Death of a Mad Hatter

DEATH OF A MAD HATTER was great fun to read. This time around, cousins Scarlett and Vivian are hired to design hats for a special charity event. The wealthy Grisby family is hosting an Alice in Wonderland afternoon tea to raise money for expansion on a local children's hospital. Each family member is wearing a fanciful hat inspired by characters from Alice in Wonderland. Guests are having a merry time until the Mad Hatter hat wearer ends up dead in the garden, and Scarlett and Viv are once again pulled into a murder investigation.

I liked being back with the girls at Mim's Whims. Their hat shop sounds so charming, and I love its Notting Hill location. While Viv is the hat designer and maker, Scarlett prefers waiting on customers and show more ringing up sales. Scarlett is a gregarious and empathetic person, though she can be childish at times, especially when she's jealous! She's also a clever and determined amateur sleuth who won't stop until the culprit is exposed. Vivian, on the other hand, is still a bit of a mystery. Yeah, she's withholding something big about herself, and I hope that we get to know her better in the next book.

DEATH OF A MAD HATTER was an enjoyable continuation of the Hat Shop Mystery series. Light, witty, and fun. The mystery was intriguing with lots of viable suspects. We get to learn more about the cousins' business manager Harrison and his involvement with the shop. Scarlett and Harrison continue to dance around the fact that they're mad for each other, which made for some funny and frustrating moments. I do wish they'd stop butting heads already!

Source: Review copy from publisher show less

I read “At the Drop of a Hat” as a stand-alone title not being aware it was already the 3rd novel in A Hat Shop Mystery Series. Then I started at the beginning and read “Cloche and Dagger” followed by “Death of a Mad Hatter.” This series reminds me of the feelings elicited when I started reading The Kinsey Millhone Alphabet Mysteries by Sue Grafton. It was pins and needles until each new title was available, then it was snuggling between the covers for reading treasure and pleasure, and reading the last page of the mystery wondering how the author would ever meet your anticipation to delight you again and again. Then finally the next title by Sue Grafton was available and it was beyond all expectations. Pure reading heaven show more from attention capturing title to the last word. This is the cozy mystery reading heaven by Jenn McKinlay. It was delightful to have three (3) titles available by Jenn McKinlay so quickly and now the wait for “Copy Cap Murder” in 2016. I know it will be well worth the wait.

This series is of special joy to recommend as I can't imagine a more refreshing way to enrapture fans around the globe with the charismatic lead characters, engaging supporting characters that are so memorable and bring friendships overflowing with love and laughter, and always a new murder mystery intrigue to be pursued! Cousins Scarlett Parker and Vivian (Viv) Tremont are as different as night and day and yet they are the dearest of friends as well as owners of their late grandmother’s millinery shop, Mim’s Whims. The novel is entertaining, generously peppered with British charm in the dialogue, and especially endearing during tea times and shared meals with friends.

This novel will be of particular delight to all fans around the world of “Alice's Adventures in Wonderland” and “Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There” by Lewis Carroll. It is so meaningful that Jenn McKinlay selected not only a literary classic but is true to the British roots of the series in her selection in adding this particular element and in such an enchanting way.

And for those that enjoy some romance sprinkled among the characters, there will be continued smiles as readers learn if Scarlett (a.k.a. Ginger) will keep her decision not to date for a year especially with Harrison (a.k.a. Harry) always popping up and whispering in her ear. I don’t add spoilers to reviews so quickly open the novel and enjoy!

There are so many cozy mystery series to choose from but without a doubt, A Hat Shop Mystery Series is at the top of my list! show less

Jenn McKinlay can always be relied upon for a fast-paced, fun read that can make readers laugh, and Death of a Mad Hatter is no exception. The added bonus in this London-based series is that she gets to educate American readers just a bit in all things British. From British inheritance laws to British slang to those wildly improbable fascinators, it's obvious that the author is having fun flexing her muscles on the other side of the pond. Although two of her British characters do make minor slips-- in the UK the second floor is really the first floor, and mothers are called "Mummy" not "Mommy"-- these were probably done for the sake of clarity, and unless the reader is a rabid Anglophile (mea culpa), they won't even be noticed.

In this show more second book in the series, McKinlay delves a bit more deeply into the personal relationships of her characters. Despite all her attempts to draw out her cousin on the subject of her private life, Scarlett can't learn a thing about the mysterious Vivian. We learn a bit more about Viv's assistant Fee, and Scarlett pays so much attention to dishy business manager Harrison's personal affairs that she starts acting like a fifteen-year-old instead of a woman in her late twenties. In fact, Scarlett's behavior detracted from the story to me. Yes, she's a free spirit with great people skills, and she knows how to stand up for herself, but Scarlett becomes a loose cannon when her hormones are involved. More than once while reading Death of a Mad Hatter, I wanted to tell Harrison to run away as fast and as far as he could.

How was the mystery in this second book? I guessed one part of it fairly early, but the other part was a surprise by book's end, and I like that. McKinlay provides plenty of laughs, plenty of twists and turns, and quite a few romantic sparks. I just hope that Scarlett can maintain better control over herself in book number three. show less

Scarlett and Viv have been hired to create hats for an Alice In Wonderland themed tea fund raiser. The project would be great fun if not for the Grisby's, the crazy family that is running the fund raiser. The matriarch of the family is sweet but a bit daft. The new head of the family, is a bitter germaphobe and the rest of the family is just as nuts. But the Scarlett and VIv soldier on and are even invited to the gala tea. But things go awry when Scarlett discovers the body of the grouchy heir

This is the second book in the Hat Shop Mystery series. I really enjoyed this book. It has a definitely English flavor. I really like Scarlett and her friends. I am still on the fence with Viv but I think she is fun in her own way. The mystery here show more was good. I also like the romance that is growing between Scarlett and Harrison. I am a hat person so the descriptions of the hats is right up my street. show less

My local library has a copy of the first hat shop mystery, Cloche and Dagger, but has concentrated on acquiring Ms. McKinlay's library lovers mysteries. It wasn't until I decided to check the county online catalog that I realized there were already four more hat shop books available since I read book one almost two years ago. Book two, Death of a Mad Hatter, arrived via interlibrary loan. It was as enjoyable as the first book, but also not one that would make me eagerly await the next entry.

Scarlett Parker (American dad, British mom), is still working at Mim's Whims, the London hat shop she and her cousin, Vivian Tremont, inherited from their maternal grandmother, Ginny (Eugenia, also known as 'Mim'). Viv has the hat creating talent show more and Scarlett the talent for dealing with others. Their apprentice, Fiona Felton, is the help Viv needs because Scarlett is an embarrassment in that department.

The main customers this time are the Grisby family, who are giving an Alice in Wonderland-themed afternoon tea combined with a silent auction to raise money for a new hospital wing. The recently-widowed matriarch is aptly named 'Dotty' ('eccentric or slightly mad', according to peevish.co.uk/slang). She mistakes Vivian for her old friend, Ginny. The rest of the family are her son, Geoffrey (a pompous germaphobe), his nice wife, Tina, Dotty's three daughters: Daphne, Rose, and Lily; and Daphne's handsome grown sons, Liam and George. Daphne is the abrasive sister, Rose (a talented pianist), the shy one, and Lily is an artist who normally lives in Paris. Cara Whittles, mistress to the late Mr. Grisby, is not welcome, but inserts herself anyway.

Scarlett doesn't like Marilyn Tofts, the posh event planner hired by the family. She thinks Marilyn is a poseur. I liked the way Dotty handled Tofts when the planner got on her high horse.

The cousins' charming neighbors, photographer Andre Eisel and his dentist life partner, Nick Carroll, return. Also returning is Harrison Wentworth, the cousins' handsome business manager. Scarlett suspects Harrison and Fee are attracted to each other, but she's not jealous, no no no. *snicker*

Too bad Scarlett hasn't figured out that her vow of celibacy for a year can't keep her from dating Harrison. She just can't get married. Since she failed to take a vow of chastity for a year at the same time, she could even sleep with him.

There are quite a few suspects for the murder when it takes place. Harrison puts his foot down about Scarlett when she wants to help, which she doesn't take well. This leads to a revelation that Scarlett is quite upset about. Later, she pulls a foolhardy stunt which put me quite out of patience with her, but it did prove useful to solving the mystery.

Notes:

Chapter three:

a. There's a reference to Mansfield United.

b. What the British call 'crisps' we call 'chips'.

c. Johhny Depp played the Mad Hatter in Tim Burton's movie, 'Alice in Wonderland'. If you, too, avoided seeing that, here's a link to part one of the censored version of the Nostalgia Critic's review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwJ-nzgnXHY (Why did the movie characters call the Jabberwock the 'Jabberwocky,' especially after the Mad Hatter quotes some lines from 'Jabberwocky,' that clearly call the creature the Jabberwock????)

Chapter 4: Scarlett is correct. Tweedledum and Tweedledee come from the sequel, Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There. However, they and the Jabberwock appear in the Tim Burton movie.

Chapter 5:

a. We met Mim's wardrobe with the carved bird on top that Scarlett calls 'Ferd' in book one. This scene is one of those in which Scarlett and Viv suspect their dear old grandmother isn't entirely gone. (Well, Viv is more of a believer than Scarlett.)

b. Boy bands The Backstreet Boys (and their Nick Carter), and the Jonas Brothers are mentioned.

Chapter 6:

a. we get a mini-history of Grisby Hall and the Grisby family.

b. Viv's quip about singing for his supper probably comes from the nursery rhyme about Tummy Tucker: http://www.rhymes.org.uk/little_tommy_tucker.htm

c. Look in this chapter for which character each Grisby played.

Chapter 11: Scarlett thinks her hat looks as if it's something movie star Audrey Hepburn would have worn.

Chapter 13: There's a comparison to Cinderella.

Chapter 14: Viv explains where the expression 'mad as a hatter' comes from.

Chapter 16:

a. Scarlett and Viv reminisce about Mim.

b. Our heroines visit the famed Savoy Hotel. Scarlett is reminded of author F. Scott Fitzgerald and his wife, Zelda.

Chapter 17: Dotty talks about a party she and Mim attended decades ago. Scarlett thinks of famed musician Jim Hendrix.

Chapter 19: The Elvis Presley movie 'Blue Hawaii' is mentioned.

Chapter 21: The 'Inspector Lewis' TV show that's a spin-off of the 'Inspector Morse' TV show is mentioned. Both have been shown on PBS.

Chapter 22 provides information about more environmentally-conscious funeral arrangements.

Chapter 23: Scarlett is reminded of a hobbit home.

Chapter 24:

a. There's a 'Doctor Who' marathon on the telly (TV).

b. Scarlet mentions writer/director Richard Kelly's science fiction thriller, 'Donnie Darko'.

Death of a Mad Hatter is funny with scenes of danger and glimpses of romance attached. Alas, dog and cat lovers are out of luck. Ferd the carved bird is the closest the cousins come to having a pet.

If you like comic cozy mysteries, you should like this book. show less

Scarlett Parker and her cousin Vivian Tremont face a daunting task when they agree to design hats with an Alice in Wonderland theme for a tea party. Not only do they have to design hats but they have to deal with the Grisby family who have more than their share of issues. Scarlett and Vivian can handle the Grisby family dynamics - that is until a Grisby family member is murdered and it looks like one of the hats they made for the tea party may be the weapon! Scarlett and Viv, over the objections of their good friend Harrison Wentworth, begin to investigate the murder but Harrison is right to be worried - the killer is not afraid to attack again!

“Death of a Mad Hatter” is the nicely done second book Jenn McKinlay’s Hat Shop cozy show more mystery series. While some cozy mystery series take a few books to completely develop the characters and setting, in this book they are already fully developed. Although I am not a hat person (just the opposite!), I like the hat shop setting and love the descriptions of the various hats worn in the book. As a change of pace from her other books McKinlay sets the series in London. I love the descriptions of various locations in London - I especially like the descriptions of the teas which made me hungry while reading the book. The characters (Scarlett, Viv, Fee, Harrison, Andre, and Nick) already feel like old friends (although I do hope McKinlay doesn't drag out the attraction between Scarlett and Harrison through too many books). The mystery itself is well plotted with plenty of suspects (you won't soon forget the Grisby family) and a few twists and turns. Scarlett does come perilously close to becoming A Too Stupid to Live Character - this does lend some tense moments to the book but is not my favorite plot device.

“Death of a Mad Hatter” is another good cozy mystery by Jenn McKinley. show less

3 1/2 stars

The plot was quite good, but it was overshadowed by the schmaltzy, almost forced, romantic tension between the MC and the token hunky guy. I thought the investigation was a little far-fetched, (let's visit a funeral home to find clues!) but overall, I enjoyed it.

The only big gripe I have is the dialogue and vernacular between characters. I'm sorry, but you can't insert things like "codswallop" into a person's dialogue and expect that will make them sound British. And, in this book, it doesn't. The British people sound like they're more American than the American is. It just puts me off, more so than the MC's immaturity, the love-triangle-that-isn't and the cheesy will-they-or-won't-they romance.