What's a "mere" fashion reporter doing in a tough private
eye school?! It's Lacey Smithsonian, wrestling with a career crisis. Stuck in the dead-end fashion beat in Washington, D.C.,
the City Fashion Forgot, Lacey feels unfulfilled and unappreciated. Maybe this private investigation class will give her the skills
to break out of her fashion-beat rut. Maybe she'll get a clue to how her private eye boyfriend does his job. And maybe she'll
even find a lead on a great non-fashion story. But first she has a problem: the dead socialite in the Jaguar and
the fashion story that just won't die. Will her private eye class give Lacey a shot at the serious "hard news" beat she's
been longing for? Or will it give a hardened killer a shot at her?
OBSIDIAN MYSTERY ISBN 978-0-451-22456-9 $6.99
Ellen Byerrum is a Washington, D.C., news reporter, novelist and playwright. She also holds a Virginia private investigator's registration.
Her Crime of Fashion mysteries star a savvy, stylish sleuth: Lacey Smithsonian, a reluctant fashion reporter in Washington
D.C., "The City Fashion Forgot."
Lacey wants to work "hard news," but her nose for nuance, eye
for a great story, and talent for getting into trouble all make her the right reporter for the Crimes of Fashion beat. In
her vintage suits and killer heels she trips over fashion clues, fabulous shoes, dangerous women, drop-dead men, and the
occasional corpse (who wouldn't want to be caught dead dressed like that).
Ellen and her fictional friend
Lacey Smithsonian share a balcony view of the Potomac River and a love for vintage clothes, as well as their humorous
viewpoints on life, love, mystery, fashion, and the wild and wacky world of Our Nation's Capital.
Photo (c) Joe Henson
2007
HEADLINE NEWS: I'm now on . Lifetime plans to rebroadcast their movie versions of my Crime of Fashion mysteries Killer
Hair andHostile Makeover. Details TBA! Hostile Makeover has also inspired a : Take a look...
My sixth Crime of Fashion mystery, Armed and Glamorous, is in bookstores now, and I'm writing Lacey's seventh Crime of Fashion
adventure. The working title isShot Through Velvet. Visit my or email me at laceysmithsonian@yahoo.com. I love hearing
from you! ~Ellen
