Thursday, June 23, 2011

Goodie One Shoes-Roz Siegel

Goodie One Shoes
Roz Siegel
Hilliard and Harris, May 18 2011, $18.95
www.hillardandharris.com
ISBN 9781591333113

Following the breakup of her “perfect” marriage to Larry the lawyer following his tryst with the Russian, Emily puts aside her Ph.D. to return to her roots sort of by opening an exclusive shoe store in Manhattan’s 'elite Upper West Side; her dad had a shoe store for twenty-five years in Brooklyn. Emily’s Place on 98th and Broadway becomes a hangout for shoe aficionados that run the social economic spectrum as the coffee is quality, the chats charming, and the merchandise spans the luxurious and the bargain.

However, someone kicks Emily’s perfect world when her sweet assistant Kim Chang is murdered; the weapon is a Jimmy Choo stiletto whose matching pair is missing. NYPD suspects Emily as a potential killer as she had means and opportunity though a viable motive fails to surface. The lead police detective Paul Murphy worries that the footwear fetish fiend will target Emily next. Soon after the homicide, the culprit threatens Emily through snail and email. Finally the other Choo arrives followed by the murder of Emily’s maid.

This is a fun Manhattan murder mystery starring a beleaguered woman who is under all sorts of pressure from the cops, family members, customers, a former fired employee and her late worker. The story line is lighthearted and fast-paced as Emily’s still hippie sister and her still married spouse make demands of her. However, it is her demands of herself to find Kim’s Choo killer that make for a lighthearted entertaining New York frolic.

Harriet Klausner

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