Rubout

I grew up in St. Louis and was familiar with Elaine Viets' funny Post-Dispatch columns about city life, so when I saw she had written a mystery I was eager to see what it was like. I wasn't disappointed. It was fun to read a mystery with references to my home town, and the satire about the newspaper where her heroine works was especially funny since I've worked on newspapers for quite a number of years. My only criticism is that it was fairly easy to figure out who the killer was, but I still enjoyed the book immensely and highly recommend it.

Viets gives us savy, sharp witted Francesca Verling and a great read! An inside look at the world of the newspaper game, suspense and characters to easily become attached to/or despise. They are honest, gritty and her descriptions are priceless!

My second Francesca Vierling mystery by Elaine Viets. I love her humor and her view of the lives of "unusual" people. I also enjoyed the St. Louis setting, found it fascinating. Francesca is a multi-faceted sleuth that I really enjoy. The mystery was first rate, and I could not put it down, ended up reading it until 2 a.m. Waiting for the next one!!!

Francesca Vierling is elated to be attending the annual Leather and Lace Biker's Society Ball as a guest not as a reporter for the St. Louis City Gazette. In spite of her lover refusing to accompany her, Francesca she still has a good time. However, that changes when high society member Sydney Vander Venter, a surprise attendee is found murdered. The police believe either one of Sydney's relatives (she was in the midst of a highly publicized, ugly divorce) or one of the bikers (she made several enemies at the ball) killed her. The prime biker suspects turn to Francesca for help. They know about her success in solving a previous case (see BACKSTAB) and feel she can prove their innocence. The amateur sleuth reluctantly begins to investigate who killed the victim. RUBOUT, the second novel in the Vierling amateur sleuth series, is a fun to read mystery because of the well-developed and very interesting support ensemble. The story line has enough red herrings that interweave with the main plot to please fans of the sub-genre. Francesca is a wonderful character, whose motivations are obvious but honest . Elaine Viets confirms that she is a rising talent whom fans of the sub-genre need to pay attention to because they will obtain their money's worth with her novels. Harriet Klausner