The Girls in the High-Heeled Shoes

Two-Headed Mary, the philanthropic panhandler who dresses like a society matron when she approaches theatergoers for donations to nonexistent charities, is missing. So is sidelined hoofer Billie Trask, who disappeared from the cashier’s office of K. Jeffrey Welton’s hit show Lucky Lady with the weekend take. Could either of them have followed a third Broadway babe, Fine and Dandy chorine Lydia Laurent—whose strangled, nude body, accompanied by two complete suits of clothing, has been found in Central Park? If this seems like an awful lot of women in jeopardy, Two-Headed Mary turns out to have enough separate identities to populate a small European monarchy: She’s claimed under various guises by a Broadway hanger-on, a daughter, a husband, and a big-time con man, the Professor, who’s got even more cover stories than she does. Since the police are as helpless as they always are in 1935, it falls to New York World columnist Alexander Brass and his cheerfully wide-eyed sidekick Morgan DeWitt to dig up the truth.“If you are a fan of the cleverness of Ellery Queen in his prime, the fast-talking wit of the Thin Man movies, and classic mystery in the style of S.S. Van Dine, then this is for you.” - Comic Book Resources

"The New York theater world of the 1930s provides the backdrop for Kurland’s entertaining sequel (first published in 1998) to Too Soon Dead, which introduced Alexander Brass, a popular columnist for the New York World newspaper who will remind Rex Stout fans of Nero Wolfe. Two-Headed Mary, a con artist who solicits contributions outside Broadway shows for a nonexistent charity, has vanished. Sandra Lelane, a Broadway actress who says she’s Mary’s daughter, implores Alex and his Archie Goodwin–like sidekick, aspiring novelist Morgan DeWitt, to search for Mary. Meanwhile, Billie Trask, a thief, is suspected of stealing a weekend’s worth of box-office receipts from the lucrative production of the musical Lucky Lady. Fears for Mary’s safety heighten after a visit to her Brooklyn apartment reveals that someone has impersonated Sandra and looted the place. The lively banter between Alex and Morgan serves to propel the plot as it evokes fond memories of Stout’s characters." - Publishers WeeklyMICHAEL KURLAND is the author of more than thirty novels, but is best known for his Edgar-nominated mystery series featuring Professor Moriarty, including The Infernal Device and The Great Game. He has also edited several Sherlock Holmes anthologies and written non-fiction titles such as How to Solve a Murder: the Forensic Handbook. He lives in Petaluma, California.