Charade (Sabby Carlyle #1) by Kristy Douglas

Synopsis: All the world's a stage and Sabby Carlyle is the best dressed actress on it. 

New Yorker Sabby Carlyle lives a charmed life. She's rich, she's young, and she knows how to pair floral prints and stripes (the trick is to treat stripes as a neutral). Two years ago she walked away from her affluent Upper East Side life to pursue her passion for acting, and other than a bit of accidental stage nudity (which thankfully happened in New Jersey), the acting-thing--and life--are perfect. She has great fashion sense, great friends, and more good-hair days than bad. What more could a girl want?

In one night, her idyllic life is shattered when her grandmother, doyenne of Manhattan society is murdered. 

Sabby dust off her couture-filled closet, straps on stilettos and returns to the Upper East Side to find the killer. As she's scouring Manhattan for clues, she quickly realizes it will take more than her acting skills and knowledge of vintage Dior to solve this whodunit. She's willing to do whatever it takes to unmask the killer, including flirting with a handsome FBI agent and teaming up with a sexy, mysterious jewel thief. 

Now instead of attending auditions, she's attending gala events, learning the fine art of breaking and entering, meeting unsavory characters in dark alleys, and trading pieces of couture for information. 

But someone on the Upper East Side will do anything to keep her from finding the truth, and if Sabby isn't careful, her newest accessory will be a made-to-measure coffin.

Thoughts:  The cover is gorgeous, and the synopsis drew me in, leaving me wanting to know more about the story.

I was a little disappointed when the first quarter of this book came from another character's point of view instead of Sabine Carlyle's, as the series is supposed to be about her. However, the rest of the book made that segment work for me.

There are plot twists galore in this story, It has suspense, humor, a bit of romance, and a murder mystery. I was surprised by the identities of the murderer and their informant, and I enjoyed the blossoming romance between Sabby and Alex--not thrilled with the whole love triangle bit, though.

I look forward to reading more of Sabine's adventures in the future.

**I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are entirely my own.**

My rating: Four stars