Death on Heels
Authors: Ellen Byerrum
Tags: #Literature & Fiction, #United States, #Mystery; Thriller & Suspense, #Mystery, #Women Sleuths, #Private Investigators
Praise for the Crime of Fashion Mysteries—
The Series That Inspired Two Lifetime Movies
“Devilishly funny…Lacey is intelligent, insightful and spunky…thoroughly likable.”
—
The Sun
(Bremerton, WA)
“Laced with wicked wit.”
“Byerrum spins a mystery out of (very luxurious) whole cloth with the best of them.”
—Chick Lit Books
“Fun and witty…with a great female sleuth.”
—Fresh Fiction
Shot Through Velvet
“First-rate…A serious look at the decline of the U.S. textile and newspaper industries provides much food for thought.”
—
Publishers Weekly
(starred review)
“Great fun, with lots of interesting tidbits about the history of the U.S. fashion industry.”
—
Suspense Magazine
“A thoughtful mystery with an energetic, very likable heroine that will attract new readers to this established series.”
—The Mystery Reader (four stars)
Armed and Glamorous
“Whether readers are fashion divas or hopelessly fashion challenged, there’s a lot to like about being
Armed and Glamorous
.”
“Fans will relish
Armed and Glamorous
, a cozy starring a fashionable trench coat, essential killer heels, and designer whipping pearls.”
—
Midwest Book Review
Grave Apparel
“A truly intriguing mystery.”
—Armchair Reader
“A fine whodunit…a humorous cozy.”
—The Best Reviews
“Fun and enjoyable…Lacey’s a likable, sassy, and savvy heroine, and the Washington D.C. setting is a plus.”
—The Romance Readers Connection
“Wonderful.”
—Gumshoe
Raiders of the Lost Corset
“A hilarious crime caper.…Readers will find themselves laughing out loud.…Ellen Byerrum has a hit series on her hands with her latest tale.”
—The Best Reviews
“I love this series. Lacey is such a wonderful character.…The plot has many twists and turns to keep you turning the pages to discover the truth. I highly recommend this book and series.”
—Spinetingler Magazine
“Wow. A simplistic word but one that describes this book perfectly. I loved it! I could not put it down!…Lacey is a scream and she’s not nearly as wild and funny as some of her friends.…I loved everything about the book from the characters to the plot to the fast-paced and witty writing.”
—Roundtable Reviews
Hostile Makeover
Also a Lifetime Movie
“Byerrum pulls another superlative Crime of Fashion out of her vintage cloche.”
—Chick Lit Books
“The read is as smooth as fine-grade cashmere.”
—
Publishers Weekly
“Totally delightful…a fun and witty read.”
—Fresh Fiction
Designer Knockoff
“Byerrum intersperses the book with witty excerpts from Lacey’s ‘Fashion Bites’ columns, such as ‘When Bad Clothes Happen to Good People’ and ‘Thank Heavens It’s Not Code Taupe.’…quirky…interesting plot twists.”
—
The Sun
(Bremerton, WA)
“Clever wordplay, snappy patter, and intriguing clues make this politics-meets-high-fashion whodunit a cut above the ordinary.”
—
Romantic Times
“A very talented writer with an offbeat sense of humor.”
—The Best Reviews
Killer Hair
Also a Lifetime Movie
“[A] rippling debut. Peppered with girlfriends you’d love to have, smoldering romance you can’t resist, and Beltway insider insights you’ve got to read,
Killer Hair
adds a crazy twist to the concept of ‘capital murder.’ ”
—Sarah Strohmeyer, Agatha Award–winning author
of
Kindred Spirits
and
the Bubbles Yablonsky novels
“Ellen Byerrum tailors her debut mystery with a sharp murder plot, entertaining fashion commentary, and gutsy characters.”
—Nancy J. Cohen, author of the
Bad Hair Day mysteries
“A load of stylish fun.”
—Scripps Howard News Service
“Lacey slays and sashays thru Washington politics, scandal, and Fourth Estate slime, while uncovering whodunit, and dunit and dunit again.”
—Chloe Green, author of the Dallas O’Connor
Fashion mysteries
“
Killer Hair
is a shear delight.”
—Elaine Viets, national bestselling author of
Pumped for Murder
Other Crime of Fashion Mysteries
by Ellen Byerrum
Killer Hair
Designer Knockoff
Hostile Makeover
Raiders of the Lost Corset
Grave Apparel
Armed and Glamorous
Shot Through Velvet
A CRIME OF FASHION MYSTERY
Ellen Byerrum
AN OBSIDIAN MYSTERY
OBSIDIAN
Published by New American Library, a division of
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First published by Obsidian, an imprint of New American Library,
a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
First Printing, February 2012
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Copyright © Ellen Byerrum, 2012
All rights reserved
EISBN: 9781101575048
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CKNOWLEDGMENTS
Sagebrush, Colorado, does not exist, except on the page, though it may resemble a town or two out West and incorporate a memory or two of my own. I am indebted to several people who helped me bring this fictitious town and its people to life. The name
Muldoon
comes from
The Solid Muldoon
, a freewheeling and spirited newspaper in Ouray, Colorado, in the late 1800s, but nearly forgotten today.
I owe a debt of gratitude to legendary cowboy Monty Sheridan and his gracious wife, Ruth Sheridan, for sharing tales of ranching in northwest Colorado and giving me insights into the daunting and challenging life of a modern cowboy. My thanks also go to David Blackstun of the Bureau of Land Management, who was very generous with his time and information.
My husband, Bob Williams, has been by my side through the entire process: from walking with me through miles of dusty sagebrush to get a feel for the territory, to proofing, copyediting, and challenging me every step of the way on this manuscript.
Death on Heels
wouldn’t be the work it is without him. Thanks are never quite enough.
As always, any mistakes in the book are mine, or possibly, creative acts of fiction.
Chapter 1
“Dying with your boots on is a point of pride in the West, Vic. But these women died barefoot,” Lacey said. “And that grieves me.”
Digging around the bottom of her small closet, she hunted for her cowboy boots. Lacey wasn’t going to be caught unaware and unshod. Not like those three women.
Colorado rancher Cole Tucker had been arrested for murder, so fashion reporter Lacey Smithsonian was heading back to the last place on earth she swore she’d ever return: Sagebrush. That meant she would need, among other things, her best, dandified, make-a-statement cowboy boots. And more than a little guts. Lacey was afraid she was really going to stick her foot in it this time. She needed the most fearsome footwear she owned to wade through all the mud. And the mudslinging.
Tucker can’t be a killer
, she kept saying to herself.
I loved him. That cowboy wanted to marry me.
“Where are you going?” Her current boyfriend, Vic Donovan, was right behind her at the closet door. “Is there a secret passage in there I don’t know about?”
Lacey crawled farther into her closet on her hands and knees, into that dark limbo where old clothes went in disgrace, until they might be useful—or fashionable—again. Vic watched her, fidgeting. It wasn’t like him to wait behind, but there wasn’t room in that dark recess for him. There was barely enough space for Lacey. She stretched full length on the floor and finally felt her fingertips brush one of those half-forgotten boots, tucked
into the farthest corner.
I must have been crazy when I bought these,
she thought. However, the boots were surprisingly comfortable, with their stitched, pointed toes and two-inch stacked leather heels. Lacey loved the lift they gave her. And maybe they would also give her courage to—
“Darn it! Where’s the other one?” She looked at the single boot in the light and tossed it furiously over her shoulder. “I hate this closet!”
Vic Donovan dodged the boot. “Really, sweetheart, I don’t think you ought to be going back to Sagebrush anyway—”
She ignored him. Somewhere in that cramped cave was her other boot: handmade, calf-high, Western-style, pale green and golden brown leather, with elaborate green and gold stitching that resembled filigree. Showy and cowgirly, they were just worn enough to pass out West for serious boots. Lacey hadn’t tried them on since she’d left that shabby Western boomtown for a better reporting job in Washington, D.C.
The boots had nothing to do with Cole Tucker’s arrest, and yet somehow they were a tangible link to her life back then. They were solid, stylish, American-made reassurance in tough times. Like Cole. He was a rancher who knew his way around horses, and boots. But not murder.
Lacey threw more shoes over her shoulder in Vic’s general direction, high heels, sandals, pumps. Vic caught one red high-heeled shoe by its slender leather strap and stared at its worn-down heel.
“Lacey, you are death on heels, you know that?”
“Hilarious. I’ll show you death on heels if I don’t find my other cowboy boot. I’m wearing them on the plane tomorrow. Both of them.” She blindly chucked another red shoe. Vic ducked.