The Girls in the High-Heeled Shoes

February 8, 2016
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 Goodwinâlike 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.