Dying in Style

Josie Marcus is a mystery shopper - hired by the head office of chain stores to go in and check customer service and cleanliness anonymously. Sometimes she gets found out and things get exciting. Josie is a scrappy single mom devoted to her daughter. This was a fun fast mystery - I did know what was going to happen until the very end.

This was a fun read. Josie is a single mom who supports herself and her daughter working as a mystery shopper. She wears various costumes depending on what type of establishment she is reviewing. The descriptions of her outfits and experiences are pretty humourous. When she reviews an upscale accessory boutique that is possibly being bought out by a conglomerate, she gives it a horrible review. When the owner berates her and her boss puts her on leave, she is angry. The owner of the boutique turns up dead and guess who is suspected. Add in the life events of her mom and daughter and you have an enjoyable mix.

There is a lot of humor in Elaine Viets' books, this one is no exception. I read her series Dead-end Jobs as well and thoroughly enjoyed it. This new series by her is just as funny and the characters are very likable. Plus, she does so much research for the "behind the scenes" part of her books that I just really enjoy all the stories and have learned a lot.

I also enjoy her books because there is no unnecessary raunchy sexual scenes nor undo details of violent murder.

NOTE: Do you want to laugh out loud? Read her books! :-D

A NEW series. I was disappointed it wasn't another Dead End Jobs story, but I had a hard time putting it down anyway. I suspect that EV researched "mystery shopper" as a Dead End Job, but discovered it had more potential than just one book, so decided to make a new series with it. Single mother Josie is a mystery shopper. When she gives a chain of upscale boutiques a poor review, it garners first threats from the owner, then the threat of arrest when the owner is murdered. Pretty good, but not quite up to the Dead End Jobs books. Her sidekick socialite friend is a great character, but her shopaholic mother is really annoying.

this is one of my grab and dash from the library. I got through 1/3 of the book and just couldn't take the writing any more. I wanted to give up earlier, but knew I didn't have anything else, so I trudged on. No more I say! The writing is just not good. I knew the plot had issues, but thought it might be one of those quirky fluff novels that can make me laugh, so not the case.It has been relegated to the "booksillprobablyneverfinish" shelf, and I can't say that I'm too upset over it, unless you count the wasted hours.

Dying in style was entertaining, and quite light for a murder mystery, an appropriate read for any age level, only possible trigger would be if you have a loved one that passed away who was murdered.

This mystery kept me guessing. Great start to the mystery shopper series! I am looking forward to reading more.