KILLER HAIR - Ellen Byerrum

Book one of the "Crimes of Fashion" mystery series (and Byerrum's first mystery novel) is set in Washington, D.C. - a city not exactly known as a stylish mecca, which can be confirmed by Lacey Smithsonian (no relation to the Institute), fashion reporter for The Eye Street Observer hell-bent on moving up in the journalistic world.  Her chance comes early in the novel, when hairstylist Angie Woods - a co-worker of Lacey's friend Stella - is found dead one morning sitting in her stylist's chair, her long hair cut off and wrists slit.  Convinced it was a suicide, the police soon lose interest, but when Lacey learns that Angie was a sort of "stylist to the stars" for local celebrities - in particular a lady White House staffer currently under investigation for her involvement with both a congressman and a particularly sexy website - Lacey, with no short list of suspects to choose from, begins to investigate ... putting herself, naturally, right in the sights of someone who's already killed once.  Some of the characters in Killer Hair lean toward the one-dimensional types you often find in cozy mysteries, but (thankfully) the potential romantic element of Lacey having to work on the case with one very hot ex is kept to a minimum, and the finale is actually sort of kick-ass for a cozy.  Definitely worth a read, Lacey intriguing and charming - and fun - enough to also move onto book two in the series.  ***1/2