The last thing Chouteau County death investigator Angela Richman wants to do during the holidays is her job. So it's with some trepidation that she agrees to help the desperate Mr. and Mrs. LaRouche when they show up on her doorstep.Their daughter Juliet is missing. She was last seen leaving a high school party just before midnight, and they'd like Angela's help getting their trusted local detectives involved. The officer assigned to the case—Chouteau newcomer Det. Jace Budewitz—is far too blunt and impolite for their liking. And with the weather murderously cold, they can't bear the thought that their little princess is in the harsh winter wilderness.Discreetly investigating Juliet's disappearance, Angela finds herself struggling to break through the silence from the rich teenagers who knew Juliet and their infuriatingly detached parents. She also discovers that their vicious bias against the local working class has cast a shadow over the case.The more she digs, the...

A Deal With the Devil is the first collection of short stories by one of today s favorite writers of mystery novels and short stories. The stories in A Deal With the Devils show how even the most mundane things can lead to a whirl of mystery a randy husband, a bingo game on a cruise liner, an ugly bridesmaid dress, a husband jogging with a startlingly beautiful trainer (a dangerous situation at the best of times), and Satan ready to take over people s lives. Viets is the creator of several popular detectives reporter Francesca Vierling, Dead-End Jobs worker Helen Hawthorne, Death Investigator Angela Richman, and Mystery Shopper Josie Marcus. This collection includes two stories in the Dead-End Jobs series and one each about Francesca Vierling and Angela Richman. Two of the stories received Best Short Story Mystery Awards, the Anthony for Red Meat and the Agatha for Wedding Knife. Introduction and prefaces to each story by the author and including a complete Elaine Viets bibliography. Cover design by Gail Cross **

A humbug of a Shopping mystery...From The Anthony and Agatha Award-Winning Author of Accessory to MurderIncludes insider shopping tips!Mystery shopper Josie Marcus doesn't get the appeal of the year-round Christmas shop. But when three such holiday houses pop up within two blocks, she's assigned to rate them anonymously.Easy enough, Josie thinks, until she realizes that shoppers at one store are finding a strange—even deadly—secret ingredient in their holiday cake. And Josie must get to the bottom of it all before someone else becomes a Christmas spirit.

Every town has its secrets. Some are too deadly to stay hidden. Chouteau County's super-rich know how to cover up a scandal, but when it comes to murder, they'd better watch their backs . . . Death investigator Angela Richman is determined to see a killer brought to justice in this sharply written and darkly entertaining mystery set in Missouri, perfect for fans of Lisa Gardner and J.A. Jance. Angela Richman, Chouteau County death investigator, finds herself deep in the Missouri woods on a perfect spring day. But there is nothing idyllic about her grim walk - a body has been discovered in a muddy creek, and Detective Jace Budewitz wants Angela on the scene. Terri Gibbons, the popular Forest High track star who went missing eight months ago, has been found strangled. Could a message found in Terri's shoe hold the key to catching her killer? Chouteau Forest is a town of privilege and secrets, where everyone has something to hide . . . Can Angela...

Once on the fast track to success, Helen Hawthorne is now going nowhere fast. She traded in her chic life for a shabby one. And now she's on the run, jumping from city to city and dead-end job to dead-end job, trying to stay one step ahead of her past...After two weeks as the new salesclerk at Juliana's, Fort Lauderdale's ultra-exclusive clothing boutique, Helen still feels out of fashion. And since the only crime likely to be committed around here is being old-or worse, looking old-Helen figures she's safe. Until she discovers the manager has been embezzling money and selling designer drugs along with the designer clothes. Add murder to the mix-and Helen's dead-end job is downright deadly.

From Publishers WeeklyFull of wry social commentary, Viets's fifth Dead-End Job mystery (after 2005's Just Murdered) finds series heroine Helen Hawthorne, former St. Louis biz whiz, still on the lam and working off the books at a Fort Lauderdale, Fla., shop called Pampered Pets to avoid paying alimony to a philandering ex-husband. The murders of two Pampered Pets customers—Tammie Grimsby, an aging, sex-crazed trophy wife; and Willoughby Barclay, owner of Barkley, a "Labradoodle" who's the object of a custody dispute in an ugly divorce—sets Helen on the sleuthing trail. Viets wickedly explores the trendy and sometimes cruel fashion of using dogs as accessories and exuberantly depicts this elite pet world, which includes dueling dog groomers as well as murder suspects. A hurricane threat adds zest to the hunt for the killer. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Product DescriptionHelen Hawthorne has no choice but to take on a series of dead-end jobs to make ends meet. Unfortunately, they're exposing her to a lot of people who end up dead. Her latest gig at the Pampered Pet Boutique isn't proving to be a warm and furry exception-and now she's got a murder to solve and a kidnapped pup to find, all before a Category 3 hurricane hits.

Someone has killed Halley Hardwicke, the hot young designer of thousand-dollar Italian silk scarves, in the mall parking lot-and police have their eye on Jake, the husband of Josie's best friend Alyce. The couple lived near the wrap maven, but it seems Halley and Jake were a little too neighborly.So Josie decides to do what she does best to help out her friend-go undercover and see if she can find some clues. Because this time, there's a lot more at stake than a scarf, even if it's to die for...

Death Investigator Angela Richman suspects foul play when a disgraced resident of Chouteau Forest survives one car crash only to then be involved in another.Until his Porsche careened off the road killing him instantly and not leaving much of him behind, Sterling Chaney was an influential member of Chouteau Forest - home of the one percenters. As the eulogies at his funeral commence, an unexpected guest interrupts . . . Sterling.The story attracts widespread media coverage. Sterling's the man who showed up late for his own funeral. He revels in the spotlight, until it's revealed he earned his fortune via sordid means and exploiting the women who worked for him. It leaves him vilified and shunned by Chouteau society. Then there's another fatal crash. This time, Death Investigator Angela Richman is tasked with confirming that Sterling has perished. But her investigation reveals more questions than answers. Were both crashes merely accidents, or was...

From Publishers WeeklyIn Viets's sprightly seventh Dead-End Job mystery (after 2007's Murder with Reservations), intrepid Helen Hawthorne, now a customer care clerk at the snobbish Superior Club in Golden Palms, Fla., is dismayed to run into her money-hungry ex, Rob, in the club parking lot. When Rob, who's now married to a wealthy club member known as the Black Widow because her last five husbands have died mysteriously, tells Helen he fears for his life, the unsympathetic Helen hits him. Fellow club employees witness their fight, and one of them, Brenda, almost succeeds in getting Helen fired. Later, the authorities view Helen as a prime suspect after Rob disappears, a possible murder victim. When someone beats Brenda and a philandering plastic surgeon to death with Brenda's seven iron, Helen has a lot more to worry about. The romantic ending will leave fans eager for the next installment in this superior cozy series. Author tour. (May) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Review"Clever...[The] real satisfaction is in observing the club members at their worst."-New York Times Book Review

Angela's new case is full of dark secrets and scandal, but shocking events closer to home prove to be her biggest challenge yet . . .Nobody in Choutaeu Forest expected one of their most prominent citizens, socialite Selwyn Skipton, to be found dead in such salacious circumstances: strangled on satin bedsheets, a red letter A brutally stapled to his chest, in his private apartment above the Chouteau Forest Chocolate Shoppe.Selwyn was a good man. He gave to charity, supported local causes, and was married to his wife for more than twenty years. What did he do to deserve such a terrible end?As Death Investigator Angela Richman investigates, she uncovers Selwyn's dark secret, but also faces an unexpected, chilling conundrum closer to home . . .