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MURDER BETWEEN THE COVERS
by Elaine Viets
New American Library, December 2003
288 pages
$5.99
ISBN: 0451210816


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

Living in Florida, Helen Hawthorne has found her perfect hideout. She used to be happily married and successful with a six figure salary. Did you hear that? A six figure salary. Six figures. Anyway, one day she arrived home early and discovered her husband with another woman. Helen lost control and picked up an iron and, well, now she's on the run from the courts.

The only thing marring her contentment with her new life, friends, and place she's living, other than the lack of a decent wardrobe and her six figure salary, is the series of dead end jobs she had to take in order to keep low and be paid off the books. She's on the run, you know.

We find Helen now working at the main Page Turners Book Store, the flagship store started by Page Turner, a millionaire who was in love with books. Unfortunately the first Turner has passed away and his grandson, Page III, is in charge and running the chain into the ground. No pleasing personality there. Page is a drunk, a druggie, and a philanderer who is mean to his employees, dishonest with all the young female new writers he promises signings in his bookstore, and all in all, the man you'd name as being the first in line to be murdered.

You guessed it. He's found dead in a bed.

Helen is afraid the cops (who are looking for her because of the incident with the iron and her husband) will discover who she is before the killer is found. But not to worry, the police land on Helen's next door neighbor and close friend, Peg, in whose bed the dead Page has been found. Soon Helen discovers what it seems everybody around her already knows, Peg had been unceremoniously dumped by the deceased and she had, in a very public way, vowed revenge.

Fortunately for Helen, but not so for Peg, the police do extremely little to investigate the long list of Page's enemies to determine who actually killed him. Helen believes her close buddy Peg (of whom she finds she really knows little about) couldn't have done the deed. So she feels it's her duty to find the real killer.

MURDER BETWEEN THE SHEETS wants to be a humorous wacky cozy. Every slapstick idea is used, from bimbo balloon-breasted romance writers, to the poor nice guy getting it, to the sudden discovery of lesbian characters in the story -- and don't forget the ever traditional throwing of a wedding cake (in case that hasn't been used enough)! I did mention this books wants to be wacky, right?

In this, the second book of the series, author Elaine Viets has done her best to write a light-hearted murder romp using red herrings galore, twists and turns, and improbable situations. That she doesn't care to follow through with most of her ruses and setups of facts in the murder and the sleuthing might bother some readers, but it doesn't stop Ms. Viets from gaily throwing them in one after another. She is writing a wacky murder mystery after all. The author might call her way of setting the story up as humorous but some readers might call it dishonest. I know I would.

I wonąt tell you how MURDER BETWEEN THE COVERS short-changes the readers, I'd hate to ruin the surprise of your disappointment if you read this book. Suffice it to say, Elaine Viets figures you can't think much on your own, you're only the reader, so she glosses over most of the wrap-up details of the story.

If you like your murder mysteries forgettable, illogical, and the sort of book you leave on the plane after scanning it, then this is for you. If you want a funny sharp-witted heroine who works diligently to solve her cases with a sense of wicked humor, there are other writers out there who will take the time to craft that book for you. Not Elaine Viets and not MURDER BETWEEN THE SHEETS.

Reviewed by Sharon Katz, December 2003

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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


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