Review: Spying In High Heels by Gemma Halliday

Author - Gemma Halliday
Genre - Cozy Mystery
Series - High Heels Mystery #1
Format - Ebook (324p.)
Rating - 5/5 stars
Read an excerpt

L.A. shoe designer, Maddie Springer, lives her life by three rules: Fashion. Fashion. Fashion. But when she stumbles upon the work of a brutal killer, her life takes an unexpected turn from Manolos to murder. And things only get worse when her boyfriend disappears—along with AUD20 million in embezzled funds—and her every move is suddenly under scrutiny by the LAPD's sexiest cop. With the help of her post-menopausal bridezilla of a mother, a 300 pound psychic and one seriously oversexed best friend, Maddie finds herself stepping out of her stilettos and onto the trail of a murderer. But can she catch a killer before the killer catches up to her…

• Review •
This book was hilariously awesome. Almost every page had something that had me laughing out loud. Sometimes so hard that I was tearing up and getting a bellyache! The pacing was excellent, and the plot was great. The whodunit aspect was done so well that I never figured out who it was until the end. And I just loved the touch of suspense during the climax!

The characters were a blast. So funny, all of them. Except Ramirez… he was just plain hawt! I loved Maddie too. Which was kind of surprising because she is somewhat ditzy/flaky. But, in my opinion, it added to the hilarity of the story. I just adored the slapstick humor she brought. Think Lucy Ricardo with Dana (Maddie's BFF) as a loose version of Ethel Mertz. Like I said, the cast is so great in this book, and I can't wait to see them again in the rest of the series. Speaking of, I purchased the box set 1-5 of the series for 1.99 at amazon. Talk about a steal!

I did have 1 minor issue with the book… the use of route numbers and unfamiliar road terms was very confusing for me. It seemed like this was written with Californians in mind because I had to look up certain terms also, such as CHP. Which I had no clue what the hell that was until I looked it up online. It would have been better had it just been something like 'south towards Hollywood' or something. I realize some might not be bothered with this issue, but for me it was very annoying and ultimately kept me from tagging the book with a Favorite.

Overall, awesome book! I can't wait to read the rest of the series. Highly recommended to fans of cozy mysteries and funny stories.

★★★★★