Elaine Viets has actually worked those dead-end jobs in her mystery novels, just like her character, Helen Hawthorne. Over the years, Elaine has been a dress store clerk, phone book proofreader, babysitter, telemarketer, bookseller, and weed puller at fifty cents a bucket. She is also the author of the Josie Marcus, Mystery Shopper series and numerous short stories. Elaine has won an Anthony Award and an Agatha Award. She lives in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, with her husband, author and actor Don Crinklaw. Please visit her blog: The Lipstick Chronicles.
Working as a customer service representative in an exclusive private club not far from Fort Lauderdale, FL, Helen Hawthorne (Murder with Reservations) finds her life turned upside down when her deadbeat ex-husband, Rob, arrives with his new wife, the ultrawealthy and many-times married Marcella, known as The Black Widow. When Rob disappears the next day, Helen is the only suspect. After Marcella helps get Helen released from police custody, the two form an uneasy alliance to investigate. Anyone whose job is in customer service will relate to Helen's work experiences here. A quick summer read for fans of humorous mysteries with clever premises. [See Prepub Mystery, LJ 1/08.] Copyright 2008 Reed Business Information.
In Viets's sprightly seventh Dead-End Job mystery (after 2007's Murder with Reservations), intrepid Helen Hawthorne, now a "customer care" clerk at the snobbish Superior Club in Golden Palms, Fla., is dismayed to run into her money-hungry ex, Rob, in the club parking lot. When Rob, who's now married to a wealthy club member known as the Black Widow because her last five husbands have died mysteriously, tells Helen he fears for his life, the unsympathetic Helen hits him. Fellow club employees witness their fight, and one of them, Brenda, almost succeeds in getting Helen fired. Later, the authorities view Helen as a prime suspect after Rob disappears, a possible murder victim. When someone beats Brenda and a philandering plastic surgeon to death with Brenda's seven iron, Helen has a lot more to worry about. The romantic ending will leave fans eager for the next installment in this superior cozy series. Author tour. (May) Copyright 2008 Reed Business Information.
aClever...[The] real satisfaction is in observing the club members
at their worst.a
a"New York Times Book Review"
"Clever...[The] real satisfaction is in observing the club members
at their worst."
-New York Times Book Review
-Clever...[The] real satisfaction is in observing the club members
at their worst.-
-New York Times Book Review
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