Undercover in High Heels

From the book blurb

Secret affairs, hunky gardeners, and housewives desperate enough to bare it all... welcome to Magnolia Lane, TV's hottest new prime time show. A place where L.A. shoe designer Maddie Springer should be in fashion heaven. That is until the body of a rising young starlet is found dead on the show's set. Now it's up to Maddie to sift through a leading lady with a secret, an actor on the verge of a nervous breakdown, a sexy cyber scandal, and one tabloid reporter who'll stop at nothing to get the story of the century. Not to mention Maddie's hot-cold relationship with the case's familiar lead detective, Jack Ramirez. In a world where secrets, lies, and deception can earn you an Oscar, Maddie plays the role of a lifetime to catch Hollywood's hottest killer. But if she doesn't watch her step, Maddie's fifteen minutes of fame just may be her last.

Author

Gemma had a hard time figuring out what she wanted to be when she grew up. She worked as a film and television actress, a teddy bear importer, a department store administrator, a preschool teacher, a temporary tattoo artist, and a 900 number psychic, before finally selling her first book, Spying in High Heels, in 2005 and deciding to be 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. Her books have hit both the USA Today and the New York Times Bestseller lists.

Gemma now makes her home in the San Francisco Bay area where she is hard at work on her next book.

Characters

Our own Maddie is back. She is at her funny best!

Dana is as diet-conscious and as supportive as ever!

Ramirez is still a Bad Cop and still wondering why he is in love with someone like Maddie!

Maddie’s mum is being herself, the caring (too caring) mother of Maddie.

Felix from the 2^nd book and Jasmine from the 1^st book come back and push the plot forward!

Then there are a few new characters….

Mia, the self-obsessed, rude and arrogant telefilm actor….

Then Isabel, Margo, Ricky, many more… many more!

What I think

To begin with, the cover-page is simple and catchy. It is girlie, but the pistol in the beautiful pink handbag conveys that it is not just-another-chic-lit, but a mystery too! The book burp adds to curiosity and bingo! You would be tempted to read the book. More so if you are a fan of funny-silly-girlie Maddie! After all, she is back!

Being the third book in the series, this is darker and the suspense element is much higher. This is more a thriller with a feeble shade of chic-lit stuffs.

The situations and dialogs are really funny. Maddie-Dana combo really rock! Maddie-Ramirez combo is steaming hot – with love and anger of course!

The book is well edited and the plot is well-knit. There is nothing that deviates from the theme and the climax reaches in a lucid manner. Gemma sounds more comfortable with Maddie and the book per se sounds much-much better!

But...

You may complete the book in one sitting. So be ready for that!

Should you read it?

Go for it.

This is the best out of all the three!

Rating

4/5

Thank you

Jaico Publications for giving away this book for review