4 out of 4 stars
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Kat Waters' life has been turned upside down. She's gone from being a wealthy socialite to having to sell her Jimmy Choos for cash and working at a morgue to make ends meet, all because her father was arrested for supposedly having ties to the mob. To make things worse, a body is stolen from the morgue on her watch. Funnily enough, the body was that of a prostitute, but prostitutes don't usually wear brand-name shoes and pure gold necklaces. Kat's a hair's breadth away from losing her job, so she takes it upon herself to investigate the body-snatcher and the true identity of the supposed prostitute. She gets help from Burns McPhee, a former soldier who runs a security company on the surface but has no qualms breaking the law to get what he wants. Only someone who works at the morgue could have framed Kat's involvement in the body-snatching heist, so she and her hot, new love interest have to work together to investigate all of her coworkers. All the while, Kat wonders if this somehow is related to the mob and her father's sudden arrest...
I love stories about privileged women who get knocked down a peg in life and have to use the skills they have to survive. I expected Kat to loathe her job at the morgue, but she's a positive woman who is proud that her makeup skills earned by participating in multiple pageants are useful for preparing corpses for viewings. She's such an interesting and likable character, funny without laying on the socialite persona too thickly. In fact, all of the characters in The Corpse Wore Stilettos were quirky and interesting. Kat's grandma, Grand, was a real hoot.
The Corpse Wore Stilettos is MJ O'Neill's debut novel, and she did a wonderful job. I was hooked right from the start. Every time I thought I knew who was involved, a new piece of information would show up to implicate someone else and I would begin to doubt myself. There were so many good twists and turns, necessities in the mystery genre, but when I wasn't at the edge of my seat waiting to see what would happen next, I was snorting or chuckling at the comedy. O'Neill has a unique sense of humor that's as quirky as her characters.
Other than the points I have already mentioned, I was also impressed by the novel's pacing and how easy it was to get sucked in. It actually took me a while to get through because each time I stopped off, I had to make sure I had time in my schedule before I could continue as I knew it would be a while before I surfaced for air. In terms of editing, I found less than ten errors in the entire book, and most of those were minor punctuation errors. Overall, I have nothing but praise for The Corpse Wore Stilettos.
Obviously I would rate it 4 out of 4 stars and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys comedic mysteries with strong and quirky female protagonists. I can guarantee that you'll find yourself rooting for Kat by the end of it. I personally cannot wait to read the next book in the series, as there are still a few mysteries Kat has left to solve. It is a light and funny read, nothing like the morgue it takes place in.
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The Corpse Wore Stilettos
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I also love stories where people are knocked down and have to get back up again. Sounds like a good one to add to my list! Great review 
