reputation — unravel completely.
A milliner’s hat can hide a multitude of secrets—especially in London, 1926.
When Vivienne Harrington agreed to design the Dauphine, she expected silk, feathers, and society gossip… not an oilskin packet sewn into its crown, nor a coded ledger that could topple half the city’s elite.
Now the shadowy Société de l’Oiseau Noir has surfaced, and they want their property back. Every whispered rendezvous, every glance across the auction floor, could be the moment an enemy strikes. With her friends drawn into a perilous game of misdirection, Vivienne must decide whether to hand the archive over, destroy it, or outwit those who would kill to possess it.
From the smoky corners of London speakeasies to the ivy-shaded west door of the Assembly Rooms, danger follows like a well-tailored shadow. In a world where a woman’s reputation can be ruined faster than a feather can wilt, Vivienne will need every ounce of charm, wit, and nerve to survive—because in this city, the most dangerous thing you can wear… is the truth.
Perfect for fans of Deanna Raybourn and Evie Dunmore, this second Roaring ’20s Millinery Mystery is a tale of glamour, deceit, and secrets stitched too deep to ever come undone.
