Dead Gorgeous by Elizabeth Flynn (Don't publish yet).

I enjoyed this mystery by Elizabeth Flynn. The mystery involves the fashion world. The fashion world is pretty dramatic. Those times when fashion designers prepare models to walk down the catwalk can involve negative emotions like jealousy. Some designers go as far as stealing another designer's fashion designs. Kirsty is one of many women who dreams of becoming a model. Sadly, she is too short. She must find her place in another part of the fashion world. Like all young women along the way she falls in love and out of love. After Kirsty is strangled to death with a scarf, many people will say she was a playgirl going from one guy to another guy.

Kirsty in Dead Gorgeous by Elizabeth Flynn is more complicated than the solution to the mystery. I wasn't shocked by the findings of Angela, Gaz and the other detectives. What I couldn't figure out was the character of Kirsty. Although I never met a living Kirsty in the novel, Elizabeth Flynn does a fine job with the dead character.  Even though she is murdered and young I didn't feel deeply about her death. I didn't dislike her. I didn't like her. She came across as a young woman trying to find her identity in the big, wide world of fashion, a woman lost in the crowd of other women. After not being able to become a model, she became like a frantic butterfly flipping around to different men and places in the fashion house to find a place where she could be called successful. Along the way she finds the ugly part of that world.

It is sad Kirsty  never found her spot. It is also sad that she looked for her identity in men like Ian, Darren and other men. Usually, I come away from a mystery shocked by the crime and whodunnit. This time I came away wondering, "who was the real woman lying across the bed with a scarf tightened around her neck?" I liked Angela's flatmate, roommate, Sondra. I thought she would have more to do with the crime than she did in reality. This was a red herring for me.  In the mystery, I also liked Detective Angela so much. She's great. However, I didn't like the shortened name for her partner. She calls him Gaz. I hated that name. It drove me nuts. Why? I have no idea.

I might have liked the setting more, but there is never a real fashion show. No papparrazzi cameras flash, no descriptions of fine silks or rough denims except in the Prologue. I could have been in any world besides the fashion world. I especially liked the surprise about the underworld of Ivano King. Leaves me to wonder how many women in this world are held somewhere against their will in a house.

I would read another mystery by Elizabeth Flynn. If it takes place in the modeling world,  please add more sequins, velvets and drawing boards and maybe a spoiled model running from the catwalk . Other than that it's a good, relaxing read especially if you want a mystery without gore and mayhem. 
elizabethflynnauthor.com/books/
 LionHudson