( V ) Books

Murder With All the Trimmings: Josie Marcus, Mystery Shopper (Josie, Marcus Mystery Shopper)

Elaine Viets

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Yay for a good Christmas mystery! 5 out of 5 stars.
7 of 7 people found this review helpful.

I have all of Elaine Viets mystery shopper and dead end job mysteries and I love them all. I have to say by far, this is the best of the mystery shopper series. I have noticed that more and more mystery series are going for holiday themes, i.e. Joanna Carl's The Chocolate Snowman Murders and Shirley Murphy's 2007 Cat Deck the Halls Joe Grey Mystery. I cannot speak for the Murphy mystery as I have not read it yet, but I can safely say Viets beats out Carl's Snowman Murders for the better holiday mystery.

Josie Marcus is a loveable protaganist as a single mom and amateur sleuth and the recurring cast of characters is what holds the wonderful series together. In this book, Josie is soured on Christmas because she feels that she has been looking at holiday decorations since Labor Day, but when she is ordered to mystery shop two of the three holiday stores that have cropped up or lose her job, she does what any good mystery shopper would do, sucks it up, hopes for the best and brings a witness. The second shop is owned by her current boyfriend's rather colorful ex who would be more at home in a Halloween store than a Christmas shop. The experience is exactly what Josie expects and she writes an honest report, which as expected complicates everything. Viets doesn't stop there, she adds Josie's daughter's father into the mix who has recently been released from Canadian prison, where he has been serving a sentence for drug dealing.

What I love about the book, besides that it's Christmas-y, is that even though there are several complex issues being addressed, it never gets messy that it feels like Viets forgets what she's doing and the plot never bogs down. The end of the book is wrapped up like a tidy Christmas package and leaves me waiting eagerly for the next book in series, just as it should. If you're a fan of the mystery shopper series, you definitely want to add this to your collection and if you're just starting, I suggest you begin with the first book in the series and I promise you'll be clamoring for this one.

Editorial Review:

A humbug of a Shopping mystery...

From The Anthony and Agatha Award-Winning Author of Accessory to Murder

Includes insider shopping tips!

Mystery shopper Josie Marcus doesn’t get the appeal of the year-round Christmas shop. But when three such holiday houses pop up within two blocks, she’s assigned to rate them anonymously.

Easy enough, Josie thinks, until she realizes that shoppers at one store are finding a strange—even deadly—secret ingredient in their holiday cake. And Josie must get to the bottom of it all before someone else becomes a Christmas spirit.

Another Life: A Burke Novel (Burke)

Andrew Vachss

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Editorial Review:

In this blistering new novel, Burke ("Lord of the Asphalt Jungle"--Washington Post Book World) is forced into a journey that will change the lives of the urban survivalist and his outlaw family ... forever.
The only person Burke has ever called a father, known throughout the underground as "The Prof," is in a coma, barely clinging to life in the off-the-books hospital where the crew stashed him after their last job went off the rails. So when Pryce, a shadow-man with the best of government connections, offers the finest medical services for the Prof and a clean slate for all concerned, Burke takes the contract without
reading it.
The two year old son of a Saudi prince has been kidnapped. A highly professional snatch; no mistakes, no clues ... and no ransom note. Burke's job: get the kid back, whatever it costs, whatever it takes. Pryce came to Burke because they presume this was the work of a pedophile ring. But after Burke's initial investigation comes up empty, the ultimate man-for-hire must return to the day "Baby Boy Burke" was written on his birth certificate, before he can save this child and write, in the blood of his enemies, the final act of this story.

Murder with Reservations (Dead-End Job Mysteries)

Elaine Viets

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 19 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Murder w/ Reservations 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I enjoy mysteries and this one was funny and entertaining.
Okay you will probably figure out who did it but it's fun getting there.

Is this the last? 3 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Her best yet. More complex story line.I musn't go into detail as it would be a spoiler but she wraps up problems nicely.

Good 'just for fun' book 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I have read all the Dead-end jobs books. I'm looking forward to the next one. Helen is my 'hero' for not caving in to her no-good husband. Altho in real life she would have caved in his head instead of his car. Sometimes a bit unbelievable. How does one manage to exist with no paper-trail at all? But for just a pleasant & enjoyable read, Elaine Viets is right there with Joan Hess & the Maggody series.

Editorial Review:

Helen Hawthorne has a knack for keeping a low profile. But in South Florida, it's going to get a lot harder to fly under the radar...

Working at Sybil's Full Moon Hotel in Fort Lauderdale keeps Helen safe and sane. But when a maid is found dead in a Dumpster, those days just might be over. Dead bodies mean another chance for the cops to find her. To make matters worse, her ex-husband is hot on her trail. Sadly, the cops don't seem to care much about a murdered maid-but they take notice of her coworker's shady story. If Helen doesn't manage to dodge their questions and shake off her ex, it could be checkout time.

Clubbed to Death: A Dead-End Job Mystery

Elaine Viets

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

The national bestselling author who turns “minimum wage into maximum hilarity” (Nancy Martin, author of Murder Melts in Your Mouth) reveals the lifestyles of the rich and murdered…

Helen Hawthorne’s latest dead-end job is in a country club’s complaint department, dealing with the gripes of the rich and spoiled. Then Rob, her deadbeat ex-husband, sails back into her life aboard the yacht of his new lady, Marcella—known as the Black Widow for her string of dead spouses. The next day Rob’s reported missing. If the Black Widow has such a murderous reputation, then why is Helen led from the club in handcuffs?

When Marcella helps Helen get released, the two form an uneasy alliance to find out what really happened. Helen’s barely begun digging when a club patron is discovered beaten to death with a golf club —his membership permanently expired. Someone got more than a little teed off and it’s up to Helen to get to the truth—without getting clubbed herself…

Dying in Style (Josie Marcus, Mystery Shopper, Book 1)

Elaine Viets

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 15 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Mystery Shopper Solves a Murder 4 out of 5 stars.
7 of 7 people found this review helpful.

Josie Marcus shops for a living. She is a single mom and has an exciting job. She goes to different retail and service businesses and checks out their merchandise and service. Sometimes she wears disguises and always seems to have fun.

Josie gets a very interesting top secret assignment. She is to visit a high end handbag store. Based on her report all heck breaks loose. Josie has to solve the mystery to clear her own name and get her life back to normal.

This seems to be an entertaining series. I look forward to reading more.

The perfect accessory to any outfit! 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

Most women would love to be paid to spend their days shopping; but for Josie Marcus, mystery shopper extraordinaire, it's a full-time job that can be just as exhausting as sitting behind a desk. Sure, schlepping from boutiques to fast-food restaurants, supermarkets to gas stations, and everything in between sounds fun; but it can be downright challenging when you're attempting to raise a nine-year-old daughter, contend with a nagging mother who lives right upstairs, and deal with the unexpected...such as murder.

Mystery shopper Josie Marcus is used to people getting upset with the reports that she writes about their customer service. She has seen it all, from tantrums to tears, but, over the years, she has built a tough exterior, and knows that, no matter what, her original thoughts and words will never waver. Even when she receives threats. When she's given the assignment to shop the Danessa stores, however, Josie's mother is furious. Danessa Celedine is a celebrity that everyone in St. Louis adores. And just about anyone with money craves to carry an exclusive Danessa Celdine handbag. Unfortunately, after a few trips to the store, Josie can't help but report that there are fingerprints everywhere, and the merchandise is very low quality. It's the truth, but it sends Danessa into an uproar that leaves Josie clinging to her job by mere strings, and on the receiving end of a possible lawsuit. Josie, however, is sticking to her guns. But when Danessa turns up dead, having been strangled by a snakeskin belt from her own line, which just happens to cost thousands of dollars and have Josie's fingerprints all over it, Josie knows that it's time to put her thinking cap on. She'll have to catch the killer herself, or find herself locked up behind bars, adorned in an orange polyester jailhouse outfit that will ruin her for good. But fingering the killer proves harder than she thought once she finds herself struggling to locate an MIA person, while evading the police, spending quality time with her daughter, and trying to keep her job. With so much on her plate, Josie wonders if succumbing to prison would be more practical, but refuses to go down without a fight - and a killer pair of shoes.

I have had DYING IN STYLE sitting on my bookshelf since it was first released, but never had the opportunity to read it. Once I picked it up, however, I couldn't put it down. Elaine Viets is amazing at character development, and creating scenarios that readers can truly relate to. Josie is an endearing character whose devotion to her daughter and mother illustrates her soft side; while her refusal to take the fall for a crime that she didn't commit, and not back down when she knows that she's in the right shows just how feisty she can be. The romance sprinkled throughout the story is a nice backdrop that proves to raise a few questions that will, hopefully, be answered in future installments; and the inclusion of the character of Alyce makes for a delightful addition to the story. In fact, Alyce could easily become the star of her very own mystery series - that's how lovable she is. And, of course, it doesn't hurt that Viets also tossed in a few shopping tips that will leave all readers running for the mall. The perfect accessory to any outfit!

Erika Sorocco
Freelance Reviewer

Editorial Review:

Mystery shopper Josie Marcus's report about Danessa Celedine's exclusive store is less than stellar, and it may cost the fashion diva fifty million dollars. But Danessa's financial future becomes moot when she's found murdered, strangled with one of her own thousand-dollar snakeskin belts-and Josie is accused of the crime.

Dying to Call You (Dead-End Job Mysteries, Book 3)

Elaine Viets

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 10 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Dying To Read More 5 out of 5 stars.
11 of 11 people found this review helpful.

I was very entertained with this book. Helen's gig as a telemarketer brought back memories of my college days when I gave away free cemetary plots as a telemarketer. It was before computers and we used the phone book. My favorite comeback was, "I don't need it, I am immortal."

This story was exciting to the last page. Imagine hearing a murder taking place on the phone. Helen was brave to investigate this murder. She is quite a talented sleuth.

I am glad to have discovered this series by Elaine Viets and I look forward to reading more by her.

Nosey Telemarketer 4 out of 5 stars.
6 of 6 people found this review helpful.

The interesting part of this amateur sleuth, Helen, is her dead end telemarketer job. Good insight into the telemarketers world: predominantly abusive calls received by telemarketers, their low self-esteem, poor working conditions & low pay. You feel sorry for them & wish you can be kinder to them next time round when they call on you.

As for the mystery factor in this book, its average with quick turning action so you won't get bored. Helen is simply too nosey to stay put in any one place at a time so the mystery unravels in many places with quick wit. The repartee between Helen & Margery, the landlady is always entertaining.

Editorial Review:

While making the best of her new telemarketing job, Helen Hawthorne thinks she hears a murder on the other end of the line-and must avoid a close call with a killer.

High Heels are Murder (Josie Marcus, Mystery Shopper, Book 2)

Elaine Viets

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 8 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Pull Up Your Boots and Wade In 5 out of 5 stars.
7 of 7 people found this review helpful.

Josie Marcus, professional shopper, gets in the middle of another murder. She goes into a high end shoe store and discovers the wonderful salesperson really, I mean really likes shoes.

The busybody neighbor wants Josie to help her daughter, a longtime rival of Josie's because police suspect her in the murder of "the creepy salesman."

Excellently written. This book moves along quickly through the darker side of life in St. Louis.

I highly reccommend this book. If you like Elaine Viets, you will love this book.

Editorial Review:

From the Agatha Award-Winning Author of Dying In Style

Every job has its pluses and minuses. Josie Marcus gets to shoe-shop-but she also must deal with men like Mel Poulaine, who's too interested in handling women's feet. Soon Josie's been hired by Mel's boss to mystery-shop the store, but one step leads to another and Josie finds herself in St. Louis's seedy underbelly. Caught up in a web of crime, Josie hopes against hope that she won't end up murdered in Manolos.

Shop Till You Drop

Elaine Viets

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 33 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

The First Dead End Job Mystery 5 out of 5 stars.
10 of 10 people found this review helpful.

I loved this book! I have read all most all of these books in no particular order. This was definitely one of the best.

It explains how Helen came to live at the Coronado Tropic Apartments, the first encounter with Phil, the mystery of Thumbs, and how Helen came to meet her best friend, Sarah. I think my favorite character has to be Margery, her landlady.


Helen's job at the snobby clothing store was interesting. Out of necessity, Helen must solve a murder.

You will like this book and series. I am buying to rest of the books I haven't read and I am waiting on Elaine Viets to write more!

Editorial Review:

Once on the fast track to success, Helen Hawthorne is now going nowhere fast. She traded in her chic life for a shabby one. And now she's on the run, jumping from city to city and dead-end job to dead-end job, trying to stay one step ahead of her past...

After two weeks as the new salesclerk at Juliana's, Fort Lauderdale's ultra-exclusive clothing boutique, Helen still feels out of fashion. And since the only crime likely to be committed around here is being old-or worse, looking old-Helen figures she's safe. Until she discovers the manager has been embezzling money and selling designer drugs along with the designer clothes. Add murder to the mix-and Helen's dead-end job is downright deadly.

Murder Between the Covers (Dead-End Job Mysteries, Book 2)

Elaine Viets

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 17 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Murder by the Book 5 out of 5 stars.
13 of 13 people found this review helpful.

Helen takes a job in a bookstore. Life seems to be settling into a routine. She has a cozy home, an interesting job, a boyfriend, and friends at her apartment complex.

That all changes when her apartment is swarmed by termites, her boss is murdered, her boyfriend turns into a jerk, and her good friend is arrested.

Helen and her landlady systematically investigate until they find the killer.

Bookstore mayhem and murder 5 out of 5 stars.
7 of 7 people found this review helpful.

Once again Helen is working a dead-end job that allows her to be paid in cash under the table. She is hiding out from the law and her ex-husband.

This time she's working at Page Turners Bookstore. With her love of books, she thought this would be the perfect job. Wrong. Not only is the caliber of customers low, but her boss, Page Turner III, is the pits. Plus the stores appear to be on a downward spiral.

Her apartment complex, The Coronado Tropic Apartments, become infested with termites. The residents are all forced to move out for the weekend while the complex is tented and bombed.

Her landlady treats Helen to an enjoyable weekend at the beach. Her new boyfriend, Dr. Rich, comes to spend it with her.

But, when they return to the Coronado, they find Page Turner III dead with a knife in his back, on a bed in one of the apartments. How could this happen? Did anyone at the Coronado even know him? Plus, the apartments had been locked down and tented.

Suspects are not is short supply. Helen's friend Peggy is arrested. Apparently she had been engaged to Page some time before and had threatened him. Helen investigates to help get Peggy released. She feels Peggy knows something but won't tell her. Could it have been his wife, one of the female authors he took advantage of, or one of Helen's co-workers?

I really enjoy this series. Helen is a lot of fun, and the characters she works and lives with always add to the story. Fort Lauderdale is a terrific setting, too. There are plenty of twists and turns before the killer is revealed so that it is not easy to figure out who the killer is.

This series is a great cozy series. I highly recommend it.

Editorial Review:

Helen has a new job "off the books" at Page Turners bookstore in Fort Lauderdale...until the owner is murdered. But since the arrogant Page Turner III had so many enemies, Helen will have to read between the lines to uncover the truth about a clever killer.

Just Murdered (Dead-End Job Mystery)

Elaine Viets

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 8 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Whose Wedding Is This? 3 out of 5 stars.
15 of 16 people found this review helpful.

Helen Hawthorne's new job is at Millicent's Bridal Salon. Somehow Helen thought a Bridal Salon would be a nice place to work. Happy brides wanting to make their special day perfect.

That was before she met a running stream of Bridezilla's and their mothers. The worse is Desiree Shenrad, a true mouse and her tyrannical, rich and obnoxious mother Kiki, who not only makes all the decisions on the wedding, but seems to have even picked out the groom.

It doesn't seem that big of a loss when Kiki winds up dead, stuffed in a closet at the wedding. Except that Helen's fingerprints seem to be all over the place and the police are giving her a second look.

To prevent them from finding out who she is, Helen decides to investigate and discover who really wanted this mother-of-the-bride dead. Her ex-husband, her daughter, the prospective son-in-law, an actor that she wouldn't let take a part because it was degrading? What about Millicent, the bridal shop owner who had threatened her, or the chauffeur who thought she was leaving him a lot of money in her will, but was actually getting ready to dump him.

With this list of suspects, Helen hoped it wouldn't take too long to find the killer, or the police may just uncover her hidden identity first.

Highlights:

The mystery was pretty good, a lot of suspects and Helen does actually investigate and finds clues which lead her to the killer.

The romance of Margery - Helen's landlady and new resident Warren who teaches dancing.

We didn't have to read the long drawn out version of why Helen's hiding.

Lowlights.

This series has been improving since the first book which I disliked, but this one is a set-back.

The mystery was ok, but not only is Kiki such a horrible person that you don't care that she gets killed, you also don't care about anyone else. I hated them all.

Phil - formerly Phil the pothead whose true identity came out in the last book and is now Helen's new boyfriend. I think Phil was a better character when he was unseen and only talked about.

Why do so many people in these books always have to be ridiculously polite, Phil letting his ex-wife, who is trying to get him back move in with him while she's in town, even though he knows it upsets Helen and he can hear her crying about it. "She doesn't have anywhere to stay, so I have to let her stay here." In real life you'd tell her to get a hotel and maybe, just maybe pay for a few nights there if she's pleading poverty.

I'm hoping that the next book will be better.

Editorial Review:

Helen Hawthorne's new job at a bridal salon becomes downright funereal when a bride-to-be's mother is murdered. Now, Helen must find the killer before this turns into another dead-end position for her-literally.