Elaine VietsReviews

Dying in style was entertaining, and quite light for a murder mystery, an appropriate read for any age level, only possible trigger would be if you have a loved one that passed away who was murdered.

Great idea for a book title each short story from a Jimmy Buffett song title.
Some of the stories are better than others Truck stop salvation, and Smart Woman in a Really Short Skirt, were both great. And some stories also stick to the storyline or loosely to what the song is about
Pascagoula Run and Who’s the Blonde Stranger.
Anyway a fun easy read.

When I read the Dead End Job mystery series, I feel like I've taken a mini-vacation to south Florida. This was especially enjoyable during a recent stretch of bitter cold winter days. In Catnapped! Helen and Phil suddenly have two crimes to solve. The clock starts ticking on the chance to solve a murder. And there are lots of cats.

I'm not a big mystery lover, but this was closer to a cozy chick lit mystery rather than a hard boiled mystery.

After reading this book, I'm considering reading another mystery either a dead-end job mystery or a Sarah Stohmeyer mystery.

Meh. The style of writing is fine, sometimes amusing in a snarky manner. And some were beyond stupid and good taste- as in the character who never wears undies and has a wax job in the shape of a dollar sign. Please. Not funny. Just gross. I found the main character irritating because she couldn't make up her mind about anything- her love interest, her job, even who the murderer was. A good portion of the end of the book was madly whirling among a half dozen suspects with not enough information for the intelligent reader, much less the main character, to get any inkling of the truth. For a "light-hearted"'mystery, the denouement was a bit gory. Don't think I'll pursue this series.

working in exclusive club meets ex and Black Widow, must investigate to clear self

mystery shopper finds killer of leader of foot fetish ring who is blackmailing the perfect girl next door

journalist involved in St. Louis rehab murders

bookstore owner killed, Helen's neighbor a suspect

dead end job in dress ship, drug related murder

This was a book I really enjoyed reading. So much so, that I ended up adding a bunch of other books by Elaine Viets to my list of 'books to be read' (or TBR ;) )

The story, which is the second one in a series, follows Angela Richman, who's a death investigator. Which sounds a lot more ominous than it is, because basically, what a DI does, is go out to the scene of a death and record every detail about the corpse. So expect a couple of gory scenes, although I must admit, the author handled some gruesome scenes really tasteful.
Add to that the fact that Angela is recovering from a series of strokes and brain surgery, is a recent widow and usually investigates deaths in an community that's isn't very accepting of outsiders, it all makes for a rather interesting character. She's not all doom and gloom, or totally reckless, or 'look at how bravely I'm living on'. No, she's a nice, believable balance of all these factors.

When one of Chouteau Forest's (a gated, rich folks community) more illustrious figures's house goes up in flames, with him inside, and his Mexican American mistress barely escaping, all hell brakes loose for the poor girl.
Angela, knowing the girl, and noticing how she's getting railroaded by the uptight community, takes it upon herself to start looking for the real culprit.
And (thank god!) she doesn't do it in the clueless cozy mystery style of walking straight into danger. She handles herself rather well, and spurns on the professionals to dig deeper, as well as assisting in the investigation.
Besides the unfortunate death, and the outcasting of hardworking people, there's also an arsonist active in the neighbourhood...

I don't want to reveal too much, because it really is a nice read, not very shocking, but the story meanders along at a pleasant pace, there's a few nice twists and the climax is fairly exciting.

I received a copy of this book through Netgalley in return for an honest review. This has had no influence on my opinion of the book.

The dognapping of Barkley brings the pet boutique to the attention of the police. And there is a hurricane coming.

Have only read 2 in this series, but really love Helen Hawthorne. Helen is working in a hotel when her ex Rob comes to South Florida and tries to find her through her old jobs. When there is a murder in the hotel she is working in she has to sneak in and out to avoid Rob. A truly delightful tale written by a master. Love the characters and writing was very good. Highly recommend this book and anything by this author.

When Josie Marcus' best friend Alcye's husband is implicated in the murder of a local designer, Haley Hardwicke Josie and her friend decide to investigate because they have no confidence in the local police. What Josie discovers and how this turns out was a big surprise to me and I was totally surprised to learn who the killer was. An exciting and entertaining read by a great author. Good editing, Good character development and a great story. Highly recommend this book and this author.

This was a fun read. Josie is a single mom who supports herself and her daughter working as a mystery shopper. She wears various costumes depending on what type of establishment she is reviewing. The descriptions of her outfits and experiences are pretty humourous. When she reviews an upscale accessory boutique that is possibly being bought out by a conglomerate, she gives it a horrible review. When the owner berates her and her boss puts her on leave, she is angry. The owner of the boutique turns up dead and guess who is suspected. Add in the life events of her mom and daughter and you have an enjoyable mix.

I got a free Kindle book from Goodreads to review, but this is not really my kind of book. I probably won't read the rest of the series.

The book started out slow but quickly picked up.....until the end. Viets told most of the story again via Helen talking to Margie. I skipped a lot of that since I already read it earlier in the book. There were no surprises as to the murderer. Not up to Viets creative writing.½

No dead-end job is safe for Helen. This time she gets to hear a murder on the phone.½

Once a woman on the run, Helen Hawthorne is now a partner in a detective agency with her husband Phil. An acquaintance asks her to solve the murder by poison of a woman artist. Meanwhile a burglar preys on the gold coin collectors in exclusive condos and Phil is hired to work that case. I guessed the murdered pretty early. While we need not return to the "no love life for the detective" rules of the Golden Age, I could do with a bit less insight into the sex lives of Helen and Phil.

I hope someone reading this review that has NOT read the book will take the time to read about the author who actually experienced the brain trauma, same as the main character in the book. I believe knowing this helped me to find the book more "believable" in a sense.

I usually enjoy something more twisty plot-wise but this was very good. I will read the next if this is a series.

Angela Richman is the death investigator for a wealthy neighborhood near St. Louis called Chouteau Forest. She has to work with the laziest detective on the force, Ray Greiman. In the midst of two cases, Angela suffers a series of strokes and ends up comatose. When she comes out of her coma, she finds out that the doctor that sent her home, telling her she was too young to have a stroke, has been murdered. The doctor that saved her life is charged with his murder. This is a great book and I was surprised that I hadn't read any of Elaine Viets other books. I was even more surprised or actually, horrified to find out the Elaine Viets also suffered a series of strokes at an early age just like her character. This is her first book after her full recovery. It's excellent and I'm looking forward to more book about Angela Richman.½

Elaine Viets has penned another great new series. This one is quite different than her other series. The protagonist Angela Richman is a Death Investigator whom Ms. Viets has incorporated her own personal history too. Angela suffers from several strokes at the beginning of the book and has major brain surgery the same as Ms.Viets suffered from several years ago.
Angela is working hard at getting back to where she was before she had the strokes but it’s taking a bit of time and effort to get there, not to mention the frustration she’s going through.
While Angela is in the hospital undergoing rehabilitation, she stumbles across a major hospital scandal as well as a murder.
This story moves along at a great pace and you never get bored. The other characters in this book are likeable as well. This is a great start of another good series from Ms.Viets.
I would like to thank Thomas & Mercer publishing and NetGalley for in exchange for an e-galley of this book for my honest review.

Another new to me author. I am actually glad that Angela had to cope with her situation. It brought me closer to her and made me see her as a real person and not just a character in a story. There were a few stumbling blocks along the way with Angela as she did not always come off as confident in her skills and knowledge. Yet, she is able to keep a clear head. I expect that in the next book I will see Angela grow stronger.

If you like a good mystery story with good characters and writing than you should check this book and series out. Plus, the blood and gore count is low. So even cozy mystery readers would enjoy this book. I am so glad that the author survived her own experience with her strokes. Because the author gave these same experiences to Angela, it brought more life to her. I look forward to checking out the next book in this series.

Helen and Phil are settling in nicely into marriage and business partnership. She just needs to stop jumping to conclusions.....

Hmmm........lots of good reviews but for me this was just an average cozy. Nothing special but an "ok" time-waster. If you're looking for a challenging read, look elsewhere. That said, it's a pleasant beach book which I'm sure is what the author intends.