The premise of Blackwell's book is that everything someone wears retains some essence of the wearer, like their thoughts or feelings or actions during the time they wore it, and anyone with a high level of empathy, like a witch or psychic, can 'read' the clothing. This is the second book in the Lily Ivory series. Ivory's a witch who runs a vintage clothing store - Aunt Cora's Closet.
Ivory knows how to clear the memories from the clothing so people can wear them again without being effected by anything negative the former owner left behind. But, sometimes the clothing brings a bigger mystery than someone having a really bad day. In the latest book Ivory has to find out why students at the local fine arts school are spooked and what it has to do with a trunk full of Victorian clothing in a hidden room on the top floor of the school.
This is a fun book. I particularly like her familiar, an ever-hungry gargoyle who masquerades as a cute pot-bellied pig. The story is a good mystery, but it goes a little slow in places. I like the descriptions of San Francisco and the way the author obviously cares about animals and the homeless. A nice read overall.
