The CORPSE WORE STILETTOS by MJ O’Neill – Cozy Mystery, Women Sleuths, Amateur Sleuths

The Corpse Wore Stilettos by MJ O’Neill brings down the house in a most delightful way.

Four months ago, Kat Water’s life fell apart. Her father, a prominent insurance broker, was arrested on racketeering charges, accused of laundering money for the mob. A successful museum curator in Boston, Kat immediately dropped everything to return to St. Louis, leaving her fiance and career behind. With all of their possessions seized and their bank accounts frozen, Kat’s mother, Lauren, and her grandmother, Theodora, are left poverty-stricken. Kat, with her family name now dragged through the mud by the media, can only find a job in the county morgue. With her minor in biology and her detail-oriented personality, she finds her work most rewarding.

When tasked with processing the body of a believed prostitute, it’s all business as usual.

But the deceased girl doesn’t bear the typical signs of her profession. Then a gun-toting bad guy steals the body before Kat begins her task. Oops. Now, once again, Kat’s family steps in as fodder for the rumor mill, and everyone believes the body must be connected to her father, his crimes, and the mob. Kat determines to find the body, solve the mystery of the girl’s identity, and clear her family name. She grudgingly teams up with the distractingly attractive ex-military special forces turned security firm owner, Burns McPhee. As they chase the mystery – and the body – all over St. Louis, the two realize the girl’s death is part of a much larger, much more dangerous plot.

This novel’s character line-up shines!

With one misfit eccentric after another, they all seem to work seamlessly to create a memorably fun read. From shoe-obsessed drag queens to heroic strippers, this novel definitely delivers on character development. Grand, Kat’s grandmother Theodora, sparkles. The borderline “geriatric Nancy Drew” is a hoot! Often the feisty troublemaker, Grand cannot help but instigate – or fan the flames – in any bad situation. If she isn’t “shopping” in their police-patrolled, off-limits former home, she’s running around in kitschy visors (one for all occasions) and making revenge scrapbooks on ways she’ll get even with her long-time nemesis.

Another example of character craftsmanship is DC, Kat’s best friend and co-worker. He is, perhaps, the most interesting of all the supporting characters. With his fashion savvy and his cat therapist, DC has a flair for the dramatic.  As Kat’s figurative and literal sidekick, he is in the middle of all the action. When he turns superhero – complete with costume – Kat engineers a complicated rescue scheme to get him away from what he believes are Russian mobsters. Kat’s other co-workers won’t disappoint either with super-timid Henry, gothic Meg, Marshall the perv, and Sam the tattooed, motorcycle-riding, aspiring chef.

Armed with outstanding fashion sense, a minor in biology from Harvard, and uncanny random facts that she spouts whenever nervous, Kat Waters is an absolutely unique and memorable character herself.

Her entire life, Kat’s been pampered and made to feel special. Her life was exactly on the expected trajectory: great job, correct fiancé, and numerous pairs of expensive shoes. She never dreamed she’d be literally penniless and working in a morgue to keep Grand and her mother off the streets, and though her mother doesn’t really respect Kat’s work with the dead, Kat learns the importance of her job in a way she never expected. She discovers that she is much more than a two-time Miss Missouri winner in the best makeup category, and certainly not the mob princess the media like to portray her as.

Kat’s a woman who refuses to abandon those she loves and one who willingly gives up her own dreams to keep together the family she has remaining. After the girl’s body disappears on her watch, she transitions that attitude into her need to find Jane Doe. While initially her amateur investigation stems from her suspension and punishment at work, her search evolves into a quest for justice for a string of prostitutes similarly murdered by a serial killer six months prior. Kat refuses to let these women remain victims of a faceless killer; their stories must be told regardless of the risk. She won’t let flirty reporters, sinfully handsome ex-army guys, or psycho stalkers get in her way, and she’ll do it while looking fabulous!

From the county morgue to a dominatrix kink house posing as a barbershop turned therapist’s office, this novel is one crazy adventure after another! Mystery lovers will not be disappointed. The Corpse Wore Stilettos won 1st Place in the CIBA 2019 M&M Awards for Cozy and Not So Cozy Mystery novels.