A billionaire heiress and a Sydney murder mystery: Heiress on Fire is the wild summer read you need.

Sydney's eastern suburbs are known for many things.

Multi-million-dollar homes. Designer fashion. Beachside living.   

And according to the absurdly funny new novel, Heiress on Fire, a whole lot of dark secrets lurking beneath that seemingly shiny, perfect world.

So when Heiress on Fire, the debut novel from former scriptwriter, TV anchor and magazine editor Kellie McCourt, landed on my desk just in time for summer, you bet I was excited to get stuck into it.

It's been a good while since I could relax by the pool with zero cares in the world, but I took my summer break from work this week and made a pledge to myself to just bliss out.

There was nothing I was looking forward to more than kicking back on my crappy pool lounge and getting stuck into a light romp that transported me to another (very glamourous) world.

And oh boy, did Heiress on Fire deliver.

Set in the eastern suburbs of Sydney, this satirical tale is told from the perspective of Australian billion-heiress Indigo-Daisy-Violet-Amber Hasluck-Royce-Jones-Bombberg (yes, that's her full name).

Our story starts after a luxurious cocktail party gets out of hand and ends with Indigo and her husband Dr Richard Bombberg's penthouse on fire. When police discover that it wasn't an accidental fire, but an explosive device that killed Dr Bombberg and a mysterious redhead who was at the party, Indigo is their number one suspect.

Heiress on Fire by Kellie McCourt. Image: Supplied.

Indigo's semi-Buddhist, semi-retired supermodel mother hires a woman named Esmeralda - a recent graduate of the model mentor prison program - as they look to clear Indigo's name of the murder. If it sounds wild, it's because it is - and that's exactly the point.

Heiress Indigo and ex-felon Esmeralda quickly find themselves deep in Sydney's upper-class underbelly, Indigo realising there was a lot more to her conscientious reconstructive surgeon husband than she thought.

With secret family, escort agencies, gangs and break-ins aplenty, Heiress on Fire is a madcap debut with hilarious twists at every corner. McCourt deftly mixes murder mystery with social satire (it's been aptly described as One for the Money meets Crazy Rich Asians with a little Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries), as she lifts the curtain on the lives of the filthy rich... and answers a raft of questions we've been dying to know.

Does money buy you happiness?

How do billionaires insure for those multi-million dollar assets?

And what is it really like living with chefs and maids on hand?

Yes, it's very extra. But one of the most rewarding parts of the novel is seeing how conservative fish-out-of-water Indigo develops an unlikely friendship with former Silverwater inmate Esmerelda. From Esmerelda picking up on when Indigo is feeling a little faint, to Indigo adopting some of Esmerelda's more unique slang words, the pair strike up an unlikely friendship built off confusion and a surprising admiration for each other.

While McCourt may be skewering the Sydney elite, she never lets Indigo turn into a surface-level stereotype. From the get-go, we get a window into her grief (albeit riddled with widow's guilt when faced with all the good-looking servicemen) and feel a sense of empathy for how she's ended up in the wild situation she's in.

For these reasons, Heiress on Fire is the perfect poolside or beach read. But fair warning, reading about Indigo's Double Bay pool house may give you just the slightest bit of reader envy. 

Heiress on Fire is available now, however you like to read your book - whether it is paperback, ebook or audiobook.

Heiress on Fire is currently The Book Stack Bookclub - Book of the Month.

The Book Stack is an inclusive community of passionate readers who want to read quality fiction across a wide range of genres and connect with other book lovers. Join now and receive book lists, reading challenges and suggestions for more reading, as well as some exciting giveaways and competitions.