My
sleuth, Caprice DeLuca, is thirty-two, but her Nana and her mother's lives and
fashion trends have made an impact on her.
She chooses to wear vintage and retro fashion. Her favorite fashion decades are the sixties
and seventies, but she also dips into the 1930s and 40s for her fashion looks.
Caprice
is about ten pounds overweight. I wanted
to create an every-day woman as a sleuth so my readers could relate to her. She is a home-stager by trade with a unique
style her mostly high-end clients prefer.
That unique style carries over into her life. She wears retro fashions which complement her
curvy figure. Most of all, she wears
clothes that made her feel confident … or comfortable.
Caprice
shops in a vintage shop in Kismet, Pennsylvania,
Secrets of the Past which carries
actual vintage clothes and accessories as well as up and coming designers who
create retro fashion. There are
particular women who are fashion icons.
Each has a unique style that she borrows on occasion.
Since
she could step back into the nineteen-sixties and nineteen-seventies and feel
perfectly comfortable, her favorite icon is Stevie Nicks. Caprice is basically a romantic flower child
who wants to wake up each day with enough optimism to share. Stevie Nicks' style fits many of her moods. However where Stevie wore mostly black,
Caprice is enthusiastic about color.
Maxi-skirts and dresses in gauzy and flowing fabrics are her dress up
staples. Tunics, fringed or tapestry
vests, tie-dye shirts and bell bottoms are common choices for everyday
wear. Stevie was Bohemian chic, a
natural look Caprice strives for.
When
Caprice needed a wow-everybody-dress for the Valentine's Day dance in GILT BY ASSOCIATION,
Secrets of the Past didn't offer the
right dress for her. She shopped at her
friend's boutique
All About You. There she found the perfect dress reminiscent
of 1940's style-icon, Carole Lombard.
Carole Lombard, once labeled the most beautiful woman in the world, knew
Hollywood glamour. Big furs, big hats, and elegant satin gowns
were her trade-mark looks. The dress
Caprice chose was straight out of Carole Lombard's world, with its 1940's
fitted fuchsia satin beauty. Her strappy
matching haute heels were the perfect complement with her hair rolled and
curled in a retro hairdo. She wowed the
guys who mattered—Seth Randolph and Grant Weatherford.
There
are those times when Caprice chooses to look classy, stylish, and elegant. At those times, she turns to the fitted and
tailored coats and fashions exemplified by fashion icon Audrey Hepburn. She's not so much into the black turtlenecks
that Audrey Hepburn wore, but that fitted red coat in Breakfast at Tiffany's,
the white shirt and gathered skirt from Roman Holiday, the classic
pearls, the kitten heels and ballerina flats that Audrey Hepburn often wore fit
beautifully into Caprice's wardrobe.
Caprice's
brother Vince taught her to throw a mean baseball pitch, which can be a handy
skill when confronting a murderer. At
times, Caprice prefers to dress in professionally comfortable clothes. For a few of her open houses, she might take
a page from fashion icon Katherine Hepburn's book. Katherine Hepburn avoided glamour whenever
she could. She was well known for
wearing khaki pants with an open collar shirt.
She also put high-waisted, flare-leg trousers and matching jackets in
many women's wardrobes. Caprice searches
out those outfits as must-haves in her closet.
Along with Katherine Hepburn's style jodhpurs she feels neat and stylish
for work or for taking her cocker spaniel Lady for a run in the dog park.
I
often PIN photos of vintage fashion on Pinterest, if you'd like to see what outfits
and accessories Caprice might wear. I
hope your style and fashion picks make you as happy and comfortable as
Caprice's do.
My cozy mysteries--with irrepressible sleuth Caprice De Luca--include a murder to solve. But as Caprice finds the answer to each investigation, she takes in stray animals and finds homes for them, stages houses, spends time with her large Italian family and cooks. She also must solve her own romantic dilemma--choosing Mr. Right. Readers will find recipes along with love and caring in each novel.
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STAGED TO DEATH, book 1
Caprice De Luca stages houses for high-end clients. When she discovers a body in the castle-mansion she staged to sell and starts asking questions, she finds herself in danger. On the way to solving the murder, Caprice's large Italian family helps and hinders. She also finds romance with Dr. Seth Randolph. But does her brother's partner, attorney Grant Weatherford, care about her, too? Or is he just worried she'll get herself killed and her family will blame him?
Enjoy solving the mystery with Caprice, cook along with her, see her find homes for the stray animals she protects, be a part of the De Luca family...in STAGED TO DEATH.
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DEADLY DECOR, book 2
Quiet Kismet, Pennsylvania, may look like any other small town, but as a home stager, Caprice De Luca can see behind closed doors--and it seems someone has designs on murder. . .Life is a full house for Caprice these days. She's dating, she's rescuing adorable cocker spaniels, and she's decorating the roomy interiors of Kismet's most well-heeled residents with fun fantasy themes. But she's worried about her pregnant sister. Bella's marriage is coming apart like a bad wallpaper job, and to make matters worse, she's decided to meet up with a former flame Bob Preston, a house painter Caprice frequently employs. When he's found dead in a pool of green paint swirling with blood, it's time for Caprice to stage an investigation. With all eyes trained on Bella's husband, Caprice shifts her attention from finding the perfect curtains to finding the perfect culprit. . .
Caprice De Luca's latest house staging is all about hearts, flowers, lace and chintz since Valentine's Day is around the corner. She never expects her client to be murdered in the greenhouse the day of the open house.
With her six-month-old pup Lady by her side and her own love life in disarray, Caprice ferrets out clues from the victim's best friend, Caprice's mother, the housekeeper and a special male friend who insists his relationship with the victim was platonic. However, as Caprice digs deeper, she finds the victim's past is filled with secrets that she kept from her husband for thirty years.
The past isn't merely history. The present isn't always what it seems. When hearts are involved, passion and even murder aren't far behind.
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Coming July 28--DRAPE EXPECTATIONS, book 4
Caprice De Luca's former client and now friend Ace Richland--an 80's rock star--asks her for a favor. Can she quickly stage his girlfriend's house to sell? Widow Alanna Goodwin, a transplanted Southern beauty, will be moving in with him! Immediately Caprice realizes Alanna's southern charm can be turned on and off at will. Caprice agrees to stage Alanna's Kismet antebellum-styled mansion for Ace's sake. But she soon learns Alanna doesn't have a genuine love for her cat Mirabelle and also uncovers a plot her new client is hatching to sabotage Ace's comeback. However, before she can tell Ace, Alanna is murdered and Ace is the prime suspect.
As Caprice investigates, she learns Alanna had more secrets than pie safes. With her Cocker Spaniel Lady by her side, she tracks down clues and adopts Alanna's cat. In the midst of some of her own family upheaval--her uncle has moved in with her parents--she finds herself with a dilemma. Grant Weatherford, her brother's law partner, advises Ace and reveals more of his past to her. Seth Randolph, the doctor she dates, wants her to meet his family. She must choose between them.
Danger stalks Caprice. Will her refresher self-defense course save her life? Only if she keeps her wits about her and Lady by her side.
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USA TODAY Bestselling Author Karen Rose Smith is an only child who delved into books at an early age. She learned about kindred spirits from Anne of Green Gables, solved mysteries with Nancy Drew and wished she could have been the rider on The Black Stallion. Yet even though she escaped often into story worlds, she had many aunts, uncles and cousins around her on weekends. Her sense of family and relationships began there. Maybe that's why families are a strong theme in her novels, whether mysteries or romances. Her 87th novel will be released in 2015.
Readers often ask her about her pastimes. She has herb, flowers and vegetable gardens that help her relax. In the winter, she cooks rather than gardens. And year round she spends most of her time with her husband, as well as her four rescued cats who are her constant companions. They chase rainbows from sun catchers, reminding her life isn't all about work, awards and bestseller lists. Everyone needs that rainbow to chase.
Karen looks forward to interacting with readers. They can find her at the links below.
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