Just when you thought you’d read the best of the best in terms of chick lit, you stumble upon a book that is not only hilarious, but adds a bold twist to the traditional boy-meets-girl love story.
"Spying in High Heels" by Gemma Halliday introduces Maddie Springer, who is not only late, but late. She was late to meet Richard, her lawyer boyfriend for lunch, but also needing-to-buy-a-pregnancy-test late. But after arriving at his office for their lunch date, she witnessed Richard coming out of a meeting with a look of concern, accompanied by another guy, who had a hard look and a lot of tattoos. Richard cancels their date and she leaves, only to stop into see her friend Dana, her nymphomaniac aerobics instructor/actress best friend, at the gym to tell her about her predicament. On the way home, she buys the pregnancy test and promises to take it once she tells Richard he could be a Daddy. This becomes a promise that would come back to haunt her.
Richard disappears that very day with no warning. No call, no text, no email. And after a thorough search of his apartment, and an encounter with the tattoo guy, she finds out tattoo guy is a cop and Richard is under investigation for embezzlement. This launches Maddie into a frenzy, desperate to locate Richard before Ramirez does (stopping only to design some Strawberry Shortcake sandals to keep her job as a children’s shoe designer), to warn him about the charges against him, but also to get to the bottom of the shady things she discovers along the way, including a condom wrapper in his desk drawer at work.
Unfortunately, it’s not as easy as Maddie initially thought, because the people she was depending on for answers suddenly start dropping off like flies. Maddie finds herself teaming up with Dana to weave deeper through the web of lies that Richard has created. She gets so involved that she becomes the next target for the killer who desperately does not want their secret to be known.
As the opener to Gemma Halliday’s High Heels series, this book definitely leaves you wanting more. Gemma’s relaxed writing style makes you feel like you’re having a conversation with your own best friend, and her observations about her supposed pregnancy that appear throughout the novel are enough to keep you giggling while turning the pages. At no point did I feel that her voice was forced because the novel had such a great flow. This is the first real ‘killer fiction’ novel that I had enjoyed to this extent. The characters are so well formed you feel as if you know them personally, and the contrast between them is well balanced to bring the degree of hilarity to a whole new level.
This book is one that I could not put down. The best part is that just when you think the case is solved after the climax of the book, you run into a cliffhanger that leads you into the second book. Anyone who enjoys a light-hearted, easy read will definitely be entertained by not only "Spying in High Heels," but the entire High Heels series.
Michelle Drodge is 26 and lives in a small town north of Toronto in Canada with her husband and two year-old daughter. She works at a pharmaceutical distribution company during the day, but moonlights as an aspiring writer after her daughter goes to sleep. One day she hopes to see her own book on the shelf alongside her favourite Chick Lit authors!
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I have this book and have yet to read it. It sounds like a fun read so I may have to bump it up.
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