Synopses & Reviews
Husband and wife PI team Helen Hawthorne and Phil Sagemont won’t be sparing the sunscreen on their latest assignment, but they’re about to find out murder is no day at the beach…. Will the Real Paddleboard Killer Please Stand Up?
There’s a dark cloud over Sunny Jim’s Safety First Parasailing and Stand-Up Paddleboarding business on Florida’s Riggs Beach—especially after one of his clients is killed in a tragic paddleboarding mishap. Sunny Jim is sure it was no accident, and he hires Helen and Phil to find the murderer.
Between cutthroat competitors poaching his territory, the city threatening to revoke his license, a restaurant owner wanting his beach spot for a parking lot, and a wrongful death suit filed by the victim’s husband, Sunny Jim may soon be up the creek without a paddle.
But he does have Helen and Phil on his side, and as the couple start to investigate, they discover dark undercurrents of corruption behind the cheerful facades of the beachfront businesses, as well as domestic secrets. But the sands of time are running out, and if they don’t catch the killer soon, Sunny Jim won’t be the only one to go under….
Review
"The second in the new series,
Murder Between The Covers offers both a light mystery while delving into how society often views those who make minimum wage as invisible and powerless."
Oline Cogdill of the Ft. Lauderdale Sun Sentinel
Review
"Wit, murder, and sunshine. . .it must be Florida. I love this new series by Elaine Viets."
Nancy Pickard, National Bestselling Author of Ring of Truth "Fresh, funny, and fiendishly constructed, SHOP TILL YOU DROP gleefully skewers cosmetic surgery, ultra exclusive clothing boutiques, cheating ex-husbands, and the Florida dating game, as attractive newcomer Helen Hawthorne takes on the first of her deliciously awful dead-end jobs and finds herself enmeshed in drugs, embezzlement, and murder. A bright start to an exciting new series. This one is hard to beat." Parnell Hall, author of The Puzzle Lady crossword puzzle mysteries
“Elaine Viets has come up with all the ingredients for an irresistible mystery: a heroine with a sense of humor and a gift for snappy dialogue, an atmospheric South Florida backdrop, a cast of entertaining secondary characters, and some really nasty crimes. I’m looking forward to the next installment in her new Dead-End Job series.” Jane Heller, author of The Secret Ingredient and Lucky Stars
“Elaine Viets’s debut Dead-End Job Mystery is a live wire. It’s Janet Evanovich meets The Fugitive as Helen Hawthorne takes Florida by storm. Shop no furtherthis is the one.” Tim Dorsey, author of Florida Roadkill and The Stingray Shuffle
“Elaine Viets is fabulous. I fell in love with her dead-on funny Dead-End Job Mysteries and so will you.” Jerrilyn Farmer, author of Mumbo Gumbo
“I loved this book. With a stubborn and intelligent heroine, a wonderful south Florida setting, and a cast of more-or-less lethal bimbos, Shop Till You Drop provides tons of fun. Six-toed cats, expensive clothes, sexy guys on motorcycles--this book has it all.” Charlaine Harris, author of Club Dead and the forthcoming Poppy Done to Death
Review
Praise for the Dead-End Job Mysteries by Elaine Viets:
“[Viets writes] quick-witted mysteries.”—Marilyn Stasio, The New York Times Book Review
“A stubborn and intelligent heroine…a wonderful South Florida setting.”—Charlaine Harris, #1 New York Times Bestselling Author of the Sookie Stackhouse Novels
“Wickedly funny.”—The Miami Herald
“[Viets] deftly balances comedy and tragedy.”—Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)
“Breezy, well-plotted…moves at a fast clip, fueled by Viets’ perfect comic timing.”—South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Review
PRAISE FOR THE DEAD-END JOB MYSTERIES BY ELAINE VIETS, WINNER OF THE ANTHONY AWARD AND THE AGATHA AWARD “A stubborn and intelligent heroine, a wonderful South Florida setting, and a cast of more or less lethal bimbos.…I loved this book.”—#1 New York Times bestselling author Charlaine Harris
“A fast-paced story and nonstop wisecracks.…Elaine Viets knows how to turn minimum wage into maximum hilarity.”—Nancy Martin, bestselling author of Little Black Book of Murder
“Clever.…The real draw, though, is Vietss snappy critique of South Florida.”—Marilyn Stasio, The New York Times Book Review
“Wickedly funny.”—The Miami Herald
“Entertaining…….Viets shines at evoking Floridas vibrant landscapes and even more colorful characters.”—Publishers Weekly
“Hilarious.”—Kirkus Reviews
“The breezy, well-plotted book moves at a fast clip, fueled by Vietss perfect comic timing.”—South Florida Sun-Sentinel
“Delightful, entertaining, and truly insightful.”—Fresh Fiction
Synopsis
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.
Synopsis
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 fun, 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 is 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.
Synopsis
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.
Synopsis
Helen Hawthorne has no choice but to take on a series of dead-end jobs to make ends meet. Unfortunately, they're exposing her to a lot of people who end up dead. Her latest gig at the Pampered Pet Boutique isn't proving to be a warm and furry exception-and now she's got a murder to solve and a kidnapped pup to find, all before a Category 3 hurricane hits.
Synopsis
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.
About the Author
Elaine Viets has actually worked many of those dead-end jobs in her mystery novels, just like her character Helen Hawthorne. She is the author of the Dead-End Job mysteries, including Final Sail, Pumped for Murder, and Half-Price Homicide, the Josie Marcus, Mystery Shopper series, including Murder is a Piece of Cake and Death on a Platter, and numerous short stories. Elaine has won an Anthony Award and an Agatha Award. She lives in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, with her husband, reporter Don Crinklaw.