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3.5 

Dying in Style

By Elaine Viets
Dying in Style by Elaine Viets digital book - Fable

Publisher Description

Secret shopper Josie Marcus tries sleuthing on for size when she’s framed for murder in this cozy mystery by the Anthony and Agatha Award–winning author.

On her latest assignment, Josie mystery shops the stores of St. Louis’s premier handbag designer, Danessa Celedine. A stunning socialite who makes headlines with her hot Russian lover, Serge, Danessa sells exquisite purses to the rich and famous. Unfortunately, Danessa’s shops aren’t nearly as dazzling as her clientele, and Josie’s negative report could kill a lucrative deal to sell the handbag empire. Danessa swears it will also cost Josie her career.

Businesses often live and die by Josie’s reviews, but when Danessa and Serge are both found murdered, she’s suddenly linked to an actual homicide—as the chief suspect! Now Josie will need all her subterfuge skills to investigate the crimes, clear her name, and stop the killer from claiming another fashion victim.

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51 Reviews

3.5
“Meh. I was interested enough to finish, but won’t continue the series (which is uncommon for me). To be honest, I didn’t like the protagonist all that much. And I didn’t like the way she described/judged other characters. The clumsily-written lust for every semi-attractive male was a little icky. And she was judgmental and rude to anyone who she considered to be beneath her (describing people as “white trash”), and worse to those who she perceives consider themselves to be above her (anyone with money). Her arrogance and stubbornness were off-putting, when I think they were meant to be funny or endearing. I didn’t dislike her enough to wish her harm, but instead of rooting for her and wanting to join her in solving the mystery, I mostly got annoyed at the dumb choices she made.”

About Elaine Viets

Elaine Viets has written 34 mysteries in four series: the bestselling Dead-End Job series with South Florida PI Helen Hawthorne, the cozy Josie Marcus Mystery Shopper mysteries, and the dark Francesca Vierling mysteries. With the Angela Richman Death Investigator series, Elaine returns to her hardboiled roots and uses her experience as a stroke survivor and her studies at the Medicolegal Death Investigators Training Course. Elaine was a director at large for the Mystery Writers of America. She's a frequent contributor to Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine and anthologies edited by Charlaine Harris and Lawrence Block. Elaine won the Anthony, Agatha and Lefty Awards.

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