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…
Praise for the Dead-End Job Mysteries by Anthony and Agatha Award-winning author Elaine Viets
“A stubborn and intelligent heroine, a wonderful South Florida setting, and a cast of more-or-less lethal bimbos...I loved this book.”—Charlaine Harris “Brave Viets preps by actually working the jobs she describes in loving and hilarious detail, giving her offbeat series a healthy balance between the banal and the bizarre.” —Kirkus Reviews “Laugh-out-loud comedy with enough twists and turns to make it to the top of the mystery bestseller charts.” —Florida Today “Fans of Janet Evanovich and Parnell Hall will appreciate Viets’s humor.”—South Florida Sun-Sentinel “Wit, murder, and sunshine . . . it must be Florida. I love this new series.”—Nancy Pickard “A heroine with a sense of humor and a gift for snappy dialogue.”—Jane Heller (Summary via Goodreads) I LOVE the Dead-End Job Mystery series by Elaine Viets !! Murder Unleashed is the fifth book in this series and as soon as you open the book and start reading, you are home. You feel like you are a tenant at the Coronado Tropics Apartments drinking a glass of boxed wine by the pool. You will also love the dead end job she has in this book....working at a high end pet boutique where pet owners will spend lots of money on their pets especially getting groomed by a very talented, highly glamourous stylist. Unfortunately as is Helen's luck, while returning a dog to it's owner in a guarded community, the owner is found dead and naked lounging by the pool. As the residents of the Coronado get ready for a hurricane heading in their direction, Helen is on the hunt for the killer..... Once the debris from the hurricane settles and the rain stops, another customer of the Pampered Pet Boutique is found dead and a famous dog is missing and everything seems to point to Helen !! I love following around with Helen, Margery and crew and the adventures they go on. It is never a dull moment while reading this series. As soon as I finish one book, I cannot wait to get my hands on the next book in the series....especially when Helen is already on her way to the next adventure at the end of the current book. Review by Missi S.
Perfect for fans of Joanne Fluke and Leslie Meier, national bestseller Lucy Burdette's eighth Key West Food Critic mystery sees the return of fan-favorite food critic Hayley Snow, who must once again get to the bottom of a bitter murder. When a killer strikes just before flan time, beloved food critic Hayley Snow is forced to sniff out the killer before someone else bites the dust.
Hayley Snow, fiery food critic for Key Zest magazine, has just landed a ticket to one of the most prestigious events in Key West: a high-brow three-day conference at the Harry Truman Little White House. Even though she’ll be working the event helping her mother’s fledgling catering business, there’s plenty of spicy gossip to go around. But just before her mother’s decadent flan is put to the test, Key West’s most prized possession, Hemingway’s Nobel prize gold medal for The Old Man and the Sea, is discovered stolen from its case.
Unsavory suspicions point to Gabriel, a family friend and one of the new busboys working the event, who mysteriously goes missing moments later. Anxious to clear his name, Gabriel’s family enlists Hayley to help find him, but right as they begin their search, his body is found stabbed to death in the storeroom.
Hayley has no shortage of suspects to interrogate and very little time before the killer adds another victim to the menu in national bestselling author Lucy Burdette’s delectable eighth Key West Food Critic mystery, Death on the Menu. (Summary via Goodreads) I loved Death on the Menu by Lucy Burdette ! This is the first book in this series that I have read but that didn't matter. I was instantly at home, or should I say boat, with Hayley, Miss Gloria and everyone else in Key West. Death on the Menu is the eighth book in the Key West Food Critic Mystery series by Lucy Burdette but if you haven't read any of the previous books, that does not matter. you will not be lost in the story at all. I just loved that fact the Hayley lives on a houseboat with Miss Gloria and 2 cats. Even though Miss Gloria is quite a bit older than Hayley, it doesn't stop her from grabbing her helmet and hoping on the back of Hayley's scooter and racing around town with her. And Hayley is a food critic....how fun would that be !! She gets to go around town eating at all the great restaurants and then write about them for a local magazine. And if all that doesn't make you love the series....how about Hayley's boyfriend being a detective on the police force ? Of course even though her boyfriend is a detective that doesn't stop Hayley from going into investigative mode when someone gets stabbed at a dinner party her mother is catering. And when it ends up being the son of one one of her mother's loyal employees, that just makes Hayley want to dig even deeper into the scene..... There is never a dull moment when reading Death on the Menu. It was extremely fun to read and reading about all the Cuban food make me hungry and long for a cuban mix sandwich. I highly recommend reading it..... Review by Missi S.
