Mysterious Reviews, mysteries reviewed by the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books, has written a review of Murder with Reservations by Elaine Viets. For our blog readers, we are printing it first here in advance of its publication on our website.
Murder with Reservations by Elaine Viets
A Dead-End Job Mystery with Helen Hawthorne
NAL Books (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 0-451-221111-7 (0451221117)
ISBN-13: 978-0-451-221111-7 (9780451221117)
Publication Date: May 2007
List Price: $21.95
Synopsis (from the publisher): Helen Hawthorne has a knack for keeping a low profile. But in South Florida, it's going to get a lot harder to fly under the radar ...
Working at Sybil's Full Moon Hotel in Fort Lauderdale keeps Helen safe and sane. But when a maid is found dead in a dumpster, those days just might be over. Dead bodies mean another chance for the cops to find her. To make matters worse, her ex-husband is hot on her trail. Sadly, the cops don't seem to care much about a murdered maid-but they take notice of her co-worker's shady story. If Helen doesn't manage to dodge their questions and shake off her ex, it could be checkout time.
Review: The clever premise of Elaine Viets' Dead-End Job mysteries is that Helen Hawthorne, a successful executive from St. Louis, is on the run from the courts after refusing to pay her unfaithful and lazy ex-husband Rob alimony and give him half of their assets. To hide from Rob and the law, she flees to Florida and takes on menial jobs to support herself that pay in cash. Murder with Reservations is the sixth entertaining mystery in this series.
In Ft. Lauderdale, Helen lands a job as a housekeeper with a second-rate motel, The Full Moon. She quickly befriends the other housekeepers, but finds herself the center of attention when one of them is found dead in a dumpster behind the motel. Murders make headlines, so it isn't long before Rob tracks her down, even renting a room at the motel. She manages to hide from him, but when a guest is killed, Helen once again faces questioning by the police. Can she follow the clues to determine the killer's identity while keeping one step ahead of her ex? Or will her cover be blown by these murders?
Murder with Reservations is populated with warm and delightful characters. The story moves along at a brisk pace, is frequently humorous, and has a well considered plot. Everyone seems to have a secret that they just might kill for, so the killer's identity, which is not revealed until the very end, comes as a surprise.
A little mystery, a little romance, and a lot of fun. Murder with Reservations is well worth checking out ... or in, as it were!
Special thanks to guest reviewer Betty of The Betz Review for contributing her review of Murder with Reservations and to Breakthrough Promotions for providing a copy of the book for this review.
Review Copyright © 2007 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved.
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