Pillboxes and Peril (Toppers Hat Shop Cozy Mystery #1)

A new town, a new job, and a killer on the loose—is Adeline in over her hat?

Fleeing heartache and a smoking gun, Adeline Hart escapes to the seaside town of Brisa del Mar where she lands a summer job as manager of Toppers, the town’s whimsical but struggling hat shop. Here, she has three months to craft a whole new life now that her career as a true-crime researcher has unraveled.

But when the member of a bridal party is found stabbed with Adeline’s dressmaking sheers, she must clear her name and find the killer. Good thing she can count on her well-honed true-crime research skills to question people and find clues. Along the way, Adeline finds unexpected friendships with the town’s quirky residents and rediscovers the power and promise of a well-chosen hat.

Can amateur sleuth Adeline stitch together enough clues to keep the killer from striking again? Will she find healing and happiness in the world of hats? And what’s up with the wind in Brisa del Mar, anyway?

Pillboxes and Peril is Book 1 in the Toppers Hat Shop Cozy Mystery Series. This enchanting series in an unconventional seaside town in California follows Adeline Hart as she investigates millinery murders, mends her broken heart, and stitches together a whole new family.