Former district attorney Irene Seligman has returned home to Santa Fe, New Mexico to take care of her mother. After opening her store, Irene’s Closet, her friend, Juanita, is distraught when her son goes missing. Soon, the police and Irene are both looking for Juanita. Can Irene find her friend in time?
When I started reading this book, I hoped to be swept away to New Mexico and meet some interesting characters and enjoy a great adventure. But, I didn’t like any of the main characters. The character of Irene was one-dimensional, and her mother, Adelle, was very annoying and manipulative. The plot was slow and dragged on until a moment where a character was kidnapped. Then, I was appalled at the amount of violence depicted. This was stated to be a cozy mystery, but I disagree. I can’t recommend this book! I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Accessories To Die For is the second book in the Irene's Closet series. This is a standalone with no cliffhanger, though it is open-ended for future books in a series. There is violence.

The book blurb adequately describes the storyline so I'm not going to repeat that all of that info here. The author did a good job of describing Santa Fe and both the history and the current culture there. There are a lot of clues in the storyline that keep you guessing what twists and turns will be revealed next. Enough to keep me reading just to see how it ended.

This book was better than the first book in the series, but not by much. The elements are there but my biggest problem with this story is that the characters are flat and need to be more dimensional. And Irene, the main character, should be featured more instead of having so much of the story taken up by her whining mother. For me, that detracted from what could have been a much better story. I did love that Angel, Irene's shop assistant, is back in this book.

l received a copy of this book from NetGalley and Random House-Alibi and chose to leave a review for other readers.

Thanks Random House Publishing Group - Alibi and netgalley for this ARC.

Cool setting, dire murder mystery, and beautiful clothes

If you're looking for a light, fast, and fun read, this one works! This is the second book in the series. Once a DA, Irene is now running a second-hand clothing shop. Designer clothes, so they are well, killer if you think about it. This book has some humor and I enjoyed it as an easy-breezy read. It has lots of characters, so you're likely to find one or more that you like.

My copy came from Net Galley. My thoughts and opinions are my own. This review is left of my own free volition.

Accessories to Die For was a fun read. Irene Seligman is a former prosecutor who returns home to Santa Fe, New Mexico to help her mother Adelle and she opens a high end consignment store. Irene finds out that her friend Juanita's son is messed up with the wrong crowd and is missing. When some local Native American Indian artifacts have been stolen Irene wonders if the two could be connected? A French man is murdered and the police arrest Juanita for the murder. But Juanita escapes because she must find her son before he is murdered. Lots of action in this book and of course Adelle does not wish to be out of the spotlight so is right there with Irene trying to help.

I wanted to like this book..i really did...i forced myself to get through the first few chapters. It just wasn't interesting and seemed to drag on...i finally gave up and stopped reading after chapter 6 or so..

Irene had been an Assistant D A in Manhattan but leaves NYC and the job at least temporarily supposedly. Irene left NYC and went to Santa Fe to make her mother Adele happy. Adele is spoiled woman but ran out of husbands and money. So Adele came to Sante Fe to find both but was feeling vulnerable and turned to Irene. Irene makes friends with Juanita who is an Native American and makes handcrafted jewelry to sell to the tourist as they like it.Irene thought she had left corruption and violence were behind her but she was wrong. But Juanita is concerned about her son Danny who is a drug addict and has disappeared. Juanita is afraid Danny is dead either from drugs or a man Louis Armand who gets historic relics one way or another. Then Louis goes to auctions to sell the relics. Juanita foretold Of Louis Armand’s murder. Then Louis Armand is found dead and killed by a specially made bullet and Juanita is arrested. Irene is .determined to prove her friend is innocent and also find Danny with help from P T Bailey- a criminal lawyer and Ange Irene’s shop clerk. Prize Native American relics are being stolen also in this time frame.
I had mixed feelings about this book. I liked the way the author gave us some information on some Native American beliefs and rituals. I really liked how the author described Santa Fe and its surroundings. This was a fast paced quick to read mystery. But sometimes it was hard to tell who’s POV was being used as the POV changed from Irene and Juanita and back. I would have liked more background and backstory on the characters. Sometimes this book made no sense to me like when Irene’s mother called her in a panic and the Irene turned her phone off. I didn’t like that I guessed who the killer was before the book was close to ending. But I did love Irene’s and Adele’s relationship and how they interacted with each other. I love the twists and turns of the story. As I said I had mixed feelings some things I liked and others not so much.

A very good story with a former DA that now has a used clothing store. Her want to be boyfriend is a defense attorney which leads to complications if not conflicts with regards to the letter of the lw as they try to solve a murder and a robbery. Lots of surprises!

Irene Seligman has moved from Manhattan back to Santa Fe, New Mexico, to care for her aging mother. Not only has she left the hustle and bustle of the city behind, she has also left behind a high-powered career as an assistant DA. Now, instead of prosecuting criminals, Irene is selling second-hand designer clothes in her shop, Irene's Closet. Irene has mostly settled into her life back in Santa Fe when she dusts off her investigative skills to help her friend, Juanita. While helping to prove her friend's innocence, Irene is pulled into the seamy underbelly of Santa Fe, dealing with drug dealers, gangsters, and sketchy antiquities dealers.
All of the elements of this book are appealing to me; however, the parts did not equal a great whole. I was left feeling vaguely unsatisfied.

I love this Cozy!! My new series in the making!!! Please make a long one!

Fast-paced quick read. Lots of fun. Ex-DA Irene Seligman has moved back to New Mexico to help out her mom and open a consignment shop, Irene's Closet. She made friends with a local Indian artisan, Juanita. When Juanita's son is missing and feared dead, Irene gets pulled into the search. The most enjoyable part of the story are the well-drawn cast of characters, especially Irene's mother, Adelle, who is just a hoot.

Accessories to Die For by Paula Paul is another book in the Irene Seligman mystery series. Irene is a former NYC district attorney who has moved to New Mexico to help out her aging mother. I read the previous book and was familiar with the characters, so I felt like I just stepped back into their story where it left off. I enjoyed the glimpse into the Native American Puebla lifestyle and the tight dialogue.

I love the taut, mystical quality of Paula Paul's latest mystery featuring Irene Seligman, transplanted New York Assistant DA. There is grit and compassion, with thoughtful, multi-layered characters. Irene's heart and intellect are evident as she attempts to help a Native American jewelry designer who often sells outside of her dress shop in New Mexico. When her beloved worker Angel becomes involved, the stakes are dramatically increased. Throw in an unusual mother and a budding relationship with a local attorney, and you have the makings of a great book. I highly recommend it!

Well written cozy

This is the first book I've read by Paula Paul but it certainly won't be the last. The story line was compelling with all kinds of twists and turns. The inclusion of the traditions of the Native American characters added an interesting texture to the story. I thought Irene's relationship with P. J. and her mother Adelle added to the story.

I received an advance reader copy from NetGalley in exchange for a fair review.

I received a free copy from NetGalley. Entertaining story. A good cozy mystery that isn't too scary and you could read while distracted. I liked the charterers and will look for other novels by the author.

This mystery is set is Santa Fe, N.M. which is a beautiful town. It was the best part of the book. It took me some time to get into this book. I thought the characters were interesting but shallow, and the plot was a little convoluted. I hadn't read the first book in the series, and that may have contributed to my sense of confusion.

Once I finally got into the book, I enjoyed it but wouldn't read more in the series.

Thanks to Alibi and NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

It took a few chapters to get into the book, but when I was familiar with the characters I found this a very enjoyable read. A big city D.A returns home to look after her mother,she opens a shop and becomes a small town amateur private detective. I have just found out this is the second in the series so will definitely read the first and am looking forward to reading more.

Irene Seligman, ex-assistant district attorney in Manhattan, owner of an upscale designer clothes consignment store, Santa Fe, New Mexico is back. Now her good friend is on the run because of a very important necklace and murder. It is scary and believe it or not her mother actually helps her out this time.

Far Fetched! I received this book free from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review. Written by Paula Paul and published by Alibi / Random House in 2017, it is a crime story set in Santa Fe, New Mexico in the present. I guess the main protagonist is supposed to be Irene Seligman, a former New York City (Manhattan) prosecutor who returns to her birth place and opens a second-hand consignment store, but it is sometimes difficult to tell because the perspective sometimes changes to Juanita, a member of the Pueblo tribe of native Americans who makes hand-crafted jewelry and sells it to tourists. Juanita is convinced that her drug-addicted son has been murdered, and goes on a search for him. In the meantime, somebody is stealing and selling Pueblo-made artifacts and selling them at auction in France. A Frenchman is murdered, and Juanita becomes the primary suspect. Or is it her son, Danny? Maybe it’s the Capitolistas, a local street gang. Or it could be somebody else. We don’t know for sure (although we have an idea) until the very end of the book, which is abrupt and unsatisfying.

Paula Paul is an experienced author with a dozen writings to her credit, so I expected to read a much more polished work than this one. Unfortunately, this story seems artificial and contrived, something we wouldn’t see even in a comic book. Characters are thinly developed, perhaps because it is one of a series. Irene’s mother, Adelle, for example, is more of a caricature than a character. She often wears inappropriate clothes, including wearing jeans that are too tight, along with 3 inch heels, while running into the desert in order to follow her daughter. She refuses to wear more sensible sneakers into the sand and rocks. She seems to be modeled after “Lovey” Howell from Gilligan’s Island, only in the extreme.

We are told little about other characters, like Harriet, Angel, and P.J., to name a few. In one scene, Irene sees Jaunita at the Green Corn Dance festival, and sets out to catch up. Unfortunately, every time she catches a glimpse of her, she disappears again. It is ludicrous that she can’t seem to catch up to her, even though Irene is running and Juanita seems to be struggling with somebody. Every time Irene really needs to use her cell phone to call the police, at that same instant somebody calls her on the same phone. When she needs to talk to somebody about something important, her phone rings. The timing is uncanny. Then, at another point in the story, Irene takes a panicked phone call from her mother and immediately turns off her phone. Why would she do that? These sorts of things reminded me of the epic poem Evangeline by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. After the Expulsion of the Acadians, Evangeline roams the country searching for her beloved Gabriel, always arriving sat some place just after he has departed. At about this point, I decided that reading this novel was becoming tedious.

The end of the story is as unlikely as anything you will ever read in a crime novel. It beggars the imagination. Nothing we learn from the descriptions of the various characters in the novel can prepare us for the ending. It is as contrived as it is possible to be. In reminiscence of 1950’s grade-b western movies, for example, somebody literally shoots the gun out of a bad guy’s hand near the end of the story. What? I haven’t heard of that since the old Roy Rogers and Gene Autry movies (black and white, BTW).

I’m sorry. I’d like to recommend this book to other readers, but I just can’t. It seems to me to have been amateurishly-written. It is unfocused and stilted. The story is highly contrived. It is not an easy read. Avoid it.

This second book about Irene Seligman, former attorney who moves home to Santa Fe, New Mexico from New York to take care of her mother, was a delight. Irene has opened a store and settled in to her new life when her friend, Juanita, ends up in a bad situation. Irene wants to help Juanita out of her troubles, so she steps in to investigate. What follows is a very enjoyable story. This makes a great follow up to the first book!