“Vivien’s Bridal Creations Found at Murder Scenes
Mid-century glam meets murder mayhem in a series of cozy mysteries at Wynton’s Department Store.
It is 1956 in Levi City, Florida. Vivien Sheffield, renowned bridal gown designer and consultant for Wynton’s Department Store, is facing the greatest challenge of her career. Someone has been killing brides who wore one of her custom gowns in their wedding! Vivien’s fellow employees and close friends—Audrey, Mary Jo, and Gigi—and her assistant Mirette spring into action to save Miss Vivien and the young brides of Levy City before the murderer succeeds at destroying Vivien’s business at Wynton’s. . .and her reputation.”
Series: Book #2 in the “Women of Wynton’s Mystery” series. Review of Book #1 Here!
Spiritual Content- A Scripture is remembered; Some prayers & Thanking God; Some 'H's are capital when referring to God; Mentions of God; Mentions of prayers, praying, & Thanking God; Mentions of churches, church going, a pastor, & Sunday school classes (including for funerals); Mentions of the Ten Commandments (mostly to honor one’s father and mother); A mention of “fixing it” with the Lord so someone knows where she’s going when she dies; A mention of the “pearly gates”; A mention of Vivien’s father telling her that discussing religion or politics was the best way to lose a friend;
*Note: Mentions of luck.
Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘golly’, an ‘oh my stars’, two ‘ever-loving’s, two ‘good grief’s, two ‘idiot’s, two ‘oh my word’, three ‘dumb’s, four ‘gosh’s, and four ‘stupid’s; Some eye rolling; Finding a murdered body (someone who was ran-over/hit by a car), Someone else seriously injured, & Blood/Bleeding (up to semi-detailed); Seeing grieving families (including mothers for their daughters, up to semi-detailed); Mary Jo tries to encourage her husband through his recovery, but he gives her and their daughters the silent treatment for some time; Mary Jo also tells another character about sometimes playing with the idea of running away to a place where no one wants something from her & the other character encourages her about being a wife and mother; All about & Many mentions of murders, how they happened, the bodies, the weapons, crimes, crime scenes, & the murderer (four murders all where the woman is bludgeoned to death, up to semi-detailed); Many mentions of deaths & grief (including mothers for their daughters who were murdered, up to semi-detailed); Mentions of murders & events from Book #1 (including who the murderer was in that book, stealing, & being locked in jail); Mentions of a death, hit-and-run, someone being hit by a car, someone being hit and attacked, injuries, & blood/bleeding; Mentions of wars & some of the men who fought overseas not wanting to talk about it; Mentions of a robbery, thief, stealing, & prisons/jail time; Mentions of an ill family member (a father; including going to the hospital and coughing up blood); Mentions of Mary Jo’s husband who was in a construction accident and lost his right arm & her having to become the breadwinner of the family (including his bitterness about the situation, negative comments about him from her mother, him being in dark moods, & some others seeing him as a “cripple”); Mentions of cocktails & champagne at parties; Mentions of lies & lying; Mentions of hatred & jealousy (including a sister putting down her sister meanly); Mentions of gossip & rumors; Mentions of hunting & hunting trips; A few mentions of nightclubs; A few mentions of smoking, cigarettes, & cigars; A few mentions of divorces (including Gigi who has been divorced twice); A few mentions of throwing up; A couple mentions of bullies & kids being teased at school; A couple mentions of poker; A mention of a child dying from scarlet fever (a sibling); A mention of con-artists; A mention of vandalism; A mention of someone looking like someone else “just shot their dog”;
*Note: Discussions about someone who could have a grudge against wives and marriage (with strong hatred); A comment about a man letting his wife and daughter “wear the pants” in their home; A woman comments about not wanting to give her “best years or her brain to a man” (which is what would happen if she got married, according to her); Gigi has low self-confidence (also called an inferiority complex), compares herself to others, feels as if other clerks look down on her, & negatively comments on her appearance and build (which Audrey tries to help and tells her that she is her own worst enemy); Mary Jo has a strained relationship with her mother due to her husband not working and Mary Jo having to work to provide for their family (she harps on and bashes Mary Jo, *Spoiler* so much so that Mary Jo’s husband gets enough of her being treated that way and wants to get better to show her mother that she’s wrong *End of Spoiler*); Racial comments and observations are made based on the time-period (such as: Black employees being treated rudely or nitpicked at their jobs; How “Coloreds” aren’t allowed in the department store without a note from a white employer and any workers from the store has to go through the back; Seeing Coloreds wait to board the buses until after the white people have gotten on and then having to wait to get off last; Gigi complements a Black girl’s outfit on the bus and another white person makes a disapproving face; Gigi notes that “the rules for no interaction between the races were set in stone” in her city; A side character has difficulty getting to her job at the department store due to a security guard not allowing her in; A group of Black employees are physically forced off of a bus because there wasn’t enough space for the white people that wanted on and didn’t receive a refund from the bus company; Gigi thinks about how most times she never thought about the difference in skin color compared to her Black friend or other Black employees, but when something happens, the divide between Black and white split further with her wishing she knew how to make it where they can all be people together; A story is relayed about a white rich girl ordering a Black man like “he was her dog” and that she didn’t want to be at a Color’s station all day; Mentions of protests demanding change and The Klan burning crosses on a campus for allowing a Black woman to be entered into a university and riots happening (Autherine Lucy); Gigi wishes she could invite her friend to her apartment, but knows her landlady wouldn’t let her set foot in the door unless she was the help; The Black employees at Wynton’s not being allowed in the parking garage; A woman asks if a Black girl is with Vivien, ignoring the girl completely; The author’s note at the end of the book also has more information about segregation, racism, and “unfair social practices”); A side character had polio as a child and it’s noted that her family lived through “quarantine and shunning” including from other parents fearing that their children will catch the disease from her (The character refers to her affected leg as “dumb” and “weird”; She is also referred to as a “cripple”); Many mentions of brand names & items (Revlon, Estée Lauder, Youth Dew perfume, L’Air du Temps, Chanel No 5, Lady Dior, Baccarat, Evening in Paris, Woodbury, Cashmere Bouquet, Cutex, Helena Rubinstein, Charles of the Ritz, Max Factor, Elizabeth Arden, Dubarry, Shalimar, Monet necklace, Rodier, Traina-Norell, Dior, Givenchy, Charles James, Emeraude, Marc Cross, Chanel, Ann Lowe, Claire McCardell, Jeanne Lanvin, Trifari, Noxema, Pond’s cold cream, Hamilton Beach, Joy dish soap, McCall’s, Maxwell House coffee, Coke, Wonder Bread, Pepto-Bismol, Tums, Formica, Greyhound buses, & Miss Revlon dolls); Mentions of magazines (Brides, Modern Brides, Bride To Be, Vogue, & Good Housekeeping); Mentions of celebrities, public figures, actresses, movies, TV shows, & songs (Mamie Eisenhower, Jackie Kennedy, Rosa Parks, Autherine Lucy, Queen Elizabeth, the Grimm brothers, Audrey Hepburn, Humphrey Bogart, Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor, Ginger Rogers, Ann Miller, Grace Kelly, Barbara Stanwyck, John Wayne, Alan Ladd, Fred Astaire, Lassie, Alfred Hitchcock, Elvis Presley, Sabrina, Seven Year Itch, Rear Window, Lady and the Tramp, Meet John Doe, MGM, Warner Brothers, The $64,000 Question, Howdy Doody, The Ed Sullivan Show, ‘Unforgettable’ by Nat King Cole, & ‘Heartbreak Hotel’ by Elvis Presley); Mentions of stores (Sears & Macy’s); Mentions of car brands; A few mentions of a mother being upset about her daughter eloping with a man who “comes from nothing and has no prospects”; A mention of the murders seeming as if they were from a horror movie; A mention of brownnosing.
Sexual Content- A head kiss; A few touches, embraces, cuddling, & nearness (barely-above-not-detailed); Some noticing & staring (barely-above-not-detailed); Mary Jo and her husband share a bed (nothing sexual happens); Mary Jo’s husband whistles at her & she blushes; Mentions of boyfriends & dates; A couple mentions of kisses & kissing; A couple mentions of seeing married couples kiss; A mention of a kiss-proof lipstick; A mention of a possible affair (implied);
*Note: Gigi negatively comments on her appearance and build (pointing out her “flaws” of large feet, pudgy “sausage”-like fingers, and watching her figure; Later she recalls coming home crying when she was twelve because of her classmates calling her a “man-girl” because of her big feet and hands); Mary Jo comments on a type of doll having “grown-up figures” (Miss Revlon dolls); Mentions of women’s figures; A couple mentions of a man who tried to get Audrey and other models to pose for his “sordid” or “tawdry” book covers; A mention of lingerie.
-Audrey Penault
-Mary Jo Johnson
-Vivien Sheffield, age 50
-Gigi Woodard, age 35
P.O.V. switches between them
Set in 1956
304 pages
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Pre Teens-
New Teens-
Early High School Teens-
Older High School Teens-
My personal Rating-
I’ll admit two things first in this review: 1. I went into this book a bit concerned because I didn’t personally love the first book and 2. I compared this sequel to the first book nearly the whole time. Perhaps I shouldn’t have done that second one, but I enjoyed this one much more than the first book in the series—especially because of the lack of catty women in it. The women were much better in this story and were an unlikely friend group, but have each other’s backs now. I did think this story was sadder, though, because of the murders of the young brides. Those were hard to read about and I would give a caution to readers who are sensitive to that element.
Just like in the first book, I really liked Audrey the best in this sequel as well. Maybe it’s my marketing degree showing, but I enjoyed the scenes of her, her job, and all the details she has to come up with for the department store the most. Her talent and brilliance at her job is really fascinating and I enjoyed her chapters.
I will also say that I say the murder/culprit coming before the half-way point, but as someone who often figures out the killers in suspense books, that isn’t really surprising. It was surprising, however, how long it took the group to figure it out and—like the first book—everything comes together quickly in the final few chapters. After figuring it out for myself, the book dragged a bit to me, but picked back up again once the characters started to figure it out as well.
I appreciated that there was a bit more Christian content in this book compared to the first, though it was still on the very light side. I liked how all the characters seemed to have a faith, but I wish I could instantly confirm they all do. I think certain faith conversations that could have happened didn’t happen due to the main cast of characters being four POV points and there being a lot to cover with their lives, backgrounds, the murders, and other work-related events.
All of this said, I would potentially read another book in this series if there was one—though Mr. Wynton is really going to have to do some serious PR if even more murders happen at or are connected to his store!
See y’all on Friday with a new review!
*BFCG may (Read the review to see) recommend this book by this author. It does not mean I recommend all the books by this author.
*I received this book for free from the Publisher (Barbour) for this honest review.
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