Product Description

Marla is concerned with her neighbour, Goat, is missing. His van is in the driveway; newspapers are piling up on the lawn; and no one's seen him for three days. It's unlike Goat to be so negligent, especially when he has pets in the house. Marla hears strange noises presumably from his menageries, but she's never ventured inside his place. She gets the opportunity when Detective Dalton Vail arrives after receiving a tip that her neighbour's house contains a dead body. Without a search warrant, he won't enter unless invited, and no one answered his knock on the door. Marla forges ahead, pushing inside the unlocked townhouse with Vail at her heels. A foul odour pervades the place, but it isn't from the hungry cats or the goat confined in the backyard. A dead man is sprawled in the master bedroom. While Marla heaves a sigh of relief that it isn't Goat, her expert beautician's eye picks up a clue. Noting the victim's bronze highlights, she relates their distinctive pattern to Cutter Corrigan a master stylist in the area. She surmises the victim might be Cutter's client and, soon enough, heads off to Cutter's to not only solve the murder, but to find out where her neighbour might be.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1224600 in Books
• Published on: 2003-12-01
• Released on: 2003-12-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 304 pages

From Publishers Weekly
With its many loose ends, Cohen's fifth cozy whodunit starring hairstylist-sleuth Marla Shore (after 2002's Body Wave) lives up to its billing as a "Bad Hair Day" mystery in more ways than one. In Palm Haven, Fla., Shore juggles the demands of her salon business with problematic relationships with her mother, her mother's importunate suitor and attractive police detective Dalton Vail. A missing neighbor, a murder victim with a signature highlighting pattern and Vail's official investigation conspire to put Marla on the scent of crimes involving contraband animals, illegal furs and a potion to cure baldness. A bizarre murder scheme apparently aimed at Marla's former beauty-school classmates also figures in the patchwork plot. The supporting characters aren't vivid enough to help carry the story, while the Jewish slang and humor seem forced rather than natural. As a result, the action careens from one improbable happening to another with interludes of romance and comedy that fail to captivate or convince. With Janet Evanovich setting a high standard for screwball mysteries and Sarah Strohmeyer's Bubbles Yablonsky already providing one successfully lighthearted hairdresser-sleuth heroine, Cohen has tough competition and fails to measure up in this outing.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Customer Reviews

Flawed but interesting
When her neighbor disappears and a dead body is found in his condo, hair stylist Marla Shore gets involved. She recognizes the highlights on the body and knows the one hairdresser who can produce them. What she doesn't know is that her investigation is going to lead her into serious troubles involving animal research, animal smuggling, a cure for baldness, and a plant disease that threatens the citrus crops of Florida. Along with sometimes boyfriend Police Detective Dalton Vail, Marla rushes from danger to danger--all the while trying to figure out where her relationship with Dalton is headed.

Marla Shore is a mostly likable heroine, interested in others, sympathetic toward Dalton's pre-teen daughter, and caring about her neighbor, 'Goat,' who, Marla is certain, could not be the murderer. Marla's bad judgment when it comes to personal safety weakens the character, however, as does her certainty that she knows what is best for Dalton's daughter. One would think that a few near-death experiences would teach her a bit more caution but, unfortunately, they don't.

Author Nancy J. Cohen slips in an occasional clunker but her writing is mostly professional quality. HIGHLIGHTS TO HEAVEN is a flawed but interesting mystery.

Reminiscent of Evanovich... fun read.
If you want a mind-candy read somewhat reminicient of Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series, you'll enjoy Highlights To Heaven by Nancy J. Cohen. This is part of her "Bad Hair Day Mystery" series. The main character, Marla Shore, is a south Florida Jewish hair stylist with her own salon, and she finds herself in the middle of crime investigations, much to the dismay of her love interest and police dectective Dalton Vail.

In the latest installment, her strange neighbor (nicknamed "Goat") has gone missing. When she goes over to investigate with Vail, they find a dead body, a stash of cash, and no Goat. Shore recognizes the highlighting style on the dead guy, and asks some questions of the stylist who did the work. Things start happening quickly at that point, and it seems to tie back to her styling school days when a group of her friends played a joke on another stylist who lost his hair in the process. All the friends are being killed off, and Shore narrowly escapes death a couple of time. A few unexpected plot twists brings the story to the typical life or death climax at the end. And as a subplot throughout the story, Shore's relationship with Vail advances forward to the next major stage... moving in.

This isn't deep thought-provoking material. It's a light story with interesting characters, and it's the exact type of recreational read that I often look forward to.

Marla tries to find her neighbor and clear his name.
Once again Nancy has done a terrific job. This is a great book! I highly recommend it. A wonderful addition to a superb series.

Marla Shore's neighbor Goat is missing and a man is found dead in his townhouse. Her boyfriend Detective Dalton Vail asked her to accompany him to Goat's townhouse. But, once the dead man is found, he asks her to let him handle the investigation.

Of course, Marla can' do that. The police think Goat killed him. She just can't believe that. She does some investigation. She goes to see her old teacher Cutter Corrigan at his salon. She recognizes the highlights in the dead man's hair as being Corrigan's signature.

At the same time Louise Cunningham is opening her salon just down the street from Marla's Cut 'N Dye Salon. Marla is having trouble hiring another stylist and receptionist. She feels torn between the investigation and her salon.

Plus Marla's mother Anita keeps setting her up with Barry, the son of her boyfriend Roger. Marla can't stand Roger. Barry is a nice lawyer. She is confused because she can't decide whether she and Dalton have a future. Dalton's daughter Brianna is about to turn 13 and Marla isn't sure she wants a relationship with a child involved. Brianna is becoming attached to Marla. Marla and Dalton don't see eye to eye in the way Brianna should be brought up. This is causing a lot of friction.

Before Marla is done investigating, she will find herself in danger. Eventually Dalton goes along with her to help keep her safe.

Marla is such a great protagonist. She is likeable and strong willed. There are so many things going on in her life that at times she feels overwhelmed and has trouble focusing. I always enjoy this series and look forward to many more!