Review: Humorous, but inconsistent
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 01 23, 2012
I have really mixed feelings about the High Heels Mysteries.  On one hand, they are light and humorous.  One the other hand, I often have to turn off my brain to ignore inconsistencies and outlandish scenarios.The stories focus on shoe designer Maddie Springer who keeps stumbling upon murder and mayhem.  Rather than leave things to the police, she feels the need to try to solve them herself with her dysfunctional Scooby gang.Even after reading all five of the books, I am still not sure that I even like the heroine, Maddie.  Her character is shallow, self-involved, and over-reacts to everything.  She is a hot mess who acts without logic and reasoning.  And she lies, makes promises with no intentions of keeping them, and continually places herself and her loved ones in danger.  However, because of all this, she is a such a train wreck that I cannot turn away.I am even less sold on the love interest of the series.  It lacks substance other than intense physical chemistry.  It certainly does not contain trust, honesty, or respect.(POTENTIAL SPOILER)And then there are the inconsistencies.  For example, in the first book, Ramirez is investigating Maddie's lawyer boyfriend before any murder has occurred.  In later books, he is always referred to as a homicide detective.  Huh?  This does not gel.  This is even further complicated when this LOCAL detective ends up in deep cover in Las Vegas investigating a mob gang. Hmm.  Does not add up.  This is just one example, there were many others.Overall, I had fun (mostly) reading the series.  Halliday does have a great sense of comedy which is what saves this series.  Not sure if I will continue with book 6.  We'll see.