celebratingour 2 0 thyear - The Parklander Magazine

ARTS&ENTERTAINMENTElaine Vietswith her 1986Jaguar(namedBlack Beauty)AWomanofMysteryBy Jan EngorenW“Working 9 to 5 – what a way to make a living ….it’s all takin’ and no givin.’”Dolly Parton in “Nine-to-Five”“Take this job and shove it; I ain’t workin’ here no more”Lyrics by David Allan CoeOr as Fort Lauderdale resident and best-selling mystery book authorElaine Viets says, “Working for a living can be murder.”Viets, a St. Louis native and a former syndicated humor columnist forthe St. Louis Post-Dispatch, knows whereof she speaks. She is theprolific writer and author of the Dead End Job series mystery booksfeaturing Helen Hawthorne, super sleuth, and another series ofbooks, the Mystery Shopper series, featuring Josie Marcus.Viets got the idea for Josie Marcus and the Mystery Shopper series, asher mother was a real-life mystery shopper. Viets draws on real-lifeincidents, locations and actual dead-end jobs to create a sense ofverisimilitude in her novels and characters. In the guiseof research, Viets bravely goes undercover into the pink-collarghetto. She has sold lingerie, books and wedding gowns; worked asa telemarketer, survey taker and in an upscale doggie boutique inFort Lauderdale.After being excised from her position at the St. Louis Post-Dispatchafter 25 years, Viets relocated from Washington, D.C. to Florida (likeher heroine) to remake her life and career. She put her humor andexpertise to work by creating two series of comedic mystery books,both with female gumshoes in the style of what mystery writer TimDorsey calls “Janet Evanovich meets The Fugitive.”Viets has a knack for tapping into a particularly feminine gestalt andpsyche using female touchstones such as fashion, shopping,boyfriends, etc., mixed with a dose of self-deprecating humor as theglue in her mystery book recipe. Her books are not only fast-pacedand fun, but impart a subtle social message as well.“My books are humorous and socially conscious,” Viets said. “Both series have elements that readers, especially women, findentertaining, but there’s a message, as well.”64 MAY 2010She makes wry observations on the particular species knownas ‘Floridians,’ both the native and non-native species and theirbehavior, lifestyle and clothing choices.Most women will get a kick out of her characters, which are plaguedby such mortal considerations as friendship, relationships, sex, deathand money. There are trophy wives, mistresses and single moms,exploits and whodunits in high-end fashion boutiques, weddings, andconsignment shops and assorted adventures with cosmetic surgery,hairstylists, designer purses and pooches as well as the alwaysenjoyable gossiping with girlfriends. Can anyone say chick-lit?Her female protagonist, Helen Hawthorne, flees to South Floridafrom St. Louis, and falls into the ghetto of low-paying menial jobs inorder to work off the books and stay below the legal radar.Like so many others flocking to South Florida, Hawthorne is on thelam, after having discovered her husband and neighbor in flagrantedelicto and indulging in a spot of revenge.Viets’ first book, “Shop Till You Drop,” is set in a high-end salonwhere murder, intrigue and eating disorders reign. “Murder BetweenThe Covers,” the second book in the series, is set in a bookstore fancifullynamed Page Turners. Viets did her actual, hands-on researchat the more mundanely monikered Barnes & Noble Bookstore inHollywood. In her 9th and most recent book in the series, “Half-Price Homicide,” Helen and Phil, Helen’s PI paramour, return totheir hometown of St. Louis to get married.In an example of the fragile line between real life and fictional life, aspart of Viets’ upcoming book tour in May, Viets is hosting a real-lifewedding shower for Helen and Phil at Well-Read Books in FortLauderdale. The shower will be catered by the Eleventh StreetAnnex, the same place Helen and Phil have their engagement lunchin the book.An avid mystery book fan, she loves Michael Connelly, Sue Graftonand Agatha Christie. Viets frequented the Murder on the BeachBookstore in Delray Beach where she met the founder and, at thattime, owner of the bookstore, Joanne Sinchuk. It was Sinchuk who