BACK STAB is a mystery about the newspaper business--which has always been murder. Now someone is killing off readers, and the St. Louis City Gazette can't afford to lose circulation. Gazette columnist Francesca Vierling takes these deaths personally--reliable sources are hard to find--and Francesca's search for the killer takes her into the strange side streets of St. Louis, including a visit to the Miss Gender Bender Pageant, a beauty contest for female impersonators. Along the way Francesca must determine if her own blood soaked past is clouding her view of the future.

Back Stab

Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

Viets, Elaine

Mystery

Dell

The open road. The wind whipping in your face. For both serious riders and the wanna-bes called RUBs--Rich Urban Bikers--riding a Harley is only part of the thrill. Putting on leather and acting out is the rest. Even Francesca Vierling, a St. Louis reporter who is a little too tall, smart, and sexy for her own good, is dressed to kill--for a biker's ball that will lead straight ahead to murder. The victim is a woman who lived well, married bad, and divorced hard. For Sydney Vander Venter, going from high-society wife to tough-talking biker chick was only a phase. One she didn't survive. Now Francesca must find out who ruined the annual Leather and Lace Ball by killing Sydney. But with her career crashing, her love life sputtering, and another murder waiting down the road, Francesca finds out firsthand how dangerous it can be when you're born to be wild--and dare to live that way too. . . .

Rubout

The Pink Flamingo Murders

Whacked with a lawn flamingo? A reporter wants to know--who killed with kitsch...The rehabilitation of North Dakota Place is a feel-good story--the kind St. Louis City Gazette columnist Francesca Vierling likes to write. Grand houses restored to former glory. Pride in a neighborhood--and, like all good stories, this one has a hero, the woman who made it all happen, the city's guardian of good taste. Some call her a rehabbing saint, others a fanatic.The first death on North Dakota Place was certainly shocking but not entirely unwelcome--after all, the victim was a cranky old man who had been painting his house purple. The second death, of a drug dealer, brings tacit approval--and growing suspicion. But all bets are off when another victim is found, a socialite unceremoniously whacked with a pink lawn flamingo. Now the neighbors want Francesca to investigate. But her boyfriend wants her to commit to marriage, not crime. Soon the gutsy reporter is experiencing a deepening personal crisis--and something more heinous than vinyl siding: the dark secrets of heart, home, and blighted dreams.

Did the doctor's callous bedside manner give a patient the urge to kill? It takes a truly sneaky person to keep a secret in a newsroom. St. Louis City Gazette columnist Francesca Vierling is just the woman to do it-especially to help hide her editor's bout with breast cancer. Now she's surreptitiously shuttling the editor to chemotherapy while finishing a column on gorgeous male stripper Leo D. Nardo. And it's all going without a hitch. . . . Until Leo disappears and somebody starts shooting the worst doctors in St. Louis. The first M.D. to go has a callous bedside manner that gives all his patients the urge to kill. The next victim is a master of misdiagnosis. As long as bad doctors are targets, the public isn't shedding a tear. But when Francesca herself is nearly gunned down, is it because she's hunting for Leo's hot body or a cold-blooded killer? Either way she has an adverse reaction to dying. The antidote? Discover the truth . . .

Doc in the Box (Francesca Vierling)

The open road.  The wind whipping in your face.  For both serious riders and the wanna-bes called RUBs--Rich Urban Bikers--riding a Harley is only part of the thrill.  Putting on leather and acting out is the rest.  Even Francesca Vierling, a St. Louis reporter who is a little too tall, smart, and sexy for her own good, is dressed to kill--for a biker's ball that will lead straight ahead to murder.The victim is a woman who lived well, married bad, and divorced hard.  For Sydney Vander Venter, going from high-society wife to tough-talking biker chick was only a phase.  One she didn't survive.  Now Francesca must find out who ruined the annual Leather and Lace Ball by killing Sydney.  But with her career crashing, her love life sputtering, and another murder waiting down the road, Francesca finds out firsthand how dangerous it can be when you're born to be wild--and dare to live that way too.  .  .  .From the Paperback edition.

Rubout (Francesca Vierling)

Dell Books

Whacked with a lawn flamingo? A reporter wants to know--who killed with kitsch... The rehabilitation of North Dakota Place is a feel-good story--the kind St. Louis City Gazette columnist Francesca Vierling likes to write. Grand houses restored to former glory. Pride in a neighborhood--and, like all good stories, this one has a hero, the woman who made it all happen, the city's guardian of good taste. Some call her a rehabbing saint, others a fanatic. The first death on North Dakota Place was certainly shocking but not entirely unwelcome--after all, the victim was a cranky old man who had been painting his house purple. The second death, of a drug dealer, brings tacit approval--and growing suspicion. But all bets are off when another victim is found, a socialite unceremoniously whacked with a pink lawn flamingo. Now the neighbors want Francesca to investigate. But her boyfriend wants her to commit to marriage, not crime. Soon the gutsy reporter is experiencing a deepening personal crisis--and something more heinous than vinyl siding: the dark secrets of heart, home, and blighted dreams. From the Paperback edition.

The Pink Flamingo Murders (Francesca Vierling)

Literature & Fiction

Literary

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 fun, 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 is 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.

Shop Till You Drop: A Dead-End Job Mystery

BERKLEY

Helen has a new job "off the books" at Page Turners bookstore in Fort Lauderdale...until the owner is murdered. But since the arrogant Page Turner III had so many enemies, Helen will have to read between the lines to uncover the truth about a clever killer.

Murder Between the Covers (Dead-End Job Mysteries, Book 2)

History & Criticism

While making the best of her new telemarketing job, Helen Hawthorne thinks she hears a murder on the other end of the line-and must avoid a close call with a killer.

Dying to Call You (Dead-End Job Mysteries, Book 3)

These mystery mavens dispel the myth that "blondes have more fun" in this stellar collection that includes a new story by Nancy Martin featuring the Blackbird sisters who investigate the murder of a personal shopper, as well as other tales by Elaine Viets, Denise Swanson, and Victoria Laurie. Original.

Drop-Dead Blonde

Swanson, Denise

Laurie, Victoria

Martin, Nancy

United States

Signet

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