SHOP TILL YOU DROP Helen Hawthorne had a high-finance job, a beautiful home, and a caring husband—or so she thought until she caught him sleeping with their neighbor. But after their divorce, the judge decided that Helen had to pay alimony—and Helen figured the only way to keep her dignity would be to refuse to pay and run for it. Now hiding out in Fort Lauderdale, Helen is working as a sales clerk at a high-fashion boutique. But keeping out of trouble proves difficult when the boutique’s manager turns up dead. In desperate need of cash, Helen decides to try and find out who killed the woman for an offered reward. MURDER BETWEEN THE COVERS Helen’s taken a cash-paying job at Fort Lauderdale’s Page Turner’s 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 he’s cheating on his wife and has a long list of enemies. When he turns up dead, no one is too shocked—except for Helen, that is. The body is found in the bed of her pal Peggy, and it’s up to Helen to prove her friend innocent before the police throw the book at her… DYING TO CALL YOU Helen’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. While Helen is conducting a phone survey with the wealthy Henry “Hank” Asporth, he puts the receiver down without hanging up… She can just make out a man and a woman arguing, a short scream cut off by a choking sound, then an eerie silence. Convinced she’s heard a murder being committed—but with no proof—Helen is driven to find out what really happened...
Author
As a young girl, Elaine Viets was taught the virtues of South St. Louis: the importance of hard work, housecleaning, and paying cash. She managed to forget almost everything she learned, which is why she turned to mystery writing. Living in South Florida has not improved her character. But it has given her the bestselling Dead-End Job series. Like her amateur detective, Helen Hawthorne, Elaine actually works those rotten jobs. Perhaps her early training has given her a lifelong fascination with jobs. She and Helen both know working for a living can be murder. To research her novels, Elaine has been everything from a salesclerk to a survey taker. Her first book in the series is SHOP TILL YOU DROP, a novel of sex, murder and plastic surgery. It's set at a fashionable dress shop that caters to kept women. Book two, MURDER BETWEEN THE COVERS, takes place at a bookstore. Elaine worked at a Barnes & Noble in Hollywood, Florida, for a year. For the third, DYING TO CALL YOU, Helen works as a telemarketer. Elaine sold septic tank cleaner and did telephone surveys. She actually asked women if they shaved their armpits. In the fourth Dead-End Job mystery, JUST MURDERED, Elaine and Helen explore big-money matrimony for better or worse. Elaine did her research in Zola Keller’s posh bridal salon in Fort Lauderdale. For the fifth novel, Elaine and Helen go to the dogs. MURDER UNLEASHED is set at a high-end dog boutique, where people spend two hundred dollars for canine cuisine, women sneak illegal pets into condos using high-priced designer purses, and the dogs at the store have bigger wardrobes than the salesclerks. MURDER UNLEASHED is Elaine's first hardcover mystery. Publishers Weekly calls it “wry social commentary.” Although Elaine lives in Fort Lauderdale, her heart – and her viewpoint – remain in the Midwest. Like Helen Hawthorne, another transplanted St. Louisan, she observes the outrageously rich Florida culture (and lack thereof) with wide-eyed fascination. Elaine’s second series takes her back to work in St. Louis. It features Josie Marcus, a mystery shopper and single mom. The debut novel, DYING IN STYLE, tied with Stephen King on the bestseller list for the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association. Elaine won both the Agatha and the Anthony Awards for her short story, "Wedding Knife," in CHESAPEAKE CRIMES. Some honors don’t come with plaques and award banquets. Elaine was thrilled when her short story, "After the Fall," was featured on the same cover of the Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine as the master, Ed Hoch. Her short story, "Red Meat," is in BLOOD ON THEIR HANDS, the Mystery Writers of America anthology edited by Lawrence Block. "Blonde Moment" is in the MWA anthology, SHOW BUSINESS IS MURDER, edited by Stuart Kaminsky. "Sex and Bingo" is featured in the HIGH STAKES gambling anthology. And if you've ever wondered about the early life of purple-loving landlady Margery Flax, read "Killer Blonde" in DROP-DEAD BLONDE. Elaine has served on the national boards of the Mystery Writers of America and Sisters in Crime. She lives in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, with her husband, actor Don Crinklaw, where they collect speeding tickets. Please buy her novels so she can pay her MasterCard. Series: * Dead-End Job Mystery * Josie Marcus, Mystery Shopper * Francesca Vierling Mystery
