Mayhem in High Heels-Gemma Halliday

Mayhem in High Heels
Gemma Halliday
Dorchester Making It, Dec 30 2008, $7.99
ISBN: 9780843961096

Los Angeles Homicide Detective Jack Ramirez and shoe designer Maddie Springer were in Paris causing the usual MAYHEM IN HIGH HEELS (see ALIBI IN HIGH HEELS) when he proposed and she accepted. Maddie expected nuptial problems from her mom, but did not anticipate wanting to name a hemorrhoid after her. Mom wants to invite half the planet including people neither Maddie nor mom have spoken with in the last decade or so.

To keep the ceremony under control and not need the Coliseum, Maddie hires wedding planner Gigi Van Doren to take care of the gala, but especially to run interference with her mom. Maddie and Jack arrive to test taste their wedding cake in Gigi’s Beverly Hills studio; only instead of a sweet and a planner they find a corpse. Someone stabbed Gigi in the back leaving her face buried in the butter cream frosting. Maddie's friends Dana and Marco replace Gigi as the planners while Jack leads the official investigation into the murder. Maddie knows when he works a case he has tunnel vision so to insure he makes it to the ceremony, if for no other reason than not having to explain otherwise to the mother of the bride from hell, she decides to solve the case assisted by her new wedding planners.

The fifth "High Heels' amateur sleuth tale ( see ALIBI IN HIGH HEELS , KILLER IN HIGH HEELS, SPYING IN HIGH HEELS and UNDERCOVER IN HIGH HEELS) is the usual madcap amusing investigation.. As always Maddie's chick lit big mouth manages to get her into trouble with the cops. However, much of the amusing asides come from mom who wants her daughter’s nuptial to be the wedding of the century rivaling last century’s biggest one, Luke and Laura. Although the usual dueling homicide investigations (amateur and professional) are a bit thin, fans of the series will enjoy the latest hilarious “High Heels” hi-jinx.

Harriet Klausner