Josie’s been busy with a personal shopping project—scouring suburban St. Louis for a starter home for her and her newlywed husband, Dr. Ted Scottsmeyer. So she’s thrilled when Ted’s veterinary partner, Dr. Christine Cormac, hooks them up with a beautiful house, which her flaky sister, Rain, inexplicably abandoned months earlier. But before they’ve even picked out the paint, Josie and Ted discover Rain’s body beneath their backyard gazebo and Christine is immediately boxed up for murder.
Now, Josie’s new home is a crime scene and Christine is headed for the big house…unless Josie steps in. Good thing she’s handy around a murder investigation, because she’ll need all her sleuthing skills to unpack the clues, flip the case, and nail the real killer. (Summary via Goodreads)
There is a lot going on in Fixing to Die by Elaine Viets !! This is the ninth book in her Josie Marcus, Mystery Shopper series and there are quite a few things going on and a lot of things changing in Josie's life...some good, some bad and some, well, Josie-like I guess is the best words to use.
In Murder is a Piece of Cake, the eighth book in the series Josie married her veterinarian boyfriend, Ted and her and her daughter Amelia moved in with Ted in the house he is renting. They were living in the downstairs flat below Josie's mom, Jane, so that is a huge change for all of them. Luckily Jane loves Ted and knows that he will take care of her daughter and grandaughter.
So now in Fixing to Die Josie and Ted are looking for a new house for their new family which consists of Jane, Ted, Amelia, two cats and one dog. Unfortunately Jane does not like any of the houses that she looks at. Luckily Ted's partner at the veterinary clinic Chris has a house that her aunt left her and she is looking to get rid of it. Her sister Rain was living in it until recently when she stopped paying rent and then up and left and sent her sister an email that she was leaving.
The house needs some work so Chris offers them a deal that they can't refuse which will allow them to renovate and remodel. One of the first things they decide to tackle is the gazebo that one of Rain's boyfriends built for her. Unfortunately when they start to remove it they discover a dead body buried underneath it. The body is soon identified as Rain, Chris's sister and the detective on the case immediately arrests Chris for the murder.
With Chris being arrested the honeymoon is over for Josie and Ted as now Ted has to work long hours to make up for Chris's absence. So Josie being Josie decides to find out the real killer so she can have her honeymoon stage with her new husband back !!! Unfortuantely she is finding it difficult to determine the real killer.....
Another storyline that readers will love is Amelia's dilemma. Amelia attends the Barrington School for Boys and Girls and is able to attend because she receives a scholarship. The school is a very proper school but Amelia and a few of her friends are soon the center of a bullying scheme. The bullying goes so far are putting unflattering pictures on a Facebook page and lies are told about the girls. Instead of crying in her room, Amelia and her friend Emma investigate and find proof of who is behind the bullying and the parents rally behind the girls. Reader will love seeing Amelia taking charge.....just like her mother !!!
Fixing to Die, as with the previous eight books, will have readers loving the characters and the storyline. As you read these books, the characters become more than just characters in a book, you begin to love them and want to spend as much time with them as you can !!
Review by Missi M.
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