Inherit the Shoes

Inherit the Shoes is a breezy, fast-moving mystery with a Hollywood setting and a sympathetic protagonist.

I expected as much — given that author E.J. Copperman has brought out any number of other enjoyable mystery series, including the Haunted Guesthouse series, the Asperger’s mysteries, the Mysterious Detective mysteries, and Agent to the Paws — and I was not disappointed.

I did find the book a little slow to get started, as we have to get through necessary exposition setting up our lead and her situation. Sandy Moss is a former New Jersey criminal prosecutor who has moved to LA to take a job practicing family law. Her first client is an actor, Patrick McNabb, who has been accused of his soon-to-be-ex-wife’s murder. Because he plays a hotshot lawyer on TV, he thinks he’s going to solve his own case. That makes him a charming — he has a British accent! — troublemaker who won’t let his lawyer do her job but provides plenty of reason to continue getting involved in the murder investigation.

Plus, there’s the movie memorabilia jazzing up the situation. Patrick’s quite the collector, and his wife was killed by a prop, possibly because of their argument over the valuable shoes of the title.

Once we got past the first few establishing chapters, and the mystery started, I was hooked. This is a fun, frothy read that reminded me of some of my favorite odd-couple detective shows.

Inherit the Shoes will be out early in 2021. (The publisher provided an advance digital review copy.)