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High Heels and Homicide by Kasey Michaels

High Heels and Homicide
A Maggie Kelly Mystery

Kensington Books (Trade Paperback)
ISBN-10: 0-7582-0880-4 (0758208804)
ISBN-13: 978-0-7582-0880-4 (9780758208804)
Publication Date: December 2005
List Price: $14.00

Synopsis (from the publisher): When mystery author Maggie Kelly heads across the pond for a movie shoot—accompanied by her once-fictional, now all-too-real (not to mention sexy) hero, Alexandre, Viscount Saint Just—she can only hope for a jolly good time. And that’s exactly what she gets—if “jolly good” is Britspeak for “totally crazy”…

We are not amused … Don’t get me wrong—there was plenty to laugh about when we first arrived in Merry Olde England to watch one of my novels being shot as a major motion picture. Alex was delighted with the location (a seventeeth-century manor house), but horrified with the surfer-dude mimbo playing him. I, personally, found the situation hilarious … then the leading lady started rubbing up against “my” hero, leaving me no choice but to start a little flirtation of my own with the lord of the manor’s nephew. It was all very Regency House Party until the scriptwriter showed up…dead.

Lights, camera … action! No, not that kind of action. Well, maybe a little … Okay, so things are suddenly getting hot and heavy between Alex and me—and our timing is atrocious as usual, what with the murder and mayhem. Suspects? Don’t get me started. There’s Mr. Contemptuous Director, Ms. Man-Crazy Production Assistant, Mr. Fancy Pants English Actor, Ms. Diva Leading Lady, and … yours truly. Yep, I was seen arguing with the victim right before his unfortunate demise, so I am, as the Brits would say, in a bit of a pickle…

It was a dark and stormy night ... No, seriously. Some truly nasty English weather has flooded the property, cutting off the power as well as access to the roads. Plus, someone’s stolen all the cell phones. Oh, there’s also that second body we just found. And did I mention the ghost? Mm-hmm—the place is haunted. You know, it wasn’t too long ago that a scenario like this would have had me reaching for a cigarette. Now, it just has me reaching for Alex …

Review: The latest book in the Maggie Kelly series, High Heels and Homicide, is a delightfully funny mystery set largely in an atmospheric 17th century English manor house during a dark and stormy night.

The unusual twist in this series is that mystery author Maggie Kelly has created a fictional Regency-era character for her books, the aristocrat-detective Alexandre Blake, Viscount Saint Just, who has mysteriously come to life with all the characteristics that Kelly imbued in him but without any knowledge or experience of modern life. This premise makes for many comical situations, and Michaels takes full advantage of them in her mysteries.

Michaels captures the essence of the movie industry very well with all its personalities, egos, and insecurities. The action moves along at a brisk pace, and the dialog is frequently funny and entertaining. The fact that the author spends more time on “romance” than “mystery” in this romantic mystery is quibbling.
,br>Don't judge this book by its cover … or its title for that matter. The original title for this mystery, Maggie Gets Some Direction, is not only more appropriate for the book and the series, but adds an ironic element to the storyline and the interplay of the principal characters.

Special thanks to Book Trends for providing an ARC of High Heels and Homicide for this review.

Review Copyright © 2005 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved



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Mysteries in this series ...

Maggie Needs an Alibi
Kensington (Hardcover), July 2002
ISBN-10: 1-57566-879-3 (1575668793)
ISBN-13: 978-1-57566-879-6 (9781575668796)

Maggie by the Book
Kensington (Hardcover), August 2003
ISBN-10: 1-57566-881-5 (1575668815)
ISBN-13: 978-1-57566-881-9 (9781575668819)

Maggie Without a Clue
Kensington (Hardcover), August 2004
ISBN-10: 1-57566-883-1 (1575668831)
ISBN-13: 978-1-57566-883-3 (9781575668833)


Kensington Books (Trade Paperback), December 2005
ISBN-10: 0-7582-0880-4 (0758208804)
ISBN-13: 978-0-7582-0880-4 (9780758208804)


Kensington Books (Trade Paperback), October 2006
ISBN-10: 0-7582-0882-0 (0758208820)
ISBN-13: 978-0-7582-0882-8 (9780758208828)


Kensington Books (Trade Paperback), November 2007
ISBN-10: 0-7582-0884-7 (0758208847)
ISBN-13: 978-0-7582-0884-2 (9780758208842)

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Location(s) referenced: England.

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