Costume Shop Mystery Books in Order

The Costume Shop mysteries begin with a homecoming that does not stay quiet for long. Margo Tamblyn comes back to Proper City, Nevada, to run Disguise DeLimit, her family's costume shop. She used to work as a magician's assistant, and that stage background gives her a slightly different angle from the usual cozy sleuth. She understands performance, misdirection, timing, and what people choose to hide in plain sight.

That makes the shop more than a cute hook. Costumes, parties, festivals, haunted spaces, and local events are built right into the series. Margo is constantly dealing with people who are presenting one version of themselves to the public and another behind the curtain. In a mystery, that turns out to be very useful.

Proper City gives the books a strong small-town frame. Local businesses matter. Redevelopment fights matter. Festivals matter. So do old grudges and the ways people remember one another. When trouble hits, it is rarely random. It usually connects back to the town, the shop, or the people trying to reshape both.

Margo is a good lead for this setup because she is practical without being dull. She knows how to think on her feet, and she is used to spectacle, which means the dramatic side of each case never quite throws her. At the same time, the series keeps her grounded in ordinary pressures like work, family expectations, and the challenge of rebuilding a life in a place that already thinks it knows her.

The tone is traditional cozy with a theatrical streak. You get disguises, weird venues, nosy questions, and the satisfaction of seeing a clever setup come together. If you like mysteries where the setting is playful but the investigation still matters, this series has a nice snap to it.

Start with A Disguise to Die For. It lays out Margo, the family shop, and the mix of performance and danger that carries through the rest of the books.