ABOUT THE BOOK
Every woman would kill for one . . . Manhattan fashionista Kelly Quinn thought she’d left her upstate New York town far behind . . . until the Seventh Avenue expat returns home to revamp her grandmother’s consignment shop into an upscale boutique—and unwittingly sets a trend for murder . . .
After her rising career as a Manhattan buyer is derailed, Kelly has mixed feelings about relocating back to Lucky Cove, in spite of her big plans for the soon-to-be-renamed Curated by Kelly Resale Boutique. What’s left of her luck starts running out when a customer puts on a black lace dress that triggers visions of someone being murdered. As if the haunted “Murder Dress” isn’t enough to kill business, the psychic’s doppelganger cousin has just been found bludgeoned to death.
Was Maxine LeMoyne the real target or was it a case of mistaken murder? With some creepy pre-Halloween bargain hunters walking the night and Kelly suddenly a person of interest, a second murder rocks the close-knit town. Now Kelly could be the one who ends up talking to dead people when she’s stalked by a killer determined to take her out in high style . . .
Book Details:
Title: Murder Wears a Little Black Dress
Author’s name: Debra Sennefelder
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Series: A Resale Boutique Mystery, book 1
Publisher: Lyrical Underground (January 22, 2019)
Print length: 200 pages
On tour with: Great Escapes Book Tours
ABOUT THE CHARACTER
Kelly Quinn was born and raised in Lucky Cove, New York. She has an older sister, Caroline. After graduating high school, Kelly moved to New York City to study fashion merchandising and began her retail career at Bishop’s Department store as a buyer’s clerical and worked her way up to assistant fashion buyer before losing her job. Her grandmother unexpectedly died and left Kelly her consignment shop in Lucky Cove. Now, Kelly has moved back home and taken over the shop.INTERVIEW WITH DEBRA SENNEFELDER’S CHARACTER KELLY QUINN
Q: Kelly, how did you first meet Debra?
It was about three years ago at her place. She was sitting at her dining room table surrounded by a whole bunch of papers. I guess writers always have paper around them. Anyway, she was looking for an idea for a new series that revolved around fashion. She had an idea of a vintage shop, but I don’t know anything about vintage clothes, though I’m learning a lot about authenticating designer handbags these days. It’s amazing how good counterfeit bags are. But I’m getting sidetracked now. Back to meeting Deb. She understood that I didn’t know much about vintage clothes but I do know a lot about contemporary designers so we decided a consignment shop of contemporary clothing would be a great fit for me.
Q: Why do you think that your life has ended up being in a book?
A: I’m not entirely sure why. Maybe because my life is complicated. There was that unceremoniously firing from Serena Blake herself. Everyone on Fashion Avenue called her the Dragonista, and when she approached my desk I had no idea how angry she was with me thanks to her regular Botox injections. Then, there was inheriting my granny’s consignment shop, I guess Deb found that to be interesting. And, my ambivalent feelings toward psychics. I really don’t have an opinion about them either way so when Bernadette asked me to come over to her house, I went. I guess my natural curiosity also factored into Deb choosing me.
Q: Tell us about your favorite scene in the book.
A: There are so many. But probably my most favorite one is…no, I don’t want to ruin the surprise but I will say, it’s the scene where I finally had enough of the hijinks going on in my shop. And there’s this scene when I meet Smokin’ McHottie, Esq., who knew legal eagles could be so good looking?
Q: What do you like to do when you're not being read somewhere?
A: These days my answer is sleeping. Running a retail business is hard work. The long hours, and the shop is open seven days a week. I’m sure someday soon I won’t be as sleep deprived as I am right now and when that time comes I’d love to enjoy window shopping, scouring tag sales and decorating my new apartment.
Q: If you had a free day, what would you do?
A: Oh, how I long for those days again. When I was back in the city, Sundays were usually my free day. I’d sleep in, meetup with friends for brunch and then hit the stores. At the end of the day, I’d pick up take-out and then hunker down in my apartment until Monday morning. If I had any free days now, I’d do the same thing. Why mess with a good thing?
Q: What's the worst thing that's happened in your life?
A: Wow. The worst thing. My parent’s divorce wasn’t so great. But Ariel’s car accident was probably the worst thing I ever had to deal with. Not a day has gone by that I don’t think about it. Why did I leave her alone at the party? Why didn’t I make sure she got home safely? I learned there’s more to life than me having a good time. It was a hard lesson for a teenager to learn.
Q: Tell us about your best friend.
A: Olivia, Liv, Moretti is my best friend. We’ve been friends since childhood. She grew up in this big Italian family that owned a bakery. There was always good food, amazing desserts and a lot of loud voices in the Moretti household. Liv was a natural at baking so she went off the culinary school after high school and then returned to work alongside her mom, aunt and cousins. Liv is definitely a ride or die friend. She always has my back, even back in high school during that horrible period of time when Ariel had her accident. Honestly, I don’t know if I would have survived that experience without Liv.
Q: What’s Debra’s worst habit?
A: She has this habit of stopping right in the middle of a scene, leaving me hanging when it’s getting good. She’s said it’s a technique that helps her get right into her next writing session. But it’s really annoying.
Q: Describe an average day in your life.
A: To be honest, I don’t think I have average days anymore. Moving back to Lucky Cove has been a culture shock. I know it’s my hometown, but I lived in the city on my own since freshman year and to be back where everyone knows everyone’s business takes getting used to. While my day usually starts the same time it did when I worked at Bishop’s, my days are definitely longer. Not only do I put in time on the sales floor, I handle all of the administrative work for the shop and I also do some freelance writing for BudgetChic. It’s a website all about dressing fashionable on a budget. I’m also revamping the shop on a shoe-string budget, and I have a cat to take care of now. Yes, I inherited Howard from my granny. I’ve never had a pet before. The little guy is growing on me. And I think he’s warming up to me.
Q: Will you encourage Debra to write a sequel?
A: Absolutely! Luckily, Deb has a three-book contract with Kensington for my series.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Debra Sennefelder and is an avid reader who reads across a range of genres, but mystery fiction is her obsession. Her interest in people and relationships is channeled into her novels against a backdrop of crime and mystery. When she's not reading, she enjoys cooking and baking and as a former food blogger, she is constantly taking photographs of her food. Yeah, she's that person.
Born and raised in New York City, she now lives and writes in Connecticut with her family. She's worked in pre-hospital care, retail, and publishing. Her writing companions are her adorable and slightly spoiled Shih-Tzus, Susie and Billy.
Connect with Debra:
Website | Facebook | Goodreads
Buy the book:
Amazon | Barnes & Noble
