Death in Heels

DEBUT Murphy’s first “Dublin Drag” mystery is a bittersweet story with a big, brassy climax. Fi McKinnery’s best friend and roommate, Robyn, is finally making his big move. It’s Robyn’s debut night performing as drag queen Mae B at a local Dublin drag club, TRASH, and Mae B is stunning in her red gown. Then Eve, another queen, steals Mae B’s dress and cruelly mocks her performance on stage. The other queens are angry, but it’s Fi who finds Eve dead later that night, face down in a puddle in the alley outside the club. Police call it an accident but Fi can’t let it go. She’s obsessed with the image of Eve in Robyn’s dress. Her compulsion to investigate alienates Robyn and everyone at TRASH, who think Fi is an outsider who suspects them. But after a hit-and-run and another murder, they have to admit that someone at TRASH is a target. A confrontation with the killer during the climactic Pride parade justifies Fi’s obsession and suspicion.