Here are 85 books that Danger in High Heels fans have personally recommended if you like Danger in High Heels. Book DNA is a community of 13,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Book cover of Designer Dirty Laundry

Susie Black Author Of Death by Sample Size

From my list on humorous cozy mysteries set in the fashion industry.

Why am I passionate about this?

Like the protagonist in my Holly Swimsuit Mystery Series, I am a ladies’ swimwear sales exec. I love solving puzzles, asking a lot of questions, and am naturally curious (some narrow-minded people say I am nosy…go figure…LOL). So, writing mysteries set in the fashion industry was the natural next step for me to take. From the beginning of my career, I have kept a daily journal chronicling the interesting, quirky, and sometimes quite challenging people I have encountered as well as the crazy situations I’ve gotten myself into and out of. My daily journal entries are the foundation of everything I write.

Susie's book list on humorous cozy mysteries set in the fashion industry

Susie Black Why Susie loves this book

I love cozy mysteries with a witty protagonist who usually discovers the corpse. Clever dialogue in a fashion setting, with wacky supporting characters get me laughing, and a twisty plot I can’t figure out keeps me turning the pages. Designer Dirty Laundry is all of that rolled up into one laugh-out-loud story. I credit this book and series with giving me the impetus to write my debut cozy.

By Diane Vallere ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Designer Dirty Laundry as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

"Wonderful read regardless of your fashion sense. Samantha Kidd could not be more entertaining and, surprisingly, relatable." ~Shawna, Reviewer

National bestselling author Diane Vallere delivers your new favorite fashionable amateur sleuth! Join Samantha Kidd as she trades high fashion for dirty laundry and learns a great wardrobe isn't enough to turn her life around, let alone catch a killer.

She expected the fashion industry to be ruthless. She wasn't prepared for it to turn deadly.

Ready to redesign her life, style expert Samantha Kidd accepts a job in her Pennsylvania hometown as a trend specialist. But her first day goes…


If you love Danger in High Heels...

Book cover of Secrets, Lies, and Sneaky Spies

Secrets, Lies, and Sneaky Spies by Rayna Flye,

A dead top agent, an assassinated politician, and one dangerously hot Swedish spy who knows something about her past that might end up jeopardizing her future.

What has American Division agent Katrina Foster gotten herself into this time?

Katrina knows she’s talented, but once she becomes a target, she soon…

Book cover of Pleating for Mercy

Susie Black Author Of Death by Dreidel

From my list on mysteries with ghost characters.

Why am I passionate about this?

As a humorous cozy mystery author, apparitions as characters are critically important members of my cast. I have introduced two ghosts—the dead wife and young daughter of one of the men in my protagonist’s life as continuing characters in my Holly Swimsuit Mystery Series. They serve as an important yet hysterically funny bridge that connects the main character’s past to her present life and creates an extra layer of conflict in her relationship with the widower and where she wants it to go.  

Susie's book list on mysteries with ghost characters

Susie Black Why Susie loves this book

Maybe it was fond memories of my own dearly-departed wise Nana that made me fall in love with Meemaw, Texas fashion designer Harlow Jane Cassidy’s ghostly granny as she worked from the Great Beyond to help her granddaughter solve a murder and clear her as the number one suspect. Give me a gal who inherits magical power and has to think on her feet when a crisis comes calling, and she has to use it. 

Part paranormal, part mystery, part second chance at life and love, this is a woo-woo-infused fun trip to Never-neverland.  

By Melissa Bourbon ,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Pleating for Mercy as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

When her great-grandmother passes away, Harlow Jane Cassidy leaves her job as a Manhattan fashion designer and moves back to Bliss, Texas. But when she opens a dressmaking boutique in the turn-of-the-century farmhouse she inherited, Harlow senses an inexplicable "presence". Is Meemaw really gone, or she now Harlow's ghostly roommate?

Her old friend Josie orders a gown for her upcoming wedding, but when Josie's boss turns up dead, Harlow has to find the killer-with a little help from beyond.


Book cover of Veiled Revenge

Susie Black Author Of Death by Sample Size

From my list on humorous cozy mysteries set in the fashion industry.

Why am I passionate about this?

Like the protagonist in my Holly Swimsuit Mystery Series, I am a ladies’ swimwear sales exec. I love solving puzzles, asking a lot of questions, and am naturally curious (some narrow-minded people say I am nosy…go figure…LOL). So, writing mysteries set in the fashion industry was the natural next step for me to take. From the beginning of my career, I have kept a daily journal chronicling the interesting, quirky, and sometimes quite challenging people I have encountered as well as the crazy situations I’ve gotten myself into and out of. My daily journal entries are the foundation of everything I write.

Susie's book list on humorous cozy mysteries set in the fashion industry

Susie Black Why Susie loves this book

I’ve always been a sucker for a good curse to thicken a cozy mystery plot, and this one has a doozy: a stunning Russian shawl worn by a fortune-teller at a bridal shower that Washington, D.C. fashion reporter Lacey Smithsonian attends for her BFF Stella. I love the plucky amateur sleuth who uses her Extra-Fashionary Perception to capture a villain who vowed that nobody at this wedding will live happily ever after.

If you love Gemma Halliday...

Book cover of Secrets, Lies, and Sneaky Spies

Secrets, Lies, and Sneaky Spies by Rayna Flye,

A dead top agent, an assassinated politician, and one dangerously hot Swedish spy who knows something about her past that might end up jeopardizing her future.

What has American Division agent Katrina Foster gotten herself into this time?

Katrina knows she’s talented, but once she becomes a target, she soon…

Book cover of Slay Bells and Satchels

Susie Black Author Of Death by Sample Size

From my list on humorous cozy mysteries set in the fashion industry.

Why am I passionate about this?

Like the protagonist in my Holly Swimsuit Mystery Series, I am a ladies’ swimwear sales exec. I love solving puzzles, asking a lot of questions, and am naturally curious (some narrow-minded people say I am nosy…go figure…LOL). So, writing mysteries set in the fashion industry was the natural next step for me to take. From the beginning of my career, I have kept a daily journal chronicling the interesting, quirky, and sometimes quite challenging people I have encountered as well as the crazy situations I’ve gotten myself into and out of. My daily journal entries are the foundation of everything I write.

Susie's book list on humorous cozy mysteries set in the fashion industry

Susie Black Why Susie loves this book

Coming from an apparel sales exec. career, I gravitate to cozy stories set in stores. I love clueless employees who stumble over dead bodies, and zany characters who manage to get themselves out of crazy situations. I especially enjoy cozies with a holiday theme. Slay Bells and Satchels has it all. I laughed out loud when fashionista purse lover department store sales clerk Haley Randolph finds a murdered elf in the store’s giant toy bag. Slay Bells and Satchels tickled my funny bone throughout the story, but had me guessing whodunit to the last page. 

By Dorothy Howell ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Slay Bells and Satchels as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The Summer Santa Sale at Holt’s Department Store becomes a Christmas nightmare when sales clerk Haley Randolph finds a murdered elf in the store’s giant toy bag. Haley, a crazed fashionista obsessed with designer handbags, could find herself “bagged” if she doesn’t untangle this mystery quicker than Saint Nick can slide down a chimney. But Haley has another problem: Can working with hot private detective Jack Bishop put her on Santa’s “naughty” list?


Book cover of Awakening

Cheryl Rees-Price Author Of The Silent Quarry

From my list on crime to keep you turning the pages.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am the author of the DI Winter Meadows series. I love reading and writing crime fiction, especially books set in rural locations. I live in South Wales where I go hiking mountains, exploring caves, and discovering waterfalls. I take inspiration from these remote areas and close-knit communities to create the settings, characters, and plots for my books.

Cheryl's book list on crime to keep you turning the pages

Cheryl Rees-Price Why Cheryl loves this book

This was the first book I read by Sharon Bolton and it got me hooked on this author.

The book draws you into the lives of the residents of a small village where beneath the idyllic setting lurks secrets and malice. We follow newcomer Clara, a local vet, who is called upon when poisonous snakes turn up in the residents’ homes. The book has a brooding atmosphere which will leave you checking under the bed before you sleep.

By Sharon Bolton ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Awakening as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Clara Benning, a veterinary surgeon in charge of a wildlife hospital in a small English village, is young and intelligent, but nearly a recluse. Disfigured by a childhood accident, she generally prefers the company of animals to people. But when a local man dies following a supposed snakebite, Clara's expertise is needed. She's chilled to learn that the victim's postmortem shows a higher concentration of venom than could ever be found in a single snake—and that therefore the killer must be human.

Assisted by a soft-spoken neighbor and an eccentric reptile expert, Clara unravels sinister links to an abandoned house,…


Book cover of Like a Sister

Elizabeth Amber Love Author Of Full Body Manslaughter

From my list on women starting over.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve spent my life recreating myself as many times as Madonna. If things aren’t working, I move on to something new. I’ll go to classes, learn something else, change careers, and struggle the whole way as I look for pieces of life that fit the puzzle of me. It takes me a lot longer to read so when I try to diversify my bookshelf and don’t always stick to my genre (as the professionals tell an author to do). What I “stick to” is finding female characters who struggle and want to give up, but somehow, something deep inside them makes them move forward one step at a time.

Elizabeth's book list on women starting over

Elizabeth Amber Love Why Elizabeth loves this book

Kellye Garrett takes the fake world of reality TV, hashtags, and influencers to circle her reluctant protagonist, Lena Scott. Life and actions are judged to only have value if you have video of it to get clicks. That’s the message that stuck with me.

Lena Scott and her sister Desiree may share a father, but they could not be more different. That father is hip-hop mogul Mel Pierce known in the business as Murder Mel. The family members are in and out of each other’s lives with the same kinds of drama a blue-collar family would have; there are just bigger price tags. Lena steps out and opts for a modest life away from the family fortune and her father’s name.

When Desiree suddenly dies as a fallen from grace celebrity who appears to have overdosed, Lena doesn’t buy it. Even two years without speaking doesn’t erase how well she…

By Kellye Garrett ,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Like a Sister as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In this "crackling domestic suspense" filled with "wry humor and deft pacing" (Alyssa Cole), no one bats an eye when a Black reality TV star is found dead—except her estranged half-sister, whose refusal to believe the official story leads her on a dangerous search for the truth.

“A mystery that has everything I love most: an intriguing set up; an absorbing storyline that kept me guessing; a satisfying ending; and, most of all, incredibly well-developed characters I kept thinking about long after I finished the book.” ―Jasmine Guillory, Today Show

“I found out my sister was back in New York…


Book cover of 4.50 from Paddington

Janet Dawson Author Of Death Rides the Zephyr

From my list on mysteries on (and off) the tracks.

Why am I passionate about this?

As soon as I found out about Zephyrettes, I knew I had to write about these real-life train hostesses who rode the rails on the old California Zephyr, which existed from 1949 to 1970. The only woman on a train crew, someone who keeps an eye on passengers and situations, anticipating and solving problems—who would be better placed to solve a mystery on a train? Jill is my traveling Miss Marple. I’m a former newspaper reporter, Navy journalist, and have been writing for decades, first the Jeri Howard series, then the Jill McLeod series, and lately a book featuring geriatric care manager Kay Dexter, The Sacrificial Daughter.

Janet's book list on mysteries on (and off) the tracks

Janet Dawson Why Janet loves this book

Another Christie, out of a handful of books Dame Agatha wrote set on trains. Much as I like Poirot, I love Jane Marple, the quiet spinster from St. Mary Mead who knits, knows everyone, and is well-schooled in human nature and foibles. Talk about powers of observation. In this classic, Miss Marple’s friend Mrs. Elspeth McGillicuddy is traveling by train. At a moment when two trains are traveling side by side on different tracks, she looks out the window of her compartment and sees a man strangling a woman. The railway authorities don’t believe her—quelle surprise! With no other witnesses, no suspects, and no corpse, who will believe her? Jane Marple, of course, who has a plan to out the killer.

By Agatha Christie ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked 4.50 from Paddington as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Agatha Christie's classic Miss Marple railway mystery, reissued in a beautiful new classic hardcover edition designed to appeal to the latest generation of Agatha Christie fans and book lovers.

'Oh, Jane! I've just seen a murder!'

For an instant the two trains ran together, side by side. In that frozen moment, Elspeth witnessed a murder. Helplessly, she stared out of her carriage window as a man remorselessly tightened his grip around a woman's throat. The body crumpled. Then the other train drew away.

But who, apart from Miss Marple, would take her story seriously? After all, there…


Book cover of Ilustrado

Tiffany Tsao Author Of The Majesties

From my list on riddles, wrapped in a mystery, inside an engima.

Why am I passionate about this?

When I started writing The Majesties, I wanted the narrative to be a continual excavation of secrets, one after the other. This sort of multi-layered story has always intrigued me and my fascination with it has influenced all my written work so far. I am particularly fascinated by books where characters unconsciously keep secrets from themselves, and where the line between the “real” and the fantastic is blurred beyond recognition. Sometimes it’s not just about solving a mystery, but articulating its mysteriousness—giving it flesh and bone, stitching its parts together, and bringing it to life through words.

Tiffany's book list on riddles, wrapped in a mystery, inside an engima

Tiffany Tsao Why Tiffany loves this book

A multi-level work of genius. On the surface, this book is about someone trying to solve a murder. But Ilustrado is so much more than just your usual murder mystery. The book does more than use Philippine colonial and contemporary history as the backdrop; it weaves this history into the fabric of the narrative itself. As the protagonist uncovers buried facts about his late mentor and as well as his own past, he also discovers just how inseparable Art is from the political intrigue and social violence in which it is birthed. And the twist at the end explodes the whole book.

By Miguel Syjuco ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Ilustrado as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

'A dazzling and virtuosic adventure' Joseph O'Connor, author of Star of the Sea

Internationally Bestselling Winner of the Man Asian Literary Prize 2008

'With Ilustrado, Miguel Syjuco obliges us to remake the canons of our great classics of contemporary literature. Ilustrado is, literally, a masterpiece' Alberto Manguel

It begins with a body. One anonymous winter day, the corpse of Crispin Salvador is pulled from the Hudson River. Gone is the controversial giant of Asian literature. And missing is the only manuscript of his final book, an expose of the corrupt roots of the ruling Filipino families, meant to restore his…


Book cover of A Crime of Passion Fruit

Rick Bleiweiss Author Of Pignon Scorbion & the Barbershop Detectives

From my list on fun mysteries you may never have read.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have been a mystery reader my entire life, starting with the Hardy Boys series as a child and then progressing to authors like Agatha Christie, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Chester Himes, Ellery Queen, Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, and many, many others. I love trying to figure out the crime or mystery before the reveal, but usually don’t. And, I have always truly enjoyed mystery books which have humor and quirky characters in them. More recently, I have become an award-winning mystery novelist myself, having published both a historical fiction mystery series and stories set in contemporary times in an ongoing anthology series that combines murder, mystery, and music.

Rick's book list on fun mysteries you may never have read

Rick Bleiweiss Why Rick loves this book

Ellie and I live in the same town and met when a mystery reading group that I was a member of read her book and then she spoke to us.

This particular book is part of her cozy Bakeshop Mystery series set in Ashland, Oregon and is totally fun to read – and not just for someone who lives here and can identify with the shops in town that are in the book.

The writing is light, airy, and enjoyable, and the mystery was fun to read, especially since it strayed a bit from town and was involved in a murder on a cruise ship.

By Ellie Alexander ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked A Crime of Passion Fruit as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Torte―everybody's favorite small-town family bakeshop―is headed for the high seas, where murder is about to make a splash. . .
Jules Capshaw is trying to keep her cool as Torte gets set to make its transformation from quaint, local confectionary café to royal pastry palace. Meanwhile, Jules's estranged husband Carlos is making a desperate plea for her to come aboard his cruise ship and dazzle everyone with her signature sweets. She may be skeptical about returning to her former nautical life with Carlos but Jules can't resist an all-expense-paid trip, either. If only she knew that a dead body would…


Book cover of A History of Fear

Michele W. Miller Author Of The Lower Power

From my list on supernatural terror with real-world adversity.

Why am I passionate about this?

I write horror and crime thrillers grounded in my unusual lived experience as an author and attorney who has also overcome poverty, incarceration, and violent crime. I feel most fulfilled when I read a book that both entertains and expands me in meaningful ways, immersing me in lives, cultures, and history I might not otherwise know. So I love Social Horror novels, which feature characters who face significant human adversity beyond my own experience and leave me questioning what was worse, the human or the supernatural.

Michele's book list on supernatural terror with real-world adversity

Michele W. Miller Why Michele loves this book

Grayson Hale claims that the devil made him commit a gruesome murder. This brilliant page-turner kept me guessing whether the blame should fall on the devil or untreated mental illness, given Grayson’s upbringing within a fundamentalist Christian household where he was viewed as evil.

I love psychological horror, so this book was right up my alley as I turned the pages to see whether the murder had a human or supernatural cause. The book beautifully unfolds the story of Grayson’s trauma, shame, and self-loathing as an isolated and marginalized person.

I will say no more about that to avoid spoilers, but I loved how this book kept me guessing and entertained while it provided me with a new understanding and compassion.

By Luke Dumas ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked A History of Fear as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

This “disorienting, creepy, paranoia-inducing reimagining of the devil-made-me-do-it tale” (Paul Tremblay, author of The Cabin at the End of the World) follows the harrowing downfall of a tortured graduate student arrested for murder.

Grayson Hale, the most infamous murderer in Scotland, is better known by a different name: the Devil’s Advocate. The twenty-five-year-old American grad student rose to instant notoriety when he confessed to the slaughter of his classmate Liam Stewart, claiming the Devil made him do it.

When Hale is found hanged in his prison cell, officers uncover a handwritten manuscript that promises to answer the question that’s…


Book cover of Designer Dirty Laundry
Book cover of Pleating for Mercy
Book cover of Veiled Revenge

Share your top 3 reads of 2026!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

181

readers submitted
so far, will you?