Dead-End Job Mystery

BIMBOS, BUSTIERS, AND BOTOX! MURDER MOST FASHIONABLE… Author Elaine Viets kicks off this funny and fresh cozy series-about a woman on the run from her ex-with a rollicking tale of crime and vanity in the shadow world of wannabe molls. When unlikely sleuth Helen Hawthorne flees St. Louis, she fetches up in Fort Lauderdale, suddenly surrounded by the beautiful and the Botoxed. They all shop at the same place-Juliana's, the overpriced boutique where Helen works. And they're all looking for a wealthy wise guy to take to the cleaners. It's a dead-end job with no perks-but one that pays in cash. A little shady, but it beats leaving a paper trail. Turns out shady's only the beginning. Juliana's holds more secrets than a confessional, beginning with theft and drug sales, progressing to ever more ambitious scams, and inevitably, given the escalating level of crime, the murder of a felonious fashionista. The good news is there's a reward-and Helen needs money. The bad is that she could die before she collects it. Readers will find Helen the perfect cozy protagonist-an ordinary woman squeezed by circumstance, feeling her way as she takes control of her life whatever way she has to do it, innocent yet growing savvier by the second. You root hard for her as she settles into the role of amateur detective because you just can't help identifying with her and hoping you'd rise to the occasion as well. And you'll laugh out loud at the sly way author Viets skewers the South Florida culture of vanity and money. Fans of everywoman heroines like those created by Joanna Campbell Slan, Donna Andrews, Joanne Fluke, CeeCee James, Jana DeLeon, and Janet Evanovich will fall in love with this plucky investigator. And they can settle in for a long and beautiful relationship. The best news is the series is fifteen books strong, and counting!

From Anthony and Agatha Award-winning author Elaine Viets-the thrilling mystery series about one woman trying to make a living... while other people are making a killing. Helen Hawthorne is still on the run because of her refusal to pay her worthless ex-husband alimony. But a girl's gotta eat…and pay rent, utilities, etc. So she's taken a cash-paying job at Fort Lauderdale's own Page Turners bookstore. And while the job is decent enough, the owner of the store is anything but. Page Turner III is a boor with more money than brains: he's cheating on his wife while running his family business into the ground and has a list of enemies longer than any bestseller. So when he turns up dead, no one is too surprised. What is surprising is where-in the bed of Helen's glamorous gal pal Peggy, whose usual bedmates are more cultured, refined…and still breathing. Worse still, it turns out that Peggy once had a tryst with the late Mr. Turner that ended quite badly, with a scorned Peggy promising the lothario payback-and someone is making it look like she finally collected. With Peggy as the prime suspect in a murder, it's up to Helen to prove her friend innocent before the police throw the book at her…

From Anthony and Agatha Award-winning author Elaine Viets-the thrilling mystery series about one woman trying to make a living... while other people are making a killing. Still living under the radar in Fort Lauderdale due to her refusal to pay her ex-husband's spousal support, Helen Hawthorne's latest workaday job might just be the lowest rung on the employment ladder-telemarketing. She's spending her hours interrupting dinners and disturbing slumbers, and in return hearing curses and extremely rude suggestions. Then, while Helen is conducting a phone survey with the wealthy Henry "Hank" Asporth, he puts the receiver down without hanging up…and Helen can't believe what she hears next. She can just make out a man and a woman arguing, a short scream cut off by a horrible choking sound, then an eerie silence followed by a final "click." Convinced she just heard a murder being committed-but with no solid proof-Helen is driven to find out what really happened with Hank and the mystery woman. But if she's not careful, she just might end up holding a dead line of her own…

From Anthony and Agatha Award-winning author Elaine Viets-the thrilling mystery series about one woman trying to make a living... while other people are making a killing. After all she's endured with her own marriage, divorce, and subsequent flight from alimony, Helen Hawthorne getting a job at Millicent's Bridal Salon is ironic in the extreme. But the pay is in cash and that's what matters for Helen to stay incognito. But there's no amount of cash worth having to deal with the abominable Kiki-a wealthy witch who's lording it over her daughter's wedding plans with the aim of making the day all about Kiki, not the bride. She also thinks her money makes her invulnerable…but she's proven wrong when she's found smothered to death with her daughter's wedding dress. And worse, the cops seem to think Helen is responsible. Now, Helen has to keep her identity secret and prove her innocence before the bride and groom read their wedding vows-and the police read Helen her rights…

From Anthony and Agatha Award-winning author Elaine Viets-the thrilling mystery series about one woman trying to make a living... while other people are making a killing. At the Pampered Pet Boutique in Fort Lauderdale, the dogs are treated better than the people-a fact not lost on Helen Hawthorne, who is working at the fabulous and furry canine salon where the wealthy dog owners need a muzzle more than their beloved pets. And while some things shouldn't happen to a dog, they do happen to humans-as Helen discovers when she drives out to the lavish home of Tammie Grimsby to deliver a freshly fluffed Yorkie, only to find Tammie stabbed to death with a pair of grooming scissors. In a panic, Helen speeds out of there-but she doesn't report the murder, lest her own criminal past come to light. But that doesn't mean she can't look into the stabbing on the sly. As Helen sniffs around both the boutique and a growing list of pure breed suspects, she knows that her bark will have to be worse than her bite if she's going to put the collar on a killer…

From Anthony and Agatha Award-winning author Elaine Viets-the thrilling mystery series about one woman trying to make a living... while other people are making a killing. Still on the run from the long arm of the law, Helen Hawthorne has found employment as a maid at Fort Lauderdale's Full Moon Hotel, picking up after clueless tourists and keeping her head down. But staying discreet gets a bit more difficult when Helen opens the hotel Dumpster and discovers the dead body of a fellow hotel employee. Then, a hotel guest is murdered in the shower, and Helen's no-good ex-husband Rob arrives in town in search of the money the court said he deserves. With the police already suspicious, and her friends frantically trying to keep Rob off her trail, Helen knows the only way clean up the mess is to find the killer. But if she's not careful, the killer just might find her first…

From Anthony and Agatha Award-winning author Elaine Viets-the thrilling mystery series about one woman trying to make a living... while other people are making a killing. The Superior Club is where Fort Lauderdale's wealthiest-and snobbiest-come to play. But for Helen Hawthorne, it's all work and no play. As a customer care clerk, it's her job to cater to the clients' every little whim and take care of their every little problem. But Helen has a very big problem of her own. After an acrimonious reunion with her ex-husband Rob, she ends up belting the bum in the mouth-which invites suspicion when Rob goes ominously missing. And when a club employee and a philandering member are found beaten to death with a golf club, the police assume Helen was the deadly duffer. With her freedom-and yet another job-on the line, Helen has no choice but to prove that someone else at the high-class club is a low-down killer…

From Anthony and Agatha Award-winning author Elaine Viets-the thrilling mystery series about one woman trying to make a living... while other people are making a killing. Miguel Angel's chic salon is where Fort Lauderdale's high society hairdos get done. Even though Helen Hawthorne is just a gofer at the upscale salon, she has to admit the fabulous Miguel Angel is a master at the craft of coif. But with great heads of hair come great headaches. Especially when Miguel Angel and Helen try to prepare the pregnant fiancée of Kingman "King" Oden for her nuptials. King is a bloated, loudmouth bully with a gossip blog, a TV show, and a lousy attitude. When King tries to throw his weight around the shop, Miguel Angel delivers a vicious dressing down-along with a killer threat. Unfortunately, that's why Miguel Angel is named the prime suspect when King's body is found drowned in a pool at his own wedding. Helen knows her boss might have a temper, but murder? That's just not his style. So it's up to Helen to find out which of King's countless enemies wanted to give him a final, fatal rinse…

From Anthony and Agatha Award-winning author Elaine Viets-the thrilling mystery series about one woman trying to make a living... while other people are making a killing. When Fort Lauderdale's wealthiest want to discreetly trade their best barely-worn threads for cash, they bring it to Snapdragon's Second Thoughts-which is where Helen Hawthorne finds herself selling the most chic second-hand clothing in Florida. But the usual haggling turns homicidal when a particularly petty customer turns up dead-dangling by a darling Gucci scarf-and Helen's boss Vera is eyed as a suspect. Helen knows Vera can drive a hard bargain but can't believe Vera would resort to murder. And while she would like to help, a sudden tragedy forces Helen to return to St. Louis-where she has the chance to face the past she's been running from. Now, if Helen doesn't quickly deal with her fugitive status-as well as her own fractious family-she won't make it back home in time to prevent the police from making a very unfashionable arrest…

From Anthony and Agatha Award-winning author Elaine Viets-the thrilling mystery series about one woman trying to make a living... while other people are making a killing. Newly married, Helen Hawthorne can't wait to start her life anew-and start an investigation agency with her PI hubby, Phil. Her penchant for working dead-end jobs comes in handy when they're hired to look into a fitness fanatic who may be cheating on his wife. Taking a receptionist job at their subject's gym, Helen soon discovers that she has to start pumping her own iron if she wants to keep an eye on the weight-lifting lothario. And after Helen and Phil land another case that has them investigating a murder committed in the 80s, Phil is reminded way too much of the bad old days of cocaine cowboys and blood-soaked streets. With her past finally behind her and a duo of dangerous mysteries to solve, Helen is all set to start sleuthing for real. But if she wants to make a living of it, she's going to have to do some heavy lifting…

From Anthony and Agatha Award-winning author Elaine Viets-the thrilling mystery series about one woman trying to make a living... while other people are making a killing. As one half of Coronado Investigations in sunny Fort Lauderdale, Helen Hawthorne is working full time alongside her handsome hubby Phil. And after the surprising number of murders Helen helped solve while earning low pay on off the books jobs, anything else should be smooth sailing, right? Unfortunately, Helen's unique work history also makes her a natural for undercover work-and in this case that means she's going right back to scrubbing and cleaning while acting as a "yacht stewardess" to catch some smugglers. And even more annoying is the fact that Phil must stay on shore to figure out if a wealthy man has fallen victim to his gold-digging trophy wife. But after a member of the yacht crew disappears, Helen's case quickly goes from simple smuggling to maritime murder. And if she doesn't find out who pitched the man overboard, she might end up lost at sea herself…

From Anthony and Agatha Award-winning author Elaine Viets-the thrilling mystery series about one woman trying to make a living... while other people are making a killing. Helen Hawthorne and Phil-her husband and PI partner-are on the case when Jim Sandusky asks them to save his business. Because while "Sunny Jim's Stand-Up Paddleboard Rental" is garnering a lot of attention, it's not the kind the beachside business ever hoped to attract. There's a local restaurateur who wants the land for a parking lot, a competing board rental place aiming to poach customers, and a gang of local politicos who just want Jim gone. And Jim wants Coronado Investigations to find proof of dirty dealings. They don't have to try very hard, because it's not too long before a customer of Jim's dies after an accident. But when Jim insists it was a murder set up to make him look bad, it's up to Helen and Phil to prove it before Sunny Jim's is sunk for good.

From Anthony and Agatha Award-winning author Elaine Viets-the thrilling mystery series about one woman trying to make a living... while other people are making a killing. If there's one thing the very wealthy might value even more than their money, it's their precious pets. So when local socialite Trish Barrymore hires Helen Hawthorne and Phil Sagemont to recover her beloved show cat-named January's Jubilee Justine-from her ex-husband Mortimer, the case seems simple enough. But when the husband-and-wife PI team show up to take possession of Justine, they're greeted not by a cute kitten but a murdered Mort-knocked on the noggin by a mahogany cat tower. And the feline is nowhere to be found. To get the scoop on who could have committed the dire deed, Helen takes a job as a cat groomer. But as she navigates the cutthroat world of cat shows-and their equally catty owners-she discovers there is much more to the crime than just a purloined pussycat…