Fans pick 86 books like Pleating for Mercy

By Melissa Bourbon,

Here are 86 books that Pleating for Mercy fans have personally recommended if you like Pleating for Mercy. Shepherd is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of Designer Dirty Laundry

Susie Black Author Of Death by Sample Size

From my list on humorous cozy mysteries set in the fashion industry.

Why am I passionate about this?

Like the protagonist in my Holly Swimsuit Mystery Series, I am a ladies’ swimwear sales exec. I love solving puzzles, asking a lot of questions, and am naturally curious (some narrow-minded people say I am nosy…go figure…LOL). So, writing mysteries set in the fashion industry was the natural next step for me to take. From the beginning of my career, I have kept a daily journal chronicling the interesting, quirky, and sometimes quite challenging people I have encountered as well as the crazy situations I’ve gotten myself into and out of. My daily journal entries are the foundation of everything I write.

Susie's book list on humorous cozy mysteries set in the fashion industry

Susie Black Why did Susie love this book?

I love cozy mysteries with a witty protagonist who usually discovers the corpse. Clever dialogue in a fashion setting, with wacky supporting characters get me laughing, and a twisty plot I can’t figure out keeps me turning the pages. Designer Dirty Laundry is all of that rolled up into one laugh-out-loud story. I credit this book and series with giving me the impetus to write my debut cozy.

By Diane Vallere,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Designer Dirty Laundry as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

"Wonderful read regardless of your fashion sense. Samantha Kidd could not be more entertaining and, surprisingly, relatable." ~Shawna, Reviewer

National bestselling author Diane Vallere delivers your new favorite fashionable amateur sleuth! Join Samantha Kidd as she trades high fashion for dirty laundry and learns a great wardrobe isn't enough to turn her life around, let alone catch a killer.

She expected the fashion industry to be ruthless. She wasn't prepared for it to turn deadly.

Ready to redesign her life, style expert Samantha Kidd accepts a job in her Pennsylvania hometown as a trend specialist. But her first day goes…


Book cover of Veiled Revenge

Susie Black Author Of Death by Sample Size

From my list on humorous cozy mysteries set in the fashion industry.

Why am I passionate about this?

Like the protagonist in my Holly Swimsuit Mystery Series, I am a ladies’ swimwear sales exec. I love solving puzzles, asking a lot of questions, and am naturally curious (some narrow-minded people say I am nosy…go figure…LOL). So, writing mysteries set in the fashion industry was the natural next step for me to take. From the beginning of my career, I have kept a daily journal chronicling the interesting, quirky, and sometimes quite challenging people I have encountered as well as the crazy situations I’ve gotten myself into and out of. My daily journal entries are the foundation of everything I write.

Susie's book list on humorous cozy mysteries set in the fashion industry

Susie Black Why did Susie love this book?

I’ve always been a sucker for a good curse to thicken a cozy mystery plot, and this one has a doozy: a stunning Russian shawl worn by a fortune-teller at a bridal shower that Washington, D.C. fashion reporter Lacey Smithsonian attends for her BFF Stella. I love the plucky amateur sleuth who uses her Extra-Fashionary Perception to capture a villain who vowed that nobody at this wedding will live happily ever after.

Book cover of Danger in High Heels

Susie Black Author Of Death by Sample Size

From my list on humorous cozy mysteries set in the fashion industry.

Why am I passionate about this?

Like the protagonist in my Holly Swimsuit Mystery Series, I am a ladies’ swimwear sales exec. I love solving puzzles, asking a lot of questions, and am naturally curious (some narrow-minded people say I am nosy…go figure…LOL). So, writing mysteries set in the fashion industry was the natural next step for me to take. From the beginning of my career, I have kept a daily journal chronicling the interesting, quirky, and sometimes quite challenging people I have encountered as well as the crazy situations I’ve gotten myself into and out of. My daily journal entries are the foundation of everything I write.

Susie's book list on humorous cozy mysteries set in the fashion industry

Susie Black Why did Susie love this book?

A protagonist who is loyal to a fault and willing to put her life on the line to clear an innocent friend is a key ingredient to a cozy I want to read. So, I was naturally attracted to shoe designer Maddie Springer in Danger in High Heels who springs into action and risks her life to clear her wrongly accused BFF’s boyfriend of murder. I prefer amateur sleuths stumbling and bumbling their way to solving the case like Maddy does. Her snappy comebacks gave this cozy the spice that made the story zing. 

By Gemma Halliday,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Danger in High Heels as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

#1 Amazon, New York Times & USA Today Bestselling series!
Death on the set of a Dancing with Celebrities TV show has someone taking their final bow...

Maddie Springer is all about fashion. So when her the movie star her best friend is dating, Ricky Montgomery, becomes a contestant on the ballroom dance reality hit, Dancing with Celebrities, she is over the moon at the chance to view the sparkly, spandexy costumes up close. That is until Ricky's dance partner is found dead in his dressing room...in the nude! Suddenly the police suspect him of murder, his girlfriend, Dana, suspects…


Book cover of Slay Bells and Satchels

Susie Black Author Of Death by Sample Size

From my list on humorous cozy mysteries set in the fashion industry.

Why am I passionate about this?

Like the protagonist in my Holly Swimsuit Mystery Series, I am a ladies’ swimwear sales exec. I love solving puzzles, asking a lot of questions, and am naturally curious (some narrow-minded people say I am nosy…go figure…LOL). So, writing mysteries set in the fashion industry was the natural next step for me to take. From the beginning of my career, I have kept a daily journal chronicling the interesting, quirky, and sometimes quite challenging people I have encountered as well as the crazy situations I’ve gotten myself into and out of. My daily journal entries are the foundation of everything I write.

Susie's book list on humorous cozy mysteries set in the fashion industry

Susie Black Why did Susie love this book?

Coming from an apparel sales exec. career, I gravitate to cozy stories set in stores. I love clueless employees who stumble over dead bodies, and zany characters who manage to get themselves out of crazy situations. I especially enjoy cozies with a holiday theme. Slay Bells and Satchels has it all. I laughed out loud when fashionista purse lover department store sales clerk Haley Randolph finds a murdered elf in the store’s giant toy bag. Slay Bells and Satchels tickled my funny bone throughout the story, but had me guessing whodunit to the last page. 

By Dorothy Howell,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Slay Bells and Satchels as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The Summer Santa Sale at Holt’s Department Store becomes a Christmas nightmare when sales clerk Haley Randolph finds a murdered elf in the store’s giant toy bag. Haley, a crazed fashionista obsessed with designer handbags, could find herself “bagged” if she doesn’t untangle this mystery quicker than Saint Nick can slide down a chimney. But Haley has another problem: Can working with hot private detective Jack Bishop put her on Santa’s “naughty” list?


Book cover of The Devil Wears Prada

D.M. Pelletier Author Of Cold Dresses

From my list on exposing the dark side of fashion.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve been fascinated by the world of fashion for more than a decade. Back in 2012, a serious bike accident left me incapacitated for the best part of six months. By the time I recovered from my injuries, a chance encounter with a Russian dressmaker would change everything; I decided to learn how to sew. I sat in front of my sewing machine, made my own clothes, and expanded into making dresses for my friends. Since I’ve always enjoyed reading gritty mysteries, it was only natural for me to incorporate my art into my writing. Cold Dresses was born out of a passion for fashion and dark thrillers. 

D.M.'s book list on exposing the dark side of fashion

D.M. Pelletier Why did D.M. love this book?

Yes, (almost) everyone has watched the movie. Sure, Meryl Streep was perfect for the role, but the book gives a whole different meaning to “The Boss from Hell.” The plot is more realistic too, in my opinion, and the world of fashion crueller and more difficult compared to the one described in the movie.

Saying that, there are many hilarious moments, too. Fun, fabulous, and, at times, slightly disturbing...

By Lauren Weisberger,

Why should I read it?

6 authors picked The Devil Wears Prada as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

High fashion, low cunning - and the boss from hell

When Andrea first sets foot in the plush Manhattan offices of Runway she knows nothing. She's never heard of the world's most fashionable magazine, or its feared and fawned-over editor, Miranda Priestly - her new boss.

A year later, she knows altogether too much:

That it's a sacking offence to wear anything lower than a three-inch heel to work.

That you can charge cars, manicures, anything at all to the Runway account, but you must never, ever, leave your desk, or let Miranda's coffee get cold.

And that at 3…


Book cover of The Writer

Andrea Smith Author Of Murders on the Ridge: Mystery in Briar County

From my list on 'who-dun-it' fiction.

Why am I passionate about this?

My passion for true crime fiction started in 2016 with the murders of eight family members in a neighboring county in Southern Ohio. The case made international news, and five years later there are still more questions than answers. I felt the victims of this heinous crime deserved some closure which the legal system has not yet provided. So, writing a fictional version of this story was my way of providing closure - at least in my own mind.

Andrea's book list on 'who-dun-it' fiction

Andrea Smith Why did Andrea love this book?

If mystery and suspense are your thing, this is a who-dun-it that will suck you in quickly. This book totally captivated me from start to finish. I think what hooked me was the way the author took the prologue to actually show the past, and then when the novel started, all the threads of the story were sewn together so beautifully. Full of twists and turns which make a great suspense experience. There is some romantic drama tossed in which is always the icing on the cake for me as well.

By Gina A. Jones,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Writer as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?



A Bestselling Novelist’s book comes back to haunt her.

Kayleigh Carter is starting her life over above a coffee shop in downtown Manhattan. She is also the author of the hit thriller, My Legal Guardian, in which a “bad boy billionaire” plays Fifty Shades of Grey-style mind games on a female protagonist. She discovers the previous tenant, a young college girl, of her apartment went missing—the inspiration for her next thriller. However, someone doesn’t want her found and she soon attracts a psychopath. Someone is also one step ahead of her, leaving her messages signed, XXX. But the deeper Kayleigh…


Book cover of Taming the Wolf

Delaney Diamond Author Of Ethan

From my list on swoon-worthy heroes in romance.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve been a published romance author since 2010, but even before I published my first romance novel, I was an avid reader of the genre. In fact, I started at the very young age of eleven, checking out romance novels from my local public library. Over the years, I’ve read hundreds of books and found the ones that I enjoy the most have the most intriguing heroes who fall hard for the heroine. 

Delaney's book list on swoon-worthy heroes in romance

Delaney Diamond Why did Delaney love this book?

This was the first novel I read by Maureen Smith, and it sent me down a path to reading all the Wolf books. Not only that, I had to read her other books, too.

The way she writes her heroes, you can’t help but fall in love with them, and that was the case with Marcus Wolf. I simply fell in love with him. He’s a successful attorney who falls head over heels for Samara, a woman he initially meets at a fashion show. 

These two had great chemistry. Their relationship was hot and heavy right from the beginning, but what made Marcus swoon-worthy was how smitten he was with Samara, which resulted in a full-court press to make her his for all time. 

By Maureen Smith,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Taming the Wolf as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

With Samara Layton’s community outreach organization facing bankruptcy, she turns to wealthy attorney Marcus Wolf for a bailout. The only problem is that Marcus is the same sexy, gorgeous man she turned down at a fashion show in New York. Little did she know that she would soon need his help to rescue her business. As she sets out to seduce him, she quickly discovers just how pleasurable it can be to tame a wolf…. From the moment Samara steps onto the runway in a breathtakingly sheer gown, Marcus is captivated. When their eyes meet, the electricity between them is…


Book cover of For Us, the Living: A Comedy of Customs

Paul James Gabol Author Of The Brittle Foundations of our Civilization

From my list on the Western’s social unrest and decay.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am a privileged individual of our Western society, with access to a good education, living away from hunger and despair. Am I wealthy? Far from it. I am amid that middle class where working hours are well understood and spare time is fully enjoyed. I have been a consultant to businesses of all sizes and I have learned closely how the wheels turn, how in order to produce anything, always someone and something is crushed and squeezed. Profit on one side and destruction and poverty on the other one. Throughout time, I have met people from various countries and understood the value of a multicultural world, which I defend.

Paul's book list on the Western’s social unrest and decay

Paul James Gabol Why did Paul love this book?

This book is an unfinished work, hard to follow, because it is a draft never reviewed by the author and published posthumously.

However, it is a must-read, so please do not be discouraged as I was, for the ideas that it encloses picture a more equalized society practically based on the changing of our economic road, nothing else than ending capitalism as we know it.

Two subjects are of particular interest: first, how to correctly retribute people for the wealth they generate through their work; and second, a demonstration of how excess production and money amassing do not amount to wealth. An interesting lesson in economics.

By Robert A. Heinlein,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked For Us, the Living as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

After crashing his car in 1939, Naval Airman Perry Nelson awakens to find the radically different world of 2086, one marked by a United Europe, the destruction of Manhattan island by two helicopters in 2003, and other changes in the economy, legal system, and the relationships between men and women, in a remarkable, long-lost first novel by the late master of speculative fiction. 75,000 first printing. Science Fiction Bk Club.


Book cover of Short Stories: Five Decades

Robert Trachtenberg Author Of Red-Blooded American Male: Photographs

From my list on pretending you live in 1940s Manhattan.

Why am I passionate about this?

Born and raised in Los Angeles, I’ve been obsessed with the romance and “bygone world” of Manhattan in the 40s and 50s since I was a kid. Working in bookstores through high school and college, I quickly gravitated towards The New Yorker magazine which introduced me to John Cheever, Irwin Shaw, and many wonderful authors. Whether it was books or magazines, I couldn’t imagine a more interesting career than working in the New York publishing world - until I went there for job interviews and heard how little they paid. Back in Los Angeles, I figured out how to join from afar without having to live with six roommates on the Lower East Side.

Robert's book list on pretending you live in 1940s Manhattan

Robert Trachtenberg Why did Robert love this book?

Like Cheever, Shaw was a fellow New Yorker contributor but his work is grittier than Cheever’s and was best summed up in The New York Times: “[Shaw] has a primitive skill possessed by very few sophisticated men.” Winner of two O. Henry awards, I would say he is the “meat and potatoes” short story master - but it’s Prime USDA.

By Irwin Shaw,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Short Stories as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Featuring sixty-three stories spanning five decades, this superb collection-including "Girls in Their Summer Dresses," "Sailor Off the Bremen," and "The Eighty-Yard Run"-clearly illustrates why Shaw is considered one of America's finest short-story writers.


Book cover of The Lies That Bind

Jacqueline Friedland Author Of That's Not a Thing

From my list on contemporary romance set in Manhattan.

Why am I passionate about this?

As someone who’s been born and raised in and around the suburbs of Manhattan, I have a love-hate relationship with the city. I crave the excitement it offers but then gets frustrated by its drawbacks- the crowds, the dirt, the noise, the expense, the pressure. But then you crack open the pages of a romance story, and the allure of Manhattan and the surrounding boroughs is undeniable. Anything is possible in New York City.

Jacqueline's book list on contemporary romance set in Manhattan

Jacqueline Friedland Why did Jacqueline love this book?

The night before September 11, 2001, I was in New York City, and my now-husband proposed to me. We woke up the next morning to a whole new world. Any book set in Manhattan that relates to September 11th instantly speaks to me. This romance story is one you will never see coming, and I can’t recommend it more highly.

By Emily Giffin,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Lies That Bind as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • In this irresistible novel from the author of All We Ever Wanted and Something Borrowed, a young woman falls hard for an impossibly perfect man before he disappears without a trace. . . . 

It’s 2 A.M. on a Saturday night in the spring of 2001, and twenty-eight-year-old Cecily Gardner sits alone in a dive bar in New York’s East Village, questioning her life. Feeling lonesome and homesick for the Midwest, she wonders if she’ll ever make it as a reporter in the big city—and whether she made a terrible mistake in breaking up with…


Book cover of Designer Dirty Laundry
Book cover of Veiled Revenge
Book cover of Danger in High Heels

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Interested in Manhattan, fashion, and Texas?

Manhattan 136 books
Fashion 53 books
Texas 224 books