Death in Heels is Kitty Murphy’s first Dublin Drag Mystery. I’ll admit right up front that it wasn’t the drag queens I had trouble with; it was the protagonist, Fi McKinnery. Although the drag community at TRASH, a Dublin drag club had a number of names that were not complimentary for Fi, who is straight, she found her entire life revolved around a community where she really wasn’t a part.

It’s Fi’s roommate, Robyn, who has longed to be a drag queen. He finally debuts, performing as Mae B, and Fi’s there to cheer him on. But, his debut is ruined when another queen, Eve Harrington, performs just to cruelly mock him. She wears Mae B’s dress, and stumbles around the stage. Afterwards, it’s Fi who finds Eve’s body, facedown in a puddle outside the club. While the police label it an accident, Fi can’t let go. She’s sure someone killed Eve and left her for dead, although everyone at TRASH would like to forget Eve existed.

When FI changes her blog from a simple focus on bridges to highlight the death of a drag queen, the queens at TRASH do not appreciate it. Fi’s obsession with Eve’s death alienates her from everyone at TRASH, including Robyn. Even the police no longer takes her phone calls.

Fi McKinnery is a fascinating character. She hides behind her camera, always taking pictures, at TRASH, of bridges. It’s her landlady who warns her. “That camera of yours,” she said. “It might make it easier to keep it between you and the world, but don’t forget that the world can see you perfectly without a lens, dear.” And, Fi’s entire world revolved around Robyn. He was her roommate, her best friend, until he wasn’t. Then, she didn’t know how to handle it. “His world was my world.” But, was it? Fi was not really part of the inner world of the drag queens.

Fi never gives up in her search for answers about Eve’s death. The final reveal of a killer focused on TRASH did not come as a surprise. The final scene leading to an arrest was big and brassy, a perfect climax. If Fi doesn’t drive you as nuts as she does the police, you might enjoy the conclusion of Death in Heels.

Death in Heels by Kitty Murphy. Thomas & Mercer, 2023. ISBN 9781542037235 (paperback), 341p.

FTC Full Disclosure – I received a galley to review for a journal.