Customer Reviews

Murder Unleashed (Dead-End Job Mysteries, Book 5)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

It's a pleasure to see an author keep getting better and better. Elaine Viets does exactly that with Murder Unleashed: A Dead-End Job Mystery.

From her dry social commentary to her honest look at what makes pet owners tick, Viets has an unparalleled eye for detail. She's the chick-lit equivalent of Charles Dickens with her ability to emphathize with the poor and unfranchised. Her on-the-run heroine Helen Hawthorne has lots of reasons to want to remain anonymous. Not the least of these is hunky Phil, a guy who's terrific but not so perfect he's impossible to believe. When Helen becomes a murder suspect, she marshalls all her resources and doggedly (sorry!) tracks down the killer.

Viets has created a new life for Helen, one that becomes more rich and satisfying with every book. Her portrayal of Florida's mood before, during and after a hurricane is stunningly accurate.

Most chick-lit mysteries are entertaining and fun. Viets takes the genre to a new dimension by making her readers more socially conscious. She brings a gentle humanity to all her characters. The dog groomer Superstar in this book is a prime example.

Dead-End? I hope this is just the beginning for Viets and Company.

In this episode of the Dead End Jobs Series, Helen works in a high end dog specialty shop. The shop has two talented dog groomers.

It is amazing what people will do for their dogs. High end clothes, jewelry, leashes, and furniture for dogs are available in this store. They even have a pick up and delivery service for grooming. Early on Helen finds a dead body while delivering a freshly groomed pooch.

Helen shows her love for animals in this book. She does some of her best detective work in the whole series. With help from her boyfriend, Phil, her landylady Margery, and friend, Peggy, she solves many mysteries.

Refusing to pay alimony to her cheating lazy former spouse as the Judge ruled claiming he was a devoted house husband who enabled her to achieve career success, Helen Hawthorne fled her life as a thriving businesswoman in St. Louis to work off the books in southern Florida. She quickly learns that proprietors, at least in the Fort Lauderdale area, are not concerned with your past or your social security number though none of her jobs come decimally close to the six figures she annually earned in Missouri..

Currently Helen works off the books at Pampered Pets in Fort Lauderdale. Two customers have recently been murdered. Nymphomaniac trophy wife Tammie Grimsby and Willoughby Barclay, who is in a legal divorce fight with his wife. The biggest arguments are over custody of their child Barkley the "Labradoodle". Though she knows better to mind her business, as she has a recent history of unsafe involvement (see SHOP TILL YOU DROP and JUST MURDERED), Helen investigates anyway.

The fifth Dead-End Job Mystery is a delightful lampooning of the pet world where canines serve as chic accessories so an owner can be part of the "in-crowd" regardless of the abuse of the animal. The amateur sleuth investigation as always in this series is fun to follow because of the acerbic asides by the heroine who assumes the mantle of K-9 champion even as she referees between battling groomers while seeking the killer amidst a litter of suspects. Readers will enjoy Elaine Viets delightful satirizing whodunit.

Harriet Klausner

Okay, so we don't all read heavy classics all the time. Sometimes we just want a fun book to read on a plane or on a beach. Elaine Viets books are light who-done-its. Her column used to be the reason I bought the St. Louis Post, and we all miss it. Now she writes murder mysteries with engaging, flawed female protagonists. Her Josie Mystery shopper books are more believable but Helen Hawthorne has interesting temporary jobs, and colorful Floridian neighbors. I just wish Helen could solve the murder of her louse ex-husband, then she could get a better job.

As a light, humerous mystery story that is one of Elaine Viets' "Dead End Job" series, Murder Unleashed is an entertaining book. The main character Helen Hawthorne goes to work at a pet grooming and supply store. Helen is a bright, formerly-well-employed woman who is on the run from "justice" in St. Louis, Missouri. In order to stay away from situations that would bring her to the attention of the authorities she takes low-paying, off-the-books jobs while living at a quaint, "old Florida" hotel operated by an old, female owner who Helen can turn to for
advice and sympathy. Helen's jobs put her in proximity to murders that
investigators might believe were committed by her. Helen must look into
the murders in order to clear herself and thereby stay out of the news that might bring her to the attention of St. Louis authorities. Murder
Unleashed follows the formula in a manner that causes me to continue to
enjoy the writing of Elaine Viets.

Ms. Viets was a newspaper columnist in St. Louis for many years before
moving to South Florida to write books. I am from a St. Louis suburb
where I regularly read and enjoyed Viets' columns. I too moved to Florida for a number of years, and would like to move back there again.
Viets has much to say about the Florida lifestyle and also makes frequent
comment about St. Louis and its suburbs and inhabitants. Naturally I like Viets' frequent take on both places as part of her books. But even
were I not from St. Louis and familiar with Florida I would like Viets'
books. Elaine Viets is one bright lady with a fine sense of humor and a rare skill with words. She is considerably younger than I am;
so she is likely to continue to entertain me until I drop off the twig. Reading Elaine Viets' writing is one of my great pleasures.

I've read Elaine's other series which I liked,. but found this one disappointing. I heard this series was funny, it's not to me. Helen is a bore. Or maybe this is the South Florida pomposity coming out which is funny to them.

I note the front cover quote from Nancy Martin, who is published by the same house. Hardly objective! We readers are being taken for a ride by the publishers' authors endorsements.

I really like Elaine Viets, but this book was pretty much a flop...that, despite the fact I'm a dog lover.

I realize that Helen is supposed to be on the run, thus keeping most of her persona a mystery, but so many books into the series, I still don't even have a picture of this character in my mind -- what she looks like, how old she is, etc. And I also really can't stomach the Phil relationship, which I feel moved way too fast, and now has the two characters madly in love after just a couple of months, coming up with lines such as Phil saying, "I can save you!" when he finds out Helen has been accused of carelessness. The whole relationship feels forced and phony.

I think the thing that bugged me most about this book was the horrid excuse for fact checking and realism. Helen puts a bag of dog food into the back seat of someone's Miata -- yet anyone with a pair of eyes knows that Miatas don't have back seats. We hear about how the Ft. Lauderdale pet boutique flooded in Hurricane Andrew -- Andrew was a dry storm with very little rain, and I barely had any water at my house in central Miami. A store in Ft. Lauderdale certainly wouldn't have flooded in that hurricane. And no pet boutique would be open when a hurricane is bearing down and all other businesses are closed. I found these little irritating things very annoying.

And the way Helen "caught" Willoughby's murderer had to be the stupidest wrap-up I've ever read in a cozy. I don't know if the author was going for humor, but she should be ashamed at how ridiculous it turned out.

I really hope the next installment is better.

I finished Murder Unleashed by Elaine Viets this morning. This is about the 3rd book I've read in this series so I am well acquainted with the characters.

In this mystery Helen Hawthorne is working at the Barker Brothers Pampered Pet Boutique by the upper crust members of Lauderdale, Florida. Jeff is the owner and manager of the Boutique with Jonathan and Todd as the groomers.

Helen has continued to reside at the Coronado apts. with Margery as her landlady (and then some) and Phil as her neighbor and lover. I love the character of Margery and if you start reading this series you'll find out why. She's colorful in every imaginable way and what a friend for Helen.

Many of the Pet Boutique's clients are not very likable people...more on the shallow narcicisstic side. One of these unlikeable characters soon becomes the first victim.
Helen finds herself in the midst of the first murder and to clear herself she must investigate everyone to find who done it.

Relationships evolve and deepen with each clue, especially between Phil and Helen. Suspicions begin to get narrow down and just when Helen believes she has solved the murder-another one takes place. Is is one murderer or more than one?

I enjoyed Murder Unleashed because I had a murder right in front of me in the beginning of the book. No waiting on this author. Also I find that with this series the mystery draws me into the story more and more until I don't want to put it down.

Thank-you Elaine Viets for these outlandish, zany and very likable characters.

I loved how this series started, but I had to force myself to finish this book. I hate to see this happen, I figure it's me not the author, so I will take a break from her. I recommend you start at the beginning of this series, secondary characters are wonderful as are all the job situtations that come up.

The story of Helen, overworked woman of mystery, is just stunning. Helen has left a checkered past behind to take up a new job in Florida at the Pampered pet salon. there she encounters trophy wives, over the top birthday parties for dogs, and a crazy dog groomer with an attitude who might just be a murderer. The book is a quick read but the plot is complex and harrowing, with a storm moving into Miami just as Helen tries to cope with a murdered customer and missing dog. It's just the ticket for a beach read or a quiet evening at home.