A frugal fashion model hangs up her second-hand stilettos and returns to her small town to open a business—but then she's forced into the role of amateur sleuth after becoming a suspect in a murder. Melanie Tower is done with the drama of New York City and returns to her Wisconsin hometown to open an art mall. At the start of the holiday season—her jewelers', bakers', and crafters' busiest time—a social media influencer is found dead, pinned under a vintage door. Mel immediately becomes a suspect in the holiday mystery because the victim had been recruiting her best artists to open a competing store! Mel embraces her feisty inner Midwesterner to find the "poser" while polka-ing at the Cheese Ball, judging entries in the Devil's vs. Angels Bake-off, and starring in a hilarious readers' theater at Midwinter's Night at the Library. Model Suspect is The Devil Wears Prada meets a Wisconsin supper club. It's a Midwest whodunnit, a holiday cozy, a humorous small-town mystery served with a brandy old-fashioned sweet and a side of cheese curds.

Former fashion model Mel Tower confronts the unfashionable parts of her past in this mystery taking place at a senior resort in her hometown. During Boo Bash, a week of spooky fun that includes a Golden Bachelor-type dating competition, a designer is murdered at a charity fashion show. Mel's cousin is accused of the crime, so she investigates. Who's the killer lurking at the resort? Or is the ghoul in Cinnamon, haunting the apartment above Mel's new bookstore? Like a dressmaker ripping out a hem, Mel discovers "unseamly" motives among fashionistas while solving the mystery. The Backyard Model Mysteries are funny, seasonal cozies. Readers will laugh and enjoy spending time in vacation towns in Wisconsin where they'll encounter quirky characters, Midwest comfort food, and zany parties. It's like taking a vacation in a book while solving a mystery. The series has earned multiple awards, including Killer Nashville, RWA Daphne du Maurier Award, Purple Dragonfly, and Shelf Unbound. No foul language, violence, sex, or politics.