Search - Murder Between the Covers (Dead-End Job, Bk 2)

This is the 2nd Elaine Viets book I've read and loved it more than the first one! Great characters, HILARIOUS happenings, good mystery! It hit the spot for a great weekend read!!!

This is the second book in the series and I can't wait to read #3. Helen and her friends at the wonderful 50s Florida apt bldg are a hoot...the man-hater with the parrot on her shoulder, the invisible pot-smoker, the 6-toed cat name Thumbs, Cal the Canadian...the plot is almost secondary to the characters and the dialogue. However, the mystery is well-plotted with just enough twists. A fast fun read.

I love the writings of Elaine Viets. Her books are crafty, witty, and the plots are twisting and elusive and keep you guessing till the end. I especially like the conversations and smart remarks she has in her head when she answers someone but never speaks these thoughts out loud. Once I pick her books up I can't put them down till I'm done with the book. Not a bad one in the bunch.

Love it!

2nd in series

I enjoyed this second installment better than the first. Helen is still living at her apartments when she wakes up one night to mounds of a termite invasion. Forced to flee her apartment for 3 days, the residents return to find Helens boss Page Turner, dead in her neighbors bed with a knife in his back. All fingers point to Peggy as the killer, and she is promptly arrested and set for a trial.

Helen knows in her heart Peggy is innocent, so she decides to do some sleuthing of her own. During the process, the bookstore she works at turns to a shambles and all the empoyees' jobs are at stake.

Even though this book is a little long for my tastes, it was well fleshed out. I was able to guess the killer early on, but unable to guess the means and motive. I do plan on continuing the series, in hopes Helen will meet at least one decent guy along the way. It will be interesting to read about all her wacked out jobs and the crazys she encounters.

One of the things I am enjoying about this series is seeing what dead end job Helen finds herself working with each book. In this one, I was pleased to see she is working at a bookstore, though I wouldn't consider that in and of itself a dead end job, but for Helen, it is when her boss, the owner of the store, is murdered and her friend becomes the prime suspect.

The story isn't heavy on the mystery and it doesn't take long for the reader to figure out who the culprit could be. The journey getting to that final destination is quite entertaining as the various neurotic and bizarre characters come out of the woodwork.

As long as the reader goes in expecting the predictable, this will be an interesting and entertaining read.