Spying in High Heels- A book review

About the Book:

Name of the book: Spying in High Heels

Author: Gemma Halliday

Publisher: Jaico Publishing House

Price: INR 299

ISBN: 978-81-8495-493-7

About the author: After having a hard time to decide what she wants to be, Gemma Halliday has worked as a a film and television actress, a teddy bear importer, a department store administrator, a preschool teacher before settling as a writer. 
Since then, Gemma has written several mystery novels and been the recipient of numerous awards, including a National Reader's Choice award and three RITA nominations.

About the cover and back cover:

Done in blue, the cover has a picture of high heels with a gun propped in them which delivers the title pretty well. The preview on the back-cover is very interesting, depicting a circumstances in which our protagonist steps out of her stilettos and goes killer hunting. 

Gist:

Maddie Springer is a L.A. children's shoe designer for Tot Trots. It wasn't Milan but as Maddie says, it paid the bills most of the time. A person who lives her life entirely governed for fashion, troubles begin for Maddie when her boyfriend goes missing one fine morning. Getting no help from the Barbie Doll Jasmine behind the reception desk (who had cosmetic procedures on various parts of the body every month), Maddie decides to spy around a bit and find the whereabouts of her boyfriend. What she stumbles upon is the work of a brutal killer along with a very hot Detective, LAPD's Jack Ramirez.

The possibility of her boyfriend being a major suspect in the case makes Maddie even more determined to get down to the truth. But with the looming wedding of her mom, her oversexed best friend and an overweight psychic, spying doesn't seem to be smooth exactly.

The question is, will Maddie be able to catch the killer before the killer catches up with her?

My views on the story:

Let me get down to the bare facts directly. Spying in High Heels is this combination of chick-lit and mystery which I found pretty interesting. 

I chose to review this book because I thought it would be a change to read about a total amateur stepping out of her 'high heels' and poking her nose in a crime investigation and I wasn't disappointed.

The best thing about the book are its characters. I totally loved Maddie- I loved her fashion sense (having none myself), I loved her humor, I loved her getting hyper over the possibility of her missing boyfriend being the father of the child she believes she is bearing, I loved her hyperventilated feelings on seeing Ramirez, I loved her chemistry with her mother and her best friend Dana. Maddie is a person who does 'yucky squirms' in her seat at the thought of something disgusting, is 'Happy Hooker Extraordinaire' and would go to any extents to get down to the bare facts of the mystery. The author has done a really good job with the narration.

But apart from the character of the protagonist herself, I like the way other characters show up in different colors as well. Ramirez is delightfully interesting with just the right amount of sexiness and mysterious edge to him. Dana, Maddie's mother, the shallow receptionist Jasmine, the helpful Athlea are also well sketched. 

The writing is funny (because well, our Maddie is funny :D) and interesting enough to keep you hooked till the end. 

The plot is pretty predictable but the narrative style makes up for that most of the time. Also, there are too many details about Maddie's activities so the focus on the crime itself felt narrow but for an amateur detective, I feel that is fine. 

The pregnancy jokes get redundant after a while but apart from that, the humor is pretty consistent throughout the story.

Spying in High Heels is a completely light read with fun characters. It is not exactly your gripping thriller but with the chick-lit factor, it makes a mark of its own. Overall, I rate it 7.5/10 while I skip from here and get started with the second installment of the series!