lakecake's review
2.0
This was very confusing and honestly, barely held together as a story for me. It was kind of all over the place, and it ended really abruptly, too. Not my favorite.
fishwitch's review
2.0
I have thoroughly enjoyed every book I've read by the author until this one. The mystery was so convoluted and hard to follow. The character Paisley was unbelievable and unlikable and annoying. It felt like a sketch of a character rather than a well developed one. And the constant use of Hermes or "O Scrap" in lieu of expletives just feels childish and forced. Clearly this was not one of my favorites. I will continue to read and recommend books by the author in hopes that future titles are more consistent with past publications.
saraleoni's review
5.0
when i look back on the story, i can't pick out any outstanding qualities. but the fact that i read it in two sittings, both after 10pm, says something. the main character is fun and the mystery unique, as is Mad's ability. it's nice to have someone who trusts her love interest with her magical abilities (although i haven't read the previous books but so many try to go it alone). my main complaint about Mad was how she so quickly jumped to conclusions but the first person narrative made her more relatable. dante was a hoot.
crystal_w's review
4.0
Annette did a good job taking your assumptions about where the characters and the plot were going and turning it on its head!
Cloaked in Malice follows our favorite vintage clothing psychic as she befriends a woman who doesn't even know her real name. Paisley Skye was raised on an island away from society, brainwashed after watching her parents get murdered, and finally escaped... Now who is she really?
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was light and engaging. It kept me on my toes until the very last few pages.
This is a book I happily own in my library :)
If you are looking for a cozy mystery give this one a try!
Cloaked in Malice follows our favorite vintage clothing psychic as she befriends a woman who doesn't even know her real name. Paisley Skye was raised on an island away from society, brainwashed after watching her parents get murdered, and finally escaped... Now who is she really?
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was light and engaging. It kept me on my toes until the very last few pages.
This is a book I happily own in my library :)
If you are looking for a cozy mystery give this one a try!
morticia32's review
3.0
Love this series :) And I especially love the amount of time spent with Nick in this book, lol. Hothothot!
attytheresa's review
2.0
Even though I'm only giving this 2 stars, it was still a fun and enjoyable read.
This is the penultimate book in a series featuring amateur detective Madeira Cutler, owner of a vintage clothing shop in a fictional town near Mystic, CT., one that happens to be in a converted old funeral home/carriage house and one that has a resident ghost, the very dapper, dressed in top hat and tails, ghost named Dante. Yes, a ghost, and one that only a few 'gifted' like Madeira can see and interact with. You see, Madeira has special skills -- comes from a long line of witches if I recall correctly. Besides communicating with ghosts, she can 'read' vintage clothing by touching them - the imprint of what happened to and around the person wearing them. Like murder, or other events where there is high emotion.
I really remember loving the first books in this series, finding them quirky, clever, different, and fun. Learning bits about vintage clothing was entertaining although not a passion of mine (author on her website has photos of many of the items featured). This one...not so much. It's still quirky and fun, lots of humorous interchanges and situations.
My name is Madeira Cutler, and I'd like to invent a ghostly tracking device. Dante likes to just appear suddenly, making Madeira jump.
Or even the way Madeira swears by using fashion-related words: "wooly knobby knits", "scrap silk", "Hermes", "zany zigzag stitch", " scalloped-stitch", "scraptastic clustertuck", and a personal fave: "darning balls." And yet, I found myself mildly irritated by the relentless quirkiness, the non-stop chirpiness of the whole scene.
The mystery itself was initially pretty decent. A beautiful young woman looking remarkably like beloved local eccentric centenarian Dolly appears at Madeira's shop one day, dressed in vintage and acting a bit peculiar. She has a crazy story about having escaped an island off the coast of CT after her 'parents' died and left her there. Um yes, you have to suspend disbelief pretty dang quickly. And it gets more and more ridiculous as the book races to a conclusion. I can't say more without spoilers but lets just say that pretty much everything including the kitchen sink, pops up before a totally unbelievable conclusion is reached. I mean the journey was pretty outrageous but the ending! I can't seem to suspend my disbelief THAT far!
Will I read the last one in the series? Yes, if I can find a copy (not to be found in ebook, and it looks to be OOP). I like having something to hunt for at used book sales. Plus I want to see which of the 2 love interests she ends up with in the end...I suspect it will not be the one I think she should but still...at least unlike Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum, the back and forth will not continue beyond six books.
This is the penultimate book in a series featuring amateur detective Madeira Cutler, owner of a vintage clothing shop in a fictional town near Mystic, CT., one that happens to be in a converted old funeral home/carriage house and one that has a resident ghost, the very dapper, dressed in top hat and tails, ghost named Dante. Yes, a ghost, and one that only a few 'gifted' like Madeira can see and interact with. You see, Madeira has special skills -- comes from a long line of witches if I recall correctly. Besides communicating with ghosts, she can 'read' vintage clothing by touching them - the imprint of what happened to and around the person wearing them. Like murder, or other events where there is high emotion.
I really remember loving the first books in this series, finding them quirky, clever, different, and fun. Learning bits about vintage clothing was entertaining although not a passion of mine (author on her website has photos of many of the items featured). This one...not so much. It's still quirky and fun, lots of humorous interchanges and situations.
My name is Madeira Cutler, and I'd like to invent a ghostly tracking device. Dante likes to just appear suddenly, making Madeira jump.
Or even the way Madeira swears by using fashion-related words: "wooly knobby knits", "scrap silk", "Hermes", "zany zigzag stitch", " scalloped-stitch", "scraptastic clustertuck", and a personal fave: "darning balls." And yet, I found myself mildly irritated by the relentless quirkiness, the non-stop chirpiness of the whole scene.
The mystery itself was initially pretty decent. A beautiful young woman looking remarkably like beloved local eccentric centenarian Dolly appears at Madeira's shop one day, dressed in vintage and acting a bit peculiar. She has a crazy story about having escaped an island off the coast of CT after her 'parents' died and left her there. Um yes, you have to suspend disbelief pretty dang quickly. And it gets more and more ridiculous as the book races to a conclusion. I can't say more without spoilers but lets just say that pretty much everything including the kitchen sink, pops up before a totally unbelievable conclusion is reached. I mean the journey was pretty outrageous but the ending! I can't seem to suspend my disbelief THAT far!
Will I read the last one in the series? Yes, if I can find a copy (not to be found in ebook, and it looks to be OOP). I like having something to hunt for at used book sales. Plus I want to see which of the 2 love interests she ends up with in the end...I suspect it will not be the one I think she should but still...at least unlike Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum, the back and forth will not continue beyond six books.
slc333's review
2.0
This was a 2.5 star read for me. I think my main problem is I am just not invested in a Maddie & Nick relationship. As I said in my review of the previous book it is not so much that I object to Nick as that Werner and Maddie seem to have a much more developed relationship and better connection. Even after 4?? books I still don't have much sense of Nick as a character. Also I found the mystery more than a little ridiculous and Paisley didn't seem like her own character just a random assortment of Maddie like lines.
elysareadsitall's review
2.0
This is the first book I've read in this series. Because of that, it was a little confusing because I didn't have the background on the relationships or her powers. I didn't understand why the "sleuthers" jumped to certain conclusions, so it was pretty obvious when the red herrings were red herrings. The journey to the end was a bit of a mess.
I love the concept of psychic visions from vintage clothes, and I thought the conclusion was unique and interesting. Even though I felt the book was okay, I'd read more of the series.
I love the concept of psychic visions from vintage clothes, and I thought the conclusion was unique and interesting. Even though I felt the book was okay, I'd read more of the series.
ssejig's review
3.0
I read the fourth book in this series and thought, "hm. I like this series, I'll keep reading from here." Well, I don't know what the difference was in this one because I felt like I was missing half the story. And it was such an odd mystery.
Told from the first person of Madeira "Maddie" Cutler who can read people's pasts from clothing that they've worn. A girl named Paisley wanders into the shop with a bag full of clothes saying she wants to find out about her past and she's heard that Maddie can help.
It's an odd story about her being kept on an island with only sketchy memories of her childhood. And then there's the weird fact that she looks so much like Maddie's centenarian friend, Dolly. What's the connection?
Told from the first person of Madeira "Maddie" Cutler who can read people's pasts from clothing that they've worn. A girl named Paisley wanders into the shop with a bag full of clothes saying she wants to find out about her past and she's heard that Maddie can help.
It's an odd story about her being kept on an island with only sketchy memories of her childhood. And then there's the weird fact that she looks so much like Maddie's centenarian friend, Dolly. What's the connection?
shinyfox's review
2.0
2.5 stars, ranging on the lower half of the scale.
This book showed promise, it had an interesting premise. Unfortunately I got too frustrated with one of the characters that the mystery centered around, Paisley Skye.
Paisley Skye grew up on an island with only two people that she can remember, Mam and Pap. She claims she never met any other people in the world, never even left the island before in her life. (as the story progresses we find this to be true). But Paisley is way too comfortable around people. She's far too easy going with things crop up that she has never seen before. Paisley Skye was as hard to believe as her name (which is fake, by the way. We learn her real name further along in the book).
This was the first book I read in the series and I am uncertain if I wish to continue reading it. It was very... unbelievable. The way Paisley grew up and then accepted modern day technology and people. It was unbelievable the way everything so neatly tied in together. The ending was a big let down and there was no big suspense when clues were discovered, in fact we pretty much learned everything in one big clue dump near the end of the book. I felt this sort of writing tactic held little to no finesse.
This book showed promise, it had an interesting premise. Unfortunately I got too frustrated with one of the characters that the mystery centered around, Paisley Skye.
Paisley Skye grew up on an island with only two people that she can remember, Mam and Pap. She claims she never met any other people in the world, never even left the island before in her life. (as the story progresses we find this to be true). But Paisley is way too comfortable around people. She's far too easy going with things crop up that she has never seen before. Paisley Skye was as hard to believe as her name (which is fake, by the way. We learn her real name further along in the book).
This was the first book I read in the series and I am uncertain if I wish to continue reading it. It was very... unbelievable. The way Paisley grew up and then accepted modern day technology and people. It was unbelievable the way everything so neatly tied in together. The ending was a big let down and there was no big suspense when clues were discovered, in fact we pretty much learned everything in one big clue dump near the end of the book. I felt this sort of writing tactic held little to no finesse.