High
Heels and Holidays
A
Maggie Kelly Mystery
Kasey
Michaels
Kensington
Books (Trade Paperback)
ISBN-10: 0-7582-0882-0 (0758208820)
ISBN-13: 978-0-7582-0882-8 (9780758208828)
Publication Date: October 2006
List Price: $14.00
Synopsis (from
the publisher): Mystery author Maggie Kelly is getting ready to
celebrate her first Christmas with Alexandre, Viscount Saint Just --
her once-fictional, but now all too-real sexy hero and boyfriend. But
her romantic Christmas plans go haywire when murder decides to deck the
halls ...
Bad Tidings We Bring! There’s nothing I’d rather be
doing this time of year then singing Christmas carols while I trim my
tree, and snuggling next to my man Alex while we watch It’s a
Wonderful Life for the
umpteenth time. But this season, it seems some Grinch with a really bad
sense of humor is delivering packages of rotting rats and death threats
to me and the other authors who contributed to the mystery collection No Secret Anymore.
To You and Your Kin! Sure, even I’ll admit the book was
terrible. But why can’t this sicko just go to the bookstore
and get a refund? It’s Christmas, buddy -- not Halloween! But
then Jonathan West -- the brainchild of No Secret Anymore
-- turns up dead, and me and Alex aren’t so sure anymore that
the murderer is a just a disgruntled reader... Bad tidings for
Christmas—and a Murderous New Year! Jonathan had finally
completed a new novel, which his agent claimed to be his best. This
leads us to think maybe a jealous rival is the killer—that
is, until two of Jonathan’s obsessed fans surface. So now the
we’re scrambling to solve this mystery before eight
writers—including yours truly—don’t live
to see the New Year ...
Review:
High
Heels and Holidays is the
fifth mystery in this series by Kasey Michaels to feature mystery
author Maggie Kelly and her fictional, but now real, Regency-era hero,
the aristocrat-detective Alexandre Blake, the Viscount Saint Just.
This disappointing entry in the series takes place immediately after
the gang returns from England, the site of the previous book, the
delightful and entertaining High Heels and Homicide. A colleague,
Francis Oakes, has died under mysterious circumstances, and though
Maggie would rather be preparing for the holidays and sharing an
intimate moment with her fictional-but-real creation, she is drawn into
the mystery when another celebrity author is found dead.
This series has a unique twist to it, and Michaels uses a prologue in
the form of a letter from Maggie to "Fred" to describe just how the the
character of Alexandre Blake came to be. But readers new to the series
are likely to be confused by the whole premise, and are better served
to read one of the previous books to appreciate the situation in which
Maggie finds herself with Saint Just.
There's an astonishing amount of dialog in High Heels and Holidays,
but very little of substance is ever said. At one point Saint Just
notes, facetiously but accurately, "... you fascinate us with this
story, although you've said very little so far, haven't you?" And
Maggie herself says that "... if anyone sane ever eavesdropped on any
of our conversations, we'd all be locked up."
It's probably not giving away too much to say that Maggie and Alex get
romantically involved in this book, and that is frequently a problem
for a romantic mystery series. And a serious problem in this one.
Maggie, for all practical purposes, admits as much in another letter to
"Fred" in the epilogue. "So I give him this independent woman, see.
They battle—right off the bat. Two strong personalities,
going at it ... but slowly, against their will, they're drawn to each
other. Big-time. Physically. They keep dancing around each other;
advancing, retreating, keeping the readers happy. And all the while she
helps him solve crimes. It could work."
Or not.
If the series is drawing to a close, this might be a way to end it. But
if Michaels intends to continue the adventures of Maggie and Saint
Just, a rapid retreat to their pre-Holiday relationship is definitely
in order.
Special thanks to Book Trends for providing an ARC of High Heels and Holidays for this review.
Review Copyright © 2006 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved
Have you read High Heels and Holidays? How would you rate it?
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)
High Heels and Homicide
Kensington Books (Trade Paperback), December 2005
ISBN-10: 0-7582-0880-4 (0758208804)
ISBN-13: 978-0-7582-0880-4 (9780758208804)
High Heels and Holidays
Kensington Books (Trade Paperback), October 2006
ISBN-10: 0-7582-0882-0 (0758208820)
ISBN-13: 978-0-7582-0882-8 (9780758208828)
Bowled Over
Kensington Books (Trade Paperback), November 2007
ISBN-10: 0-7582-0884-7 (0758208847)
ISBN-13: 978-0-7582-0884-2 (9780758208842)
Omnimystery
keywords for High Heels and Holidays
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Location(s) referenced: New York City.
