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118th out of 293 books
—
980 voters
Dying in Style (Josie Marcus, Mystery Shopper #1)
by
Elaine Viets
Mystery shopper Josie Marcus's report about Danessa Celedine's exclusive store is less than stellar, and it may cost the fashion diva fifty million dollars. But Danessa's financial future becomes moot when she's found murdered, strangled with one of her own thousand-dollar snakeskin belts-and Josie is accused of the crime.
Paperback, 280 pages
Published
October 4th 2005
by Signet
(first published 2005)
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What shopaholic doesn't want to read about a mystery shopper? Well, I almost abandoned this book half way through. I found most of the characters annoying and two-dimensional. However, Elaine Viets seems to have got more into her stride towards the end of the book, particularly where Josie and her mother's relationship was concerned, although Josie continues to make stupid decisions.
What drove me to distraction, however, was the appalling editing of the book. I lost count of the inconsistencies...more
What drove me to distraction, however, was the appalling editing of the book. I lost count of the inconsistencies...more
I re-read this book for the first time in about 5 years. It only took the re-introduction to the bad guy to remember who done it. It's a good book, I have no regrets about reading it again. I enjoyed the story, her family is enjoyable, her mom and daughter are both integral parts of her life and her decision to be a mystery shopper (the flexible hours, certainly not for the money). Josie is a very good mystery shopper and an honest one. One day she is hired to mystery shop in Danessa, an expensi...more
This is a fun cozy mystery. There are lots of great shopping tis and seeing into the world of a professional mystery shopper was fun, especially because that was my part time job in high school! No one ever suspected that a teenager on a date to the movies was actually the secret shopper! I was disappointed though in the stereotyping that ran rampant in this book. From the Russian spies to the town tramp, there are plenty of poorly drawn side characters that are pretty lifeless. I'm hoping that...more
It's a mystery set in St. Louis, how could I resist!
Update:
Okay, it was not exactly my cup of tea. The main character, has a 9 year old kid and lives with her mom, neither of which were characters I enjoyed. What I did enjoy? All the St. Louis references!! Even when I disagreed with some of them - why does she make South City sound like a dump?! - I did get a kick out of others: Schlafly, Monarch, St. Louis drivers (before they installed red light cameras), West County people, and those strange...more
Update:
Okay, it was not exactly my cup of tea. The main character, has a 9 year old kid and lives with her mom, neither of which were characters I enjoyed. What I did enjoy? All the St. Louis references!! Even when I disagreed with some of them - why does she make South City sound like a dump?! - I did get a kick out of others: Schlafly, Monarch, St. Louis drivers (before they installed red light cameras), West County people, and those strange...more
#1 in the Josie Marcus, Mystery Shopper series. Rather drab series debut when compared to Elaine Viets 4 entries in the Dead End Job series.
Mystery Shopper series - Mystery shopper Josie Marcus's report about Danessa Celedine's exclusive store is less than stellar, and it may cost the fashion diva fifty million dollars. But Danessa's financial future becomes moot when she's found murdered, strangled with one of her own thousand-dollar snakeskin belts-and Josie is accused of the crime.
Mystery Shopper series - Mystery shopper Josie Marcus's report about Danessa Celedine's exclusive store is less than stellar, and it may cost the fashion diva fifty million dollars. But Danessa's financial future becomes moot when she's found murdered, strangled with one of her own thousand-dollar snakeskin belts-and Josie is accused of the crime.
Dec 03, 2012
Mary Newcomb
added it
Josie is a mystery shopper, meaning that she shops at specified places and provides reports to the owner about her experience. In this first tale she is accused of murder when an owner is found strangled the same day of an argument about her findings. This is an interesting premise with a decent supporting roster, I will read at least one or two more of these.
This is one of the earlier Mystery Shopper books. The plot is good and the characters are developing nicely but there is one of my pet peeves in the solving of the mystery. Otherwise bright woman goes off with the chief suspect....geez! In this one at least she has some sound ideas of how the risks are minimized but even so....geez!
Reading is my favorite way to spend the day...shopping comes in at a close second. So when I discovered this series, I knew it was one I had to read.
Josie, the main character is a mystery shopper. She is also a single Mom and must juggle home life with her work schedule.
The mystery was a good one, it did keep me guessing.
I already have book #2 waiting in the wings=)
Josie, the main character is a mystery shopper. She is also a single Mom and must juggle home life with her work schedule.
The mystery was a good one, it did keep me guessing.
I already have book #2 waiting in the wings=)
Josie Marcus, mystery shopper, is in over her head. After giving a very bad report to Danessa Celedine's exclusive store that could cost Danessa 50 million dollars the local fashion icon is then found muedrered and everyones number one suspect is Joise.
This was a fun light hearted mystery. The best part was some of the shopping tips. You can never have to many shopping tips.
This was a fun light hearted mystery. The best part was some of the shopping tips. You can never have to many shopping tips.
2.5 stars. Although I didn't rate this high, I still liked it. I just don't think it's worthy of a complete 3 stars. The book bored me about half way through, and even when it was to the climax of the book, I was bored. But I still loved the characters, and I laughed out loud. This is a series I wanna continue on with to see if I can get into any of Josie's other mysteries to solve, but if not, I'm gonna have to try another cozy mystery series!
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
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I intended to use this series for a challenge, but there's something about it that kept me from connecting to the story. I'm sure most people would have fun with it, but I wanted to put it down frequently. I may give book 2 a try to see if it gets any better.
The characters in this series, Mystery Shopping, aren't quite as quirky as those in the author's dead end job series. But they are very real and likable. The humor reminds me of Fanny Flagg's. Loved the book.
OK, but not great. The main character's voice definitely got kind of grating at times and a couple of the subplots really didn't play out in the end. The mystery shopping is an interesting new angle on things.
This is the first book in the Josie Marcus, Mystery Shopper series. It was a fun read. It did take a bit for me to overlook the main character's mom's actions, as that is the character, but it plays good.
Feb 10, 2013
Chelsea Anne
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommended to Chelsea Anne by:
Elizabeth
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 o...more
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 o...more
This was a cute, fun mystery -- a little silly at times and some characters didn't seem very believable, but overall just fine.
Murder mystery is not so much my style...and barely any romance either. I thought that was a requirement for trashy books.
What do you get when a single mother, employed as a mystery shopper, sharing a home with her mother finds her cover blown, a prominent city citizen dead and herself (hung over on margaritas) facing a lie detector test and a "person of interest" in not one, but TWO murders?
This series is going to be fun! Hottie coffeehouse guys, mothers with addictions to HSN, scads of crazy costumes and insane job assignments...
what more could a reader ask?
This series is going to be fun! Hottie coffeehouse guys, mothers with addictions to HSN, scads of crazy costumes and insane job assignments...
what more could a reader ask?
This book was adorable! I can not wait to read more books with the character Josie Marcus!!!
Although I enjoyed this book, I don't think it is as good as Elaine Viet's "dead end job" series.
Mar 15, 2013
Christina
added it
Good spin-off of Dead End Job series. I enjoy Josie Marcus and her shopping adventures.
I'm not much of a shopper myself (unless you count books) but this was a fun and different series. I'll enjoy reading more of them!
I loved this book. So much that I even considered becoming a mystery shopper. :)
Absolutly adorable book. Such a great "sit on the beach" book.
Good book. Kept my attention througout the entire story.
Not a bad story, though a little predictable.
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...more
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...more
So far...like it a lot...makes me want to go shopping!! As it turns out, it was really kind of lame. Why do I waste my time on lame books when there are so many good ones out there?
Entertaining, light-hearted mystery.
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fashion Book Lovers!: Dying in Style by Elaine Viets | 13 | 15 | Jan 27, 2011 10:37pm |
As a young girl, Elaine Viets was taught the virtues of South St. Louis: the importance of hard work, housecleaning, and paying cash. She managed to forget almost everything she learned, which is why she turned to mystery writing.
Living in South Florida has not improved her character. But it has given her the bestselling Dead-End Job series. Like her amateur detective, Helen Hawthorne, Elaine actu...more
More about Elaine Viets...
Living in South Florida has not improved her character. But it has given her the bestselling Dead-End Job series. Like her amateur detective, Helen Hawthorne, Elaine actu...more
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Dec 15, 2011 06:24am