Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Full 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. 5-city author tour. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
Pampered Pet Boutique employee Helen Hawthorne finds a dead blonde and becomes the main suspect in the next "Dead-End Job." Viets live in Fort Lauderdale, FL.-Ann Kim (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
A hardcover debut for Viets's Dead-End Job series, in which Helen Hawthorne, on the lam after going after her cheating husband with a crowbar and refusing to pay him court-ordered alimony, has to take a series of cash-only jobs to fly below institutional radar. Jeff Barker's Pampered Pet Boutique caters to South Florida's most exclusive, obsessive and downright psychotic dog owners. Jeff's prima-donna groomer, Jonathon, is the toast of Fort Lauderdale, a man whose petty rages any woman would be proud to endure. Something worse, though, has clearly happened to Tammie Grimsby, whom Helen finds stabbed to death with grooming scissors when she drives the shop's pink Cadillac out to Tammie's gated community to drop off Prince, her Yorkie. Panicking, Helen drives off without reporting the crime. But her bad day isn't over yet. Willoughby Barclay, whose model labradoodle makes more money than Helen's made in five volumes, accuses Helen of letting Barkley get dognapped and threatens to sue both Helen and Jeff. Sadly, the tension soon ebbs; the mystery is cluttered and unconvincing; and Helen's love life passes belief. Even so, Viets has a wry way with humor--when Helen is questioned, "she only left out the part where she found Tammie, wiped down the door, dropped the dead woman's robe in the Dumpster, and phoned the police"--and the snapshots of lunatic dog owners are priceless. Helen's next dead-end job could be the one that pulls this all together. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
