Ellen Byerrum
Author of Killer Hair
Series
Works by Ellen Byerrum
Grate Apparel 1 copy
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Gender
- female
- Education
- Bachelor's degree in Journalism
- Occupations
- former Washington, D.C., journalist, playwright
- Organizations
- Sisters in Crime Chesapeake Chapter, Dramatists Guild
- Short biography
- Mystery and thriller writer Ellen Byerrum is a former journalist in Washington, D.C., as well as a produced and published playwright. As challenging as it is, she tries not to repeat herself in her writing, and in pursuit of research and keeping things fresh, she studied for and received her private investigator’s registration for Virginia. She has also researched haunted clothing at the Smithsonian Costume Collections, toured a dying velvet factory in Virginia, and interviewed a host of experts for her books. And while looking into beekeeping and honey making for her latest mystery, she got too close and wound up with a bee sting on her nose.
Her latest book, THE BRIEF LUMINOUS FLIGHT OF THE FIREFLY, is the 1940s Prequel to her Crime of Fashion Mysteries, and features a very young Mimi Smith, the “Great-aunt Mimi” mentioned throughout the series. FIREFLY takes place during WWII in Washington, D.C., in the hot and humid month of June 1943. - Nationality
- USA
- Associated Place (for map)
- USA
Members
Reviews
Crook Tales for Two is a historical cozy mystery set in New York in 1934 during the Great Depression. Prohibition is over but gangsters are still roaming the streets finding new ways to make money. Esme, once a journalist but now a playwright with her first play about to open on Broadway, sees a man leave a gold watch on the counter of a diner. She is aware of his reputation as a mobster but she knows him and his wife from church so she is determined to return it to him. Unfortunately things show more don’t go quite as she hoped. She finds herself trapped in a school closet surrounded by gun fire when her hiding place is discovered by a handsome stranger with a gun pointed at her. Who could have predicted her small act of kindness would lead to so much danger, murder, and, yes, even romance?
For the most part, I enjoyed this story. Esme is a feisty, likeable protagonist and I liked most of the other characters especially the theatre crowd. The dialogue is well-done and mostly stays true to the time period. The mystery is interesting but, and this is my biggest problem with the book, for much of the middle of the tale, it gets pushed aside by the play, the romance, and a flu with symptoms very much like the 1918-20 pandemic. And I suspect it’s just me but I felt the book could have been a lot shorter and with a faster pace without all the descriptions of clothes especially all the gowns she wore and the repeated explanation of where she got them. By the end, I just skipped over any references to clothes regardless of who was wearing them. But, as I said, and judging from other reviews, this is more a me problem. Overall, I did enjoy the story and give it 3.5 rounded up to 4 stars.
Thanks to Netgalley and Lethal Black Dress Press for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review show less
For the most part, I enjoyed this story. Esme is a feisty, likeable protagonist and I liked most of the other characters especially the theatre crowd. The dialogue is well-done and mostly stays true to the time period. The mystery is interesting but, and this is my biggest problem with the book, for much of the middle of the tale, it gets pushed aside by the play, the romance, and a flu with symptoms very much like the 1918-20 pandemic. And I suspect it’s just me but I felt the book could have been a lot shorter and with a faster pace without all the descriptions of clothes especially all the gowns she wore and the repeated explanation of where she got them. By the end, I just skipped over any references to clothes regardless of who was wearing them. But, as I said, and judging from other reviews, this is more a me problem. Overall, I did enjoy the story and give it 3.5 rounded up to 4 stars.
Thanks to Netgalley and Lethal Black Dress Press for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review show less
The first book in any series has a lot of work to do. It has to introduce the detective, their milieu, the people who occupy their lives on a daily basis, and the hook of the series. This one, staring Lacey Smithsonian (no relation), had a doozie of a set-up. Lacey works as a fashion columnist in Washington D.C., the city that fashion forgot. In the starter, good friend Stella ropes Lacey to investigate the death of a fellow beautician. This leads her to a madam under investigation, a messy show more divorce and a few more bodies. Does Lacey solve it, of course. How, by noticing the small details in clothing and hair that reveal character. A good start to a fun series. show less
I did not think I would like this Crime of Fashion Mystery because it seems to focus on fashion, but there is so much more to the story! Lacey Smithsonian is stuck with the fashion advice column at a Washington DC newspaper. When a young hair stylist at the salon Lacey frequents dies, her own stylist urges her to investigate the supposed suicide. Plenty of suspense mixes with a touch of romance, and a liberal dose of political humor. Plus Byerrum's frustrated reporter Lacey gives fashion show more tips that poke fun at the fashion industry. Loved it. If you like Elaine Viets, you'll want to give this series a try. show less
This used to be one of my favorite cozy series: the MC is a reporter for a D.C. newspaper, stuck on the fashion beat, which means her stories are interesting and she has a legitimate reason to investigate and ask people questions; there's never a love triangle and Lacey's fashion beat focuses on vintage fashions and each story offers up interesting historical information about whatever fashion is at the heart of a book's plot.
This last book, though, was self-published and while the show more completist in me bought it to finish my collection, it sat on my TBR for ages because I was nervous about what would happen without benefit of the series editor.
I needn't have worried; the author did run a bit long in areas that would have benefitted from a bit of tightening up (her Fashion Bites for example) and at least once it was obvious she was using Lacey as a personal mouthpiece, but overall, Lacey and her quirky friends were all the same, and the writing was good, the mystery well-plotted, and the copy well-edited.
The last scene was over-the-top, but the final column, written by one of Lacey's co-workers, was sublimely wry and funny; it made up for the melodrama and capped the book off perfectly.
There were things left undone in this book, leaving it open to an 11th, but not so much that I'm left wanting for more. Of course if an 11th shows up, I'll buy it. show less
This last book, though, was self-published and while the show more completist in me bought it to finish my collection, it sat on my TBR for ages because I was nervous about what would happen without benefit of the series editor.
I needn't have worried; the author did run a bit long in areas that would have benefitted from a bit of tightening up (her Fashion Bites for example) and at least once it was obvious she was using Lacey as a personal mouthpiece, but overall, Lacey and her quirky friends were all the same, and the writing was good, the mystery well-plotted, and the copy well-edited.
The last scene was over-the-top, but the final column, written by one of Lacey's co-workers, was sublimely wry and funny; it made up for the melodrama and capped the book off perfectly.
There were things left undone in this book, leaving it open to an 11th, but not so much that I'm left wanting for more. Of course if an 11th shows up, I'll buy it. show less
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Statistics
- Works
- 18
- Members
- 1,594
- Popularity
- #16,182
- Rating
- 3.8
- Reviews
- 46
- ISBNs
- 59
- Languages
- 3
- Favorited
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