Rating: 
Summary: Great Mystery, Depressing Character
Review: Helen Hawthorne has landed another under the radar job. This time she's working at Page Turners book store. The job isn't as nice as she thought it would be, but she puts up with her womanizing boss, Page Turner III, because he's will to pay in cash. Now, if only the rumors of the chain closing would go away, Helen might be able to relax.
When her apartment is infested with termites, she doesn't mind the weekend at the beach with new boyfriend Dr. Rich. But Helen returns to find Page Turner III dead in neighbor Peggy's bed. There is no shortage of suspects, but the police center in on Peggy, soon arresting her. Helen knows her friend couldn't have committed the murder, so she starts her own investigation. The more she investigates, the more motive she uncovers for Peggy. Can she find another motive and free her friend?
I still have very mixed emotions about this series. On one hand, I find Helen's plight down right depressing. And, frankly, I also find it rather hard to believe she would let herself stay in the predicament for very long. Furthermore, there seems to be a real anti-male theme going in this series, which rankles me. On the other hand, I had a hard time putting the book down and was completely drawn into the mystery. I was proud of myself for figuring out the killer before Helen even if I missed the clues along the way, so obviously I cared about the outcome.
This series is advertised as a humorous series, but I don't get the black humor. I'm compelled enough that I'll probably move on to the third when it comes out. Helen may be depressing, but I can't seem to stay away from her adventures.
Rating:
Summary: This Was A Page Turner
Review: Helen Hawthorne is on the lam, from the law and her ex-husband. To avoid detection, she only takes jobs where she can get paid under the table in cash. She's been on her new job at the Ft. Lauderdale Page Turners Book Store for several months now, and although she had always thought working in a book store would be a wonderful job, she's been disappointed. Not only with the customers, but her pig of a boss Page Turner III. Then disaster strikes her apartment complex. The Coronado Tropic Apartments are infested with termites and Helen and her neighbors are forced to move out for the weekend while the complex is tented and bombed. The weekend at the beach, spent partly with her new boyfriend, Dr. Rich ends badly when after returning to the Coronado, Page Turner III is found with a huge knife in his back, on the bed in one of the apartments. How did Page Turner die, and how did he end up in an apartment that was locked down and tented for termite extermination? There are no lack of suspects, but when Helen's friend Peggy is arrested for the crime, (she had previously been engaged to him, and had threatened to kill him when she read he was engaged to another woman in the newspaper). Helen is shocked, she didn't even know Peggy knew Page Turner, let alone would have ever gone out with him. But when the cops close the case, it's up to Helen and her landlady, Margery to find out who the killer is. Was it his wife, jealous of his consant womanizing? Or the female authors who were all promised book signings for their Vanity Press books, if they spent some time in Page's office. And what about the rumors that Page videotaped himself with all of these women, and what other things might he have video taped? And then there's another murder. Highlights: All the inhabitants of the Coronado Tropic Apartments. Peggy & her Parrot, Pete. Cal, the Canadian who is constantly complaining about everything American. Phil - the unseen, pot-smoking next door neighbor, are all amusing characters. Margery - the 70ish landlady is a hoot. Helen and Margery on a stakeout. Helen's fellow employee's at Page Turner's and old Mr. Davies, who sits in the book store all day and reads. The mystery. The killer was a surprise, but made perfect sense. Helen confronting the killer. This part made me laugh out loud. Helen having to read "Love and Murder - Forever: A Romantic Mystery or Mysterious Romance". which will qualify as one of the worst books, and titles ever written. Lowlights: I know Helen is ticked off, which is why she's living like she is, but it's stupid. NO ONE IS LOOKING FOR YOU. (I had to say it, but if she wasn't acting like this, it would ruin the series). Dr. Rich: He appeared in the first book, and continued into this one. He was such a nice guy, that I don't understand why his character had to change so radically, it was a very unpleasant turn in the story. Couldn't she have just dumped him? This was much better than the first book in the series - Shop Till You Drop, which had so many characters, I got confused. Great characters. Great mystery. A thoroughly enjoyable book. Can't wait for the next one to be published.
Rating:
Summary: I love this book!!
Review: Hi! I read the first book in on this series and I LOVED MURDER BETWEEN THE COVERS. I like Helen and all the other zany characters. It is humourous and witty. Why I personally think Helen has no reason to run (a good lawyer could get her out of her troubles and back to making money) I want the series to continue. Who knows...maybe she will end up making everything right in the end.
I think the majority of you guys that think Viets is a terrible writer are just jealous that she has a SIX book deal with the second largest publisher in the world! Ms. Viets, keep up the good work and I'm looking forward to the next book in the series!:-)
Rating: 
Summary: Funny Florida Mystery
Review: If you like mysteries with realistic characters.....if you have a sense of humor....if you like to read about books....then you will really like this book.
It's right up there with the Stephanie Plum series.
Rating:
Summary: Deadly Diversion by Eleanor Sullivan
Review: If you liked this book by Elaine Viets, you will love Eleanor Sullivan's Deadly Diversion.
From opening pages to last, Eleanor Sullivan has created suspense and intrigue in the critical care unit of St. Teresa's Hospital. Head nurse, Monica Everhardt, has her hands full with the usual crises of short staffing and managed care. But how to distinguish incompetence from murder challenges her best expert knowledge, setting her on a path of supense and discovery. You won't put this one down for a moment.
Rating: 
Summary: not good
Review: If you read the blurb for this book it sounds like this is going to be a lot of fun. Actually it's not. The book is not good at all. The reluctant sleuth, Helen, who we are told is very smart, and savy is on the run from the law back home in St. Louis and now jumps around the country working for cash and living quietly. Once she made a six figure income and now she's half a step from poverty. It's kind of like a female Fugitive but the heroine is such an annoying and stupid woman you won't care about her plight. This is a short book but Helen falls into bed with two terrible men in the space of a few days. The character learns nothing and shows no growth at all.
The mystery actually is set up well. Page Turner III, the victim is a swine who no one misses after his death. Helen stumbles and bumbles her way through this case and finally figures it out with a few pages to spare at the end.
I just didn't like this book and won't buy more from this series. The heroine was just too dumb, the humor was flat and the side characters were stereotypical.
Rating:
Summary: Funny Florida Mystery
Review: Like another reviewer or two, I found some flaws in this book. First, the author almost lost me with the dumb name for the owner of the bookstore - Page Turner. Please! When you start tossing cutesy, highly unlikely names in a story (like Candy Cane), it's hard to take the writing seriously. Secondly, many things defied belief. I find it hard to believe many employers would agree to pay their help in cash "under the table". A scumbag like Page Turner (there's that dumb name again!) would, but Helen also found a manager of a major "Wal-Mart-type" discount store willing to do so. Why would an employee want to be paid cash? For the reasons our heroine, Helen, wanted to - so there is no paper trail and no record of her. Why would a person do that? The only reason I can think of is Helen's reason, she is on the lam. Why would an employer be willing to take on someone running from the law? Some of the characters are not well fleshed out - when she talked about "Denny" or "Brad" at the bookstore, I couldn't remember which was which. The older stuffed-shirt of a clerk/manager, Albert, was a more well-drawn character. The old guy, Mr. Davies, who came in to sit and read all day, was sweet. I did disagree, however with the criticism one reviewer had about why Helen was running. For most of the book, we only know she caught her husband with another woman and grabbed a crowbar. Did she kill him? His lover? I felt the author did a good job of keeping that titillating fact dangling just long enough. Despite some flaws, I found myself continuing to pick up the book and read it - and that is worth 3 stars. The flavor of the locale (Florida) is well done, and Helen and her landlady, Margery are characters you want to get to know.
Rating: 
Summary: Good, but . . .
Review: Like another reviewer or two, I found some flaws in this book. First, the author almost lost me with the dumb name for the owner of the bookstore - Page Turner. Please! When you start tossing cutesy, highly unlikely names in a story (like Candy Cane), it's hard to take the writing seriously. Secondly, many things defied belief. I find it hard to believe many employers would agree to pay their help in cash "under the table". A scumbag like Page Turner (there's that dumb name again!) would, but Helen also found a manager of a major "Wal-Mart-type" discount store willing to do so. Why would an employee want to be paid cash? For the reasons our heroine, Helen, wanted to - so there is no paper trail and no record of her. Why would a person do that? The only reason I can think of is Helen's reason, she is on the lam. Why would an employer be willing to take on someone running from the law? Some of the characters are not well fleshed out - when she talked about "Denny" or "Brad" at the bookstore, I couldn't remember which was which. The older stuffed-shirt of a clerk/manager, Albert, was a more well-drawn character. The old guy, Mr. Davies, who came in to sit and read all day, was sweet. I did disagree, however with the criticism one reviewer had about why Helen was running. For most of the book, we only know she caught her husband with another woman and grabbed a crowbar. Did she kill him? His lover? I felt the author did a good job of keeping that titillating fact dangling just long enough. Despite some flaws, I found myself continuing to pick up the book and read it - and that is worth 3 stars. The flavor of the locale (Florida) is well done, and Helen and her landlady, Margery are characters you want to get to know.
Rating:
Summary: an engaging read in spite of the few "niggles" I had...
Review: Once Helen Hawthorne was the very picture of success: she led a chic and trendy life, was married and had a brilliant career. But all that came to a crashing halt one day, and now Helen is on the run, all alone, almost penniless and moving from one dead-end job to another, valiantly trying to stay as many steps ahead of her past (and the law) as possible. Helen's latest job is as a cashier at Page Turners, a bookstore in Fort Lauderdale. The store is owned and managed by Page Turner III, a mean spirited drunk, who knows practically next to nothing about the book business (or books for that matter), and who is loathed by his wife and employees. But when he's found dead, and Helen's friend and neighbour, Peggy, is arrested for the crime, Helen realizes that she will have to put her personal feelings about her employer and her fears about being discovered by the police behind her in order to help Peggy by discovering who really murdered the much detested Page... While the previous reviewer is correct in saying that Helen stumbles about quite a bit while trying to figure who may have murdered the unlamented Page Turner III, what one has got to keep in mind is that Helen is not really a private detective, and that she's not even all that sophisticated. She's just a capable woman of above average intelligence. And once you come to grips with that mental image of Helen, then reading "Murder Between the Covers" becomes a much more enjoyable read. I liked the fact that because Helen wasn't exactly sure of how to go about proving that Peggy hadn't committed the murder, trying to discover who the actual murderer was wasn't all that easy. I also enjoyed Elaine Viets's accurate description of what being a book salesperson is actually like. However, while the novel was engaging and enjoyable, I did have a few problems with the book. 1) Because I hadn't read the first book in the series, I started assuming that Helen was on the run from the law because she had committed a much more serious crime (like murder), the truth was a little anticlimactic (it was revealed about two-thirds through the novel). Personally, I would have preferred it if the authour had clarified everything at the beginning of the book. And 2) I do think that the mystery subplot could have been a little tighter. As it was, Helen managed to solve the mystery due to luck and happenstance. And while there were a lot of potential suspects, clues were in short supply. On the other hand, the authour's character portrayals were quite good and her style of writing engaging. So that I'd vote "Murder Between the Covers" as a good read.
Rating:
Summary: solid who-done-it
Review: Once upon a time Helen was happily married, living in a mini-mansion and earning over six figures a year as a number cruncher. One day she came home early and discovered her husband in bed with their next door neighbor. After divorcing him she went on the run because she wouldn't obey a court order involving alimony. She now lives in a tall old building in Ft Lauderdale working dead end jobs that pay her in cash. Her latest job is at Page Turners as a bookseller. The owner is a slimy married man who cheats on his wife in the back room of the bookstore. It comes as no surprise to anybody that somebody kills him but what shocks Helen is that his body is found in her neighbor and good friend Peggy's apartment. The police arrest Peg because she once had an affair with him and she vowed to get even with him for cheating on her. Helen is positive that Peggy is innocent and goes to some outrageous lengths to prove it. Elaine Viets is a great writer whose characterizations are simply superb. In MURDER BETWEEN THE COVERS, she has created a tough, independent yet very vulnerable heroine who comes across as a believable person who stands by her principles even when they cost her everything. The victim in this case is so evil readers will wonder why someone didn't kill him sooner. Harriet Klausner
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