The Masque of the Red Dress
by Ellen Byerrum
Who in the world wants that gorgeous red dress with the bad reputation? Everybody! Fashion reporter Lacey Smithsonian has never seen such a gown: crimson, flowing, fabulous. And infamous. The actress who first wore it on stage died in it on the closing night of The Masque of the Red Death — and she was playing Death. Burglary, assault and murder now seem to haunt this legendary gown like a ghost. Who would want it enough to kill for it? Crazy theatre people? Costume collectors? Russian spies? The theatre is a world of illusion, and spycraft and stagecraft have much in common. Shadows and deceptions lead Lacey and the red dress into a macabre dance with an assassin—and a masquerade with death