Shelley's Reviews

Come Hell or Highball by Maia Chance Maia Chance has a great new book out and you don't want to miss it.

Series: Discreet Retrieval Agency Mysteries (Book 1)
Hardcover: 320 pages
Publisher: Minotaur Books; First Edition edition (September 15, 2015)
Language: English



31-year-old society matron Lola Woodby has survived her loveless marriage with an unholy mixture of highballs, detective novels, and chocolate layer cake, until, her husband dies suddenly, leaving her his fortune...or so Lola thought. As it turns out, all she inherits from Alfie is a big pile of debt. Pretty soon, Lola and her stalwart Swedish cook, Berta, are reduced to hiding out in the secret love nest Alfie kept in New York City. But when rent comes due, Lola and Berta have no choice but to accept an offer made by one of Alfie's girls-on-the-side: in exchange for a handsome sum of money, the girl wants Lola to retrieve a mysterious reel of film for her. It sounds like an easy enough way to earn the rent money. But Lola and Berta realize they're in way over their heads when, before they can retrieve it, the man currently in possession of the film reel is murdered, and the reel disappears. On a quest to retrieve the reel and solve the murder before the killer comes after them next, Lola and Berta find themselves navigating one wacky situation after another in high style and low company.


Charming, witty, often laugh-out-loud funny, Maia Chance's Come Hell or Highball introduces a sparkling new voice in crime fiction.

Come Hell or Highball by Maia Chance.

Miss Fisher Fans and fans of the era will want to read this book by Maia Chance. Come Hell or Highball featuring newly widowed Lola Woodby with have you honing your sleuthing skills to try and find out who killed her husband Alfie.

Upon his death and the reading of the Will, Lola Woodbury, the wife finds out that the only thing her husband left her was a huge debt. She is forced out of her home with her cook Berta. With no money and home the only place they can retreat to Alfie’s apartment in New York City. But it was better than nothing and right now that was all they had, Nothing.

Determined to find out who killed her husband and desperate to get some money, she decides to take a job that might get her into more trouble than it is worth. She has to steal a reel of film. Sounds easy enough. When she finds out that the one man who is in possession of the film has been murdered and the film is missing, things go from bad to worse when they realize that time is running out and they are in to deep.

Find out what happens in the first book of the Discreet Retrieval Agency debuts. A charming and witty whodunit will keep you wanting more.

I loved this book and am eagerly waiting to see what will be next for Lola and Berta.

About the Author

MAIA CHANCE was a finalist for the 2004 Romance Writers of America Golden Heart Award and is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Washington. She is writing her dissertation on nineteenth-century American literature. She is also the author of the Fairy Tale Fatal mystery series.