Shop Till You Drop: A Dead-End Job Mystery (Book #1)

 Shirley J.                    Adult Fiction Murder Mystery                Kept Women with large amounts to spend

Shop Till You Drop: A Dead-End Job Mystery (Book #1) by Elaine Viets          288 pages

Finally!  I lucked into book #1 of a series.   I really like Elaine Viets' style.  I met her several years ago at Central Library when she was in for a book reading event.  At the time she was a local news reporter doing special local stories ie. her take on them.  A fun and funny lady,  she often thanks the staff at SLPL for their invaluable help in her research for her books in the acknowledgement portion of her books.    Many of her books are set in St. Louis and all have some mention of affiliation to St. Louis.  This one is no exception.   Helen is running from a bad marriage in her hometown of St. Louis.   She walked in to find her husband in bed with their female neighbor.  There is lots of mystery surrounding what actually happened in that moment, but, Helen left a 6 figure job and went off the grid working a minimum wage job in Fort Lauderdale, Fl. for which she is paid cash.   She brought along a suitcase of case she had saved up during her marriage and does everything she can to stay out of anyone's radar.   She is desperate not to go back to St. Louis and not to let her image be seen in any way.   She is terrified of being identified and returned to St. Louis.  She finds a tiny studio apartment with a great landlady and nice if quirky neighbors.    She lands a job at "Juliana's", a high end dress shop that is only open to big spenders who dress impeccably.   The store is run by Christina for a never there owner who dictates what type of customers he wants in his store (the unbelieveably wealthy with open purses).  The clientele are all the amazingly thin and beautiful kept women of mobsters, real estate moguls and the like, who shower money with no limits on their trophy girlfriends as long as they maintain their youthful gorgeous looks and continue to put out to often homely men with big wallets.    The women think nothing of spending thousands of dollars per shopping trip and who enjoy being elitist in delighting in the fact they are allowed in the shop when so many aren't.   You have to be chic and current in your couture last year's shoes or designs won't do so don't even think it.   Funny enough, there is a lot going on behind the scenes at "Juliana's" that doesn't meet the eye.   How is Christina able to afford living in a posh super expensive condo in a bourgeois beach front area?   Was that pills that spilled on the floor from one of the select purses only Christina handles?   Then, Christina turns up dead floating in a barrel!  WTFudge?  Excellent story.  Fun characters, even the bad ones are fun to get to know.   I recommend this one to high 0schoolers on up due to adult content.