A little thing called research!

I finished “Vampire, Interrupted” and it was a disappointment. The Argeneau Vampire series was not great but it had its own twists and quirks and was entertaining, however; not the last book. It appears Ms. Sands was in a hurry to finish the series (if this is the last book!) and wrap things up and paid no attention to historical facts or culture of fifteenth century! Or maybe she always was a sloppy author but it didn’t show. The other stories were contemporary and centuries old vampires were behaving very modern to blend in. But in “Vampire, Interrupted”, Julius and Marguerite have already lived together five centuries ago (if only for a year) and there is these memories and flashbacks and that’s when you can see the author’s lack of historical knowledge. She even got Marguerite’s clothes wrong when Julius was whispering his memories. Come on, a Bonnet wasn’t part of fifteenth century ladies’ attire, hats and bonnets for women came into being around eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Just type the word Bonnet in Wikipedia!
Anyway, the book was a disappointment. Wish Ms. Sands had done her research before writing it!
Right now, I’m reading the fifth book of Crimes of Fashion series “Grave Apparel” by Ellen Byerrum. In this book, there is a Sweatergate in Eye street observer office and two editors are fighting. Lacey the notorious fashion editor and writer of the column “Crimes of Fashion” is entangled in a murder (again!) and looking for the main witness. Her boyfriend’s mother likes to play detective and Christmas sweaters are filling the Washington DC. The Crimes of Fashion series is a murder mystery series, featuring Lacey Smithsonian, a fashion reporter and editor working in a paper in Washington. Lacey has a knack for finding corps and having killers after her, trying to add her to their head count. The other books of the series are: “Killer Hair”, “Designer Knock Off”, “Hostile Makeover”, “The Raiders of the lost Corset”, and the next book in the series will be “Armed and Glamorous” coming in July 2008.
It is a great series and each chapter starts with one of Lacey’s column on fashion tips and advises. All in all, a very fun read!