Fearless In High Heels- A High Heels Mystery
Morning sickness sucks. Which is why fashion designer turned amateur sleuth Maddie Springer has spent the last six weeks being a couch potato and Moonlight vampire movie devotee. But when Maddie’s best friends finally convince her to venture out, Maddie stumbles on a dead body of a girl who has been bitten on the neck, and life suddenly imitates art in the most deadliest of ways. Now Maddie is smack in the middle of a murder investigation involving a deadly dance club and a coven of Hollywood “vampires”. Not to mention navigating the world of baby showers, diaper genies and Lamaze classes with her LAPD Homicide detective husband who would rather his pregnant wife not continue popping up in his murder investigation. Between the hormones, the homicides, and a flurry of fangs, Maddie and her gang work to track down the deadly truth… before the killer bites again!
Please note that this review contains spoilers for the previous books in this series.
I have been avid follower of this series since I picked the first one for free on my Kindle. The box set followed next and then the novella, so I was excited to see that a new one arrived last year. It has taken me a while to get around to reading it however!
The series centres on Maddie Springer who is, to be frank, a little ditzy. She is a proper girlie girl, into clothes and a shoe designer herself. She has a penchant for junk food, often fails to meet deadlines and would rather be shopping than having a workout. I think she is a fabulous character. She lives in LA and as a Brit she and her friends highlight all those things that you imagine LA would be like with fast cars, celebrities and slightly barmy (in a nice way) Americans! In the first novel Maddie’s boyfriend disappears and is accused of murder. Maddie is determined to clear his name and embarks on a little amateur sleuthing. This leads to her always being in the right place at the wrong time (or the other way around!) and being accidently and peculiarly quite good at solving mysteries. Her theories are wacky and and her methods totally unorthodox, often she goes on off on what seems to be completely the wrong tangent but the ensuing antics are wonderful to behold. Well, that is unless you are local homicide cop Ramierez, who is the hottest cop on the planet and finds Maddie’s interference annoying (to say the least) but possibly in an attractive kind of way…!
So now we are seven books down the line and in spite of everything Maddie has solved a number of cases and won over Ramierez in the process. They are finally happily hitched and in this story Maddie is expecting their first baby. This gives rise to a lot of humour with her crazy Mom trying to prepare Maddie for motherhood; Maddie sticks the baby doll she is supposed to be practicing with in her handbag most of the time.
The mystery is as crazy as ever and as Maddie is pregnant there is a greater need than usual to suspend your disbelief about some of the situations she gets herself into. However the cast of minor characters are as good as ever. Dana, Maddie’s best friend and her boyfriend (a movie star) continue to spur Maddie on. I loved the vampire twist with a little finger pointing at a well-known set of vampire stories.
Verdict:This is not the best of the series however it is still an enjoyable scramble through Maddie’s capers and there are some great moments. It still kept me turning the pages, but more due to Maddie’s scrapes than the mystery this time. I would highly recommend that you start with the first one of the series (Spying in High Heels) to see if it’s for you.
Reviewed by Helen
