Death in Heels

I stepped (in my sensible low heels) out of my comfort zone to read this and am very glad that I did!
It is beautifully and excellently written, full of vivid descriptions and well-drawn characters. I guessed the who and why before the end, but enjoyed the little straight girl protagonist's muddling along.
More please!

This ARC was provided to me via Kindle, Amazon Publishing UK and by #NetGalley. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

Lovely, delightful cozy mystery series.

Murder in the drag club?

This book was excellent, it was trashy and fun while still serious. I particularly like the way issues such as pronouns are addressed in this book, gay rights are not the plot of the story, but they are woven into the books very fabric.

In a book of 29 chapters, I did guess the killer in chapter 13, but I do read a lot of mystery and do this quite often. Despite correctly guessing what was going to happen, the book still made an excellent reading experience, I read the entire thing in one day.

3.5

This was a delightful cozy mystery centering Dublin's drag community.

I enjoyed the writing and thought several of the descriptions were beautiful. I also liked the way Murphy centered conversations around the drag community, especially with Fi being a straight white woman. I liked a lot of the characters, though some of the character motivations seemed a little inconsistent and I will say I was not surprised by the twist but that might be because I read a lot of mysteries.

Overall, I had a fun time reading this and will be interested in seeing where Kitty Murphy takes the series!

Fi is a bit oblivious. I relate to that. She and Robyn have been best friends since they were children, and nothing has changed as adults. They are roommates, they go to clubs together, they meet each other after work to share a coffee or dinner, or movies on the couch. They are regulars at TRASH, and Robyn is about to become their newest Drag Queen. Fi and Robyn have been perfecting Mae B's look for months.

Mae B makes her debut onstage and suddenly Fi finds herself with the door closed in her face. Robyn is now "family" and the world she thought she was a part of has just declared her an outsider. So when she find's Eve's body not far from TRASH's door, she wonders who in the TRASH family has committed murder. It could be anyone....no one liked Eve.

There's just one problem. The police rule it an accidental death and no one believes Fi that it wasn't. She's already been shown she doesn't belong, from Thora's not-so-cute nickname "little straight girl" to Ben's comment that it isn't her world. They don't want anything to do with her, especially if she's nosing around trying to solve a murder that no one believes was a murder.

Poor Fi has no life of her own. She and Robyn have always been a duo, and she was content to go along with whatever he wanted. She never saw herself as an accessory. She thought she was part of the group. But now that he's been inducted into the "Family", she realizes how much of her life was wrapped up in him. I guess I relate to that a lot. No one considered her as one of them. She was only accepted as Robyn's friend, like she was one of his feather boas that he could take off when it didn't match the outfit. And that's a harsh reality. Throw in a murder, and it's a very suspenseful book plot!

I loved reading this book, not only because I relate to it, but just because of the vibrant characters. They are so real to me. I want Del to help me pick out my clothes, and I'd love to see someone slap Eve across her heavily make-uped face! I want to sit on a couch and share a packet of biscuits with Fi and Robyn and watch cringe-worthy TV shows. The characters seem like real people, quirky and interesting. Everyone knows someone like these characters, like someone you went to college with, or a sibling, or a meddling mother clucking over her chicks. Someone larger than life, or someone who can be a bit unintentionally cruel, or who is stuck in a dead-end relationship. Maybe you ARE one of those people. But they all come together to create a world that seems real, like you could meet Fi as she rang up your coffee and some cake, or you could see the Queens onstage at your friend's bachelorette party. And that makes a great book.

This book has humor, it has drama, it has suspense.....or as the author puts it "a splendid migraine of fabric". I highly recommend it to anyone who likes suspense.

Fiona McKinnery and best friend and roommate, Robyn were at TRASH, a club that specializes in Drag Queen acts. Robyn is having his first performance as Mae B and quite successful until Eve (Liam) dresses up in the same outfit and makes fun of Robyn's performance . Later that night Fi finds Eve's body in the alleyway and the police rule it an accident. Fi can't let go of the idea that Eve was murdered and starts to antagonize the small group of TRASH queens and even Robyn, who wants her to let it go. But when another accident happens to one of them, they begin to realize that maybe there is someone out there wanting to kill the Drag Queens.
An interesting story line set in Dublin as this cozy mystery highlights the Drag Queens and the families that love and support them.
Thank you NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for this e-galley of "Death In Heels".

Loooooved loved loved it! Fast pace, and mysterious. Fingers crossed this is the start of something flashy and fabulous because I can’t wait for a second book.

I love a good cosy mystery and this one was brilliant! The characters we were writhe about well and the whole community was interesting to ready about! Loved the relationship between Murphy and Fi! Looking forward to more in the series

I quite enjoyed this story, the drag characters in the bar were well-rounded characters with their ups and downs, and different lives. One of the drag queens is found dead, and Fi, the "straight girl" friend of Mae Be, the new drag artist, doesn't believe it was an accident. She annoys everyone because she won't let it rest, and publishes her opinions on her blog. There are more incidents, and people start to take her seriously, but everyone is a suspect. When the villain is identified, it seems a bit improbable that nobody would have noticed they are dangerous before. The writing is repetitive, especially Fi feeling sorry for herself. She doesn't seem to have much personality or life of her own.

A quick, easy and cosy read that was well written with well developed characters that were likeable, believable and relatable and a compelling storyline.

This is a wonderful story of the Drag community. The characters are easily liked. Fi McKinnery is full of nerves as the gorgeous Mae B (aka her best friend Robyn) takes to the stage for her debut at drag club TRASH, but Mae B is dazzling…that is until local queen Eve lampoons her performance and ruins the show. So when Eve turns up dead later that night, face down in the gutter of a rain-soaked Dublin street, the timing seems awfully suspicious.
This was a different and fun mystery,
#DeathinHeels #NetGalley

I devoured this book in one sitting. The way the author wrote the story was majestic. Simply put, If you like murder mysteries then this is the one for you. Will recommend this story to others.

A lovely summer read with likeable characters and a wonderful story arc I had a lovely weekend reading this book. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of the novel.

I received a NetGalley review copy of this book.
I'm not familiar with the drag scene in general, but after reading this book I feel like I am! The descriptions really brought me into the atmosphere of the story and I could have been standing right in TRASH along with the characters, scrubbing glitter off my arms and trying to avoid being trampled by 7-foot tall drag queens.
The story had me hooked from the beginning and I enjoyed all the characters, especially Merkin, who's made of drama and whose lines always had me cracking up. Looking forward to more adventures from the queens!

After watching her best friend and roommate Robyn on his debut drag act as Mae B at Trash the local drag queen club, Fi finds Eve one of the drag queens dead in an alley. Everyone says it was an accident, Fi thinks it’s murder!
A fun and interesting story that follows Fi battling to get to the truth of what happened to Eve (Liam). A story about family whether by birth or choice.
Thanks to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for the free ebook copy in exchange for an honest review.

When Fi went to support her best friend’s drag debut, she didn’t imagine a killer would be going to watch it too. And they’re waiting for their grand finale…

Fi McKinnery is full of nerves as the gorgeous Mae B (aka her best friend Robyn) takes to the stage for her debut at drag club TRASH, but Mae B is dazzling…that is until local queen Eve lampoons her performance and ruins the show. So when Eve turns up dead later that night, face down in the gutter of a rain-soaked Dublin street, the timing seems awfully suspicious…

The police are quick to rule Eve’s death an accident, but Fi is convinced it was foul play. When her ‘Hagatha Christie’ amateur sleuthing backfires, it drives a wedge between Fi and Robyn. But when another friend is targeted in a hit-and-run, she’s determined to get this twisted killer caught, no matter what the consequences.

Even as the rest of the gang start to distance themselves, Fi is certain that they’re all in terrible danger. Something dark is lurking beneath the feathers, glitter and sequins of Dublin’s drag scene. And it’s not just the sticky floor and cracked mirrors. Someone is targeting the queens. When another member of the group is gunned down, it’s clear the danger is coming ever closer. Can Fi stop the killer before any more of her friends are hurt?

Glamour, Glitz And Murder…
Glamour, glitz and…murder in this fun and frothy cosy mystery and the first in the series of the Dublin Drag Mysteries. When Fi makes an appearance to support her friends debut drag act she doesn’t imagine for a moment that there may be a killer in the audience. Chaos will, undoubtedly, ensue. With a larger than life cast of characters, a swiftly moving storyline and a well described backdrop, this is an enjoyable and entertaining first outing,

This is something very new and a different setting.
At first i wasnt sure if i would enjoy this but o wow did i!
So much fun reading this. The characters are just so sassy and loveable, not to mention their beauty too with all the sparkles and colour.

Just fabulous.

Thanks to #NetGalley for providing me with an eArc in return for a fair review.

Death in Heels was an amazingly fun read! What a great mystery, which also explored changing dynamics in friendships and found family.

Fi goes to watch her best friend Robyn’s drag debut as Mae B, unaware that the night will end in murder…
When drag queen Eve turns up dead in a rain filled gutter in a Dublin alley the local police are quick to dismiss it as an accident. Fi is convinced it was murder, and her insistence on investigating leads to a growing distance in her friendship. Mockingly assigned the nickname of Hagatha Christie, Fi is the only one that feels the growing danger drawing closer.

Funny, cosy mystery. Achieves the right balance in humour & tension. Would love to read more books with these characters

This was a pretty good read! I struggled a little bit with getting into the story and staying interested in it. Parts of the book would get me interested, but then I'd get to another part I'd struggle to stay interested in, partly simply because the main character would annoy me. But all in all, entertaining.

The book definitely keeps you guessing on who-dunnit!

Fi's best friend Robyn has a slot at Dublin drag club TRASH, performing as Mae B. While supporting Mae B, Fi stumbles across the body of Eve, a drag queen who is not liked by the others. Fi is convinced Eve has been murdered, whereas the rest of the TRASH community urge her to leave it alone. Can Fi persuade the Guards that there is a case to solve, and can she keep herself and her friends safe while doing so?

A good quick read, I loved Fi's tenacity, but did find some of the other characters a bit irritating. However, it was a fun visit to the Irish Drag scene, and I'll definitely be looking out for more by this author.

I really liked the premise of this book but it didn't quite live up to my expectations.

A found family of drag queens finding a killer is a fun story idea but there were a lot of pieces that didn't add to the story for me. (spoilers below!)

I thought the split between Robyn and Fi was pretty sudden but their reunion was even quicker. Witnessing someone's death is certainly a valid reason for both of them to start acting up, but the fight felt largely useless from the beginning, and the total forgiveness without a conversation felt forced.

I also felt that Fi's storyline wasn't finished, which is definitely in part done to allow for more growth in book two, but there wasn't a small resolution even. She had her job interview that didn't go well, but that storyline just kinda died. Relatedly, the coworker with a crush was never resolved, and the fact of Gavin being her boss's son was a detail that didn't go anywhere (despite it seeming like it was set up to be important).

Fi as a character just was unlikeable to me. Being consistently late for her job with no sign of caring about it, as well as having no consideration for the feelings of others when she wrote her blogs are just a couple of reasons I didn't really root for the main character of the book.

Lastly, I thought Karen being the killer was a strange reveal. I had put it together that it would be her, but she had dumb reasons for wanting to kill her brother so much that she killed a lot of other people. I just found her whole speech about being jealous that her brother was a better girl than her entirely ridiculous. She could have been a good villain in this story if she had had reasons for her actions, but the reasons we were given just didn't work.

Plot- 3 stars
Writing- 4 stars
Characters- 2 stars

A cosy mystery with a unique edge.
Fi lives with Robyn her best friend , who is about to debut his drag act under the name Mae B.
His debut is received warmly and on the same night Fi finds another drag queen dead , is it an accident or foul play?
Fi thinks that the incident isn’t an accident but how can she prove it and people
The writing is easy to read and the story also explores relationships and how dynamics within them change ..
Thanks to NetGalley and Amazon Publishing UK.

A cute and cosy mystery with the added glamour (and drama) of the Dublin drag scene. The story itself was fast-paced and fun, so it was easy to devour the book in a few hours which is exactly what I was looking for. I personally didn't guess the killer, though I think this might be a mix of me not having read many books in this genre, and the overall improbability of it - it seems highly unlikely that no one would have seen problematic behaviour manifesting in the character before it escalated on this scale. Some of the minor characters seemed to blur into one a little, but that didn't detract from my overall enjoyment; I will definitely look out for further instalments of this series as they are published.

Death in Heels is the first in potential series by debut author Kitty Murphy. With the glamorous and dramatic setting of the Dublin drag scene and a group of fabulous and feisty queens as characters this book provides plenty of fashion, fun and excitement and it is clear that there is potential for more stories to come.
Fi is an aspiring photographer who shares her flat with her best friend Robyn , soon to be known as Mae B once he makes his debut at their favourite drag club TRASH. They have been best friends since childhood and Fi wants nothing more that for Mae to succeed and be a star. The night of the big debut everything seems to be going well, that is until another local queen, Eve, in a fit of pique steals Mae's act and the show. When Fi stumbles on Eve's dead body in a laneway behind the club she is immediately suspicious, and even when the police suggest it was a tragic accident she is reluctant to believe them. Fearing that her best friend could now be in danger , she tries to uncover the truth behind Eve's death and it is only when another queen is injured that the rest of the group take her seriously.
This was a fast fun and entertaining read set in my home city. I loved so many of the characters and the found family relationship between the queens , their love and support for each other was really great to see. Of all the characters the protagonist Fi was probably the least likeable and least developed, but if there are more books to come I can see that the author could be holding back a little so that the character becomes more fully formed as the series progresses. I did guess the murderer, but that did not spoil my enjoyment of the book. However I did think that the reasoning the murderer gave for their actions was weak.
I look forward to reading more from this author and would definitely pick up the next book in the series.
I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.

A hoot of a cozy with a warm and unique center. Fans of the genre will appreciate this different take on the tropes. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC. A good read.

Fi is excited to see her best friend Robyn's drag debut as Mae B at drag club TRASH, but things soon go wrong. First, one of the other queens, Eve, borrows Mae's outfit and mocks her performance. Then Fi is given the cold shoulder by the other queens, the unspoken message being that Mae doesn't need her any more. Then finally, whilst walking home alone, Fi comes across Eve's dead body in an alleyway.

Everyone else, including the police, seems happy, if not keen, to rule Eve's death a tragic accident, claiming she was drunk or on drugs, slipped in Mae's skyscraper heels and drowned in the torrential rain which was pooling in the alley. Certainly, other than the bruise on her forehead, which could have been from a fall, there are no signs of foul play. But Fi isn't convinced. If Eve fell why are there no marks on her knees or hands? And claiming that Eve, who could drink a bottle of vodka and still dance in high heels on stage, was drunk enough to fall over seems implausible.

But the more Fi keeps digging the more she is ostracised by Mae and the other queens. Even when Robyn's new boyfriend is deliberately run over they seem determined to ignore the evidence. But Fi is convinced that someone is targeting the drag queens, perhaps Robyn in particular.

This is a hard book to review. The murder plot was god, with plenty of red herrings to keep me guessing along the way. The trouble is, I found almost all of the characters very unlikable which made it an uneasy book to read - obviously it helped that I didn't like any of the suspects but it also didn't make me particularly ill-disposed towards the murderer. In fact, I had some sympathy for the murderer in the end. I also feel that the book perpetrated many of the stereotypes about drag queens and gay men.

Overall, it was okay and different from my usual reading, but I wouldn't go out of my way to read another book by this author.

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

Unfortunately I ended up not finishing the book around half way through. I thought the idea behind the book was very interesting and the fact that it featured drag queens instantly grabbed my attention.


I may have been able to finish this if I was in the write head space but I just could not get into it fully. This may be the perfect book though if you enjoy mystery/crime novels.

Death in Heels is the first Dublin Drag mystery by Kitty Murphy. Released 1st Jan 2023 by Thomas & Mercer, it's 288 pages and is available in paperback, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately. For Kindle Unlimited subscribers, this book is currently included in the KU subscription library to borrow and read for free.The second book in the series is due out in April 2023. 

This is such a well written and genuinely engaging mystery. The main protagonist, Fi McKinnery, is earnestly appealing, brave, loyal, and rendered believably. In fact, the author has a real gift with characterisation; even the minor secondary characters are handled well and skillfully. Given the premise (death in and around a Dublin drag club), the pitfalls could have been legion. I admit to some trepidation going into the read and feared it would be full of caricatures, appropriations, and cheap shots. It's none of those things.

The mystery is well plotted and paced, and I never found my interest wandering at all. The climax, denouement, and resolution were satisfying (if not shocking or unexpected). It's rather sad that it needs to be said in today's world, but a high point for me was that there was no cruelty or ridicule aimed at the characters on the author's part. It would've been easy (maybe expected!) to lampoon drag and LGBTQIA+ culture for cheap laughs and the author has refrained, for which I applaud. There is *camp* aplenty; bad puns, and occasionally catty dialogue (it's a murder mystery in a drag club), but it's not *mean* and I'm glad. 

Quite looking forward to the next book in April. 

Four stars, a strong series starter.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

A cozy mystery with an unusual setting, a great cast of likeable and fleshed out characters, and a solid plot that kept me guessing
I can't wait to read other books by this author as I would be happy to read more stories set in the drag world of Dublin.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine

Oh my god! This book!!!! Where do I start? Full of drama, bitchiness, glitter and mystery, WOW!! I don't know about you but if they decide to make this series into a TV adaptation, I will watch it not once or twice, but a hundred times.

I absolutely loved the setting and the characters. As Fi's best friend Robyn makes his drag debut, things start changing... for worse. First, the discovery of a Drag Queen's body in the ditch (on the debut night), then comes secret affairs, jealousy and back-biting - everything wrapped in a glittery mystery package.

The story begins on a slow note. I admit I had trouble following the story at the beginning - there were too many things going on and the character introduction seemed a tad incomplete. But as the story proceeds, we get to learn a lot about the recurring characters background, Fi and Robyn's friendship and much more.

Coming to the mystery behind the murder(s) - I didn't see this coming. Yes, there was this villainous character who could be pooh-pooh-ed for being just another jealous personality. But for them to commit murder(s) and not feel an ounce of remorse... Gosh!!

The story is peppered with quirky humor. A cozy mystery with a dash of quirky humor and characters is something that I absolutely LOVE. The mystery behind the murder(s) kept me guessing till the end. I also loved Fi and Robyn's friendship - which took a beating halfway through but things ended well so all's well that ends well, right?

I am eagerly waiting to see what's next for Fi and Robyn. The next installment of this book is releasing soon and I cannot wait to read it!

If you are looking for a crazy, quirky, glittery and absolutely fantabulous cozy mystery, you MUST give Death in Heels by Kitty Murphy a try.