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Definitely Dead
The first book in the new Empty Nest Mystery series by the Amazon bestselling author and creator of the critically acclaimed Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery series--with a wink and a nod of homage to Dashell Hammet's Thin Man movies, giving a modern day spin on his Nick and Nora Charles characters.
When her career is outsourced to Asia, fledgling romance author and empty-nester Gracie Elliott wants a job that will allow her time to write. So she opens Relatively Speaking, becoming a wing woman to the senior set. Since her clients need several hours each morning to find their teeth, lube their creaky joints, and deal with lower GI necessities, and they always turn in after the early bird specials, she has plenty of time to pen her future bestsellers.
Gracie deliberately avoids mentioning her new business venture to husband Blake until after she signs her first client. Blake joins the company as a not-so-silent partner, tagging along to make sure Gracie doesn't cause a septuagenarian uprising. When Client #13 is found murdered in the parking lot behind the Moose Lodge, Gracie knows, no matter how much Blake protests otherwise, she can't wait around for the police to find the killer if she wants to save her livelihood.
When her career is outsourced to Asia, fledgling romance author and empty-nester Gracie Elliott wants a job that will allow her time to write. So she opens Relatively Speaking, becoming a wing woman to the senior set. Since her clients need several hours each morning to find their teeth, lube their creaky joints, and deal with lower GI necessities, and they always turn in after the early bird specials, she has plenty of time to pen her future bestsellers.
Gracie deliberately avoids mentioning her new business venture to husband Blake until after she signs her first client. Blake joins the company as a not-so-silent partner, tagging along to make sure Gracie doesn't cause a septuagenarian uprising. When Client #13 is found murdered in the parking lot behind the Moose Lodge, Gracie knows, no matter how much Blake protests otherwise, she can't wait around for the police to find the killer if she wants to save her livelihood.
224 pages, Paperback
First published June 22, 2014
24 people are currently reading
70 people want to read
About the author
Lois Winston
65 books326 followersNewsletter sign-up: https://landing.mailerlite.com/webfor...
USA Today and Amazon bestselling and award-winning author Lois Winston writes mystery, romance, romantic suspense, chick lit, women’s fiction, children’s chapter books, and nonfiction under her own name and her Emma Carlyle pen name. Kirkus Reviews dubbed her critically acclaimed Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery series, “North Jersey’s more mature answer to Stephanie Plum.” In addition, Lois is a former literary agent and an award-winning craft and needlework designer who often draws much of her source material for both her characters and plots from her experiences in the crafts industry.
Visit Lois and Emma at www.loiswinston.com and visit Anastasia at the Killer Crafts & Crafty Killers blog, www.anastasiapollack.blogspot.com. Follow everyone on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Anasleuth.
USA Today and Amazon bestselling and award-winning author Lois Winston writes mystery, romance, romantic suspense, chick lit, women’s fiction, children’s chapter books, and nonfiction under her own name and her Emma Carlyle pen name. Kirkus Reviews dubbed her critically acclaimed Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery series, “North Jersey’s more mature answer to Stephanie Plum.” In addition, Lois is a former literary agent and an award-winning craft and needlework designer who often draws much of her source material for both her characters and plots from her experiences in the crafts industry.
Visit Lois and Emma at www.loiswinston.com and visit Anastasia at the Killer Crafts & Crafty Killers blog, www.anastasiapollack.blogspot.com. Follow everyone on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Anasleuth.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
December 12, 2017
I often enjoy a mystery regardless of solving it myself or not, for various reasons. In this case, the pacing and the humor kept me so amused I forgot to try to solve the murder.
Talkative, a bit flaky, and quite attached to her designer shoes and handbags, Gracie Elliot is one of those characters who would drive me crazy if I had to meet her, but she’s hilarious in print. Her inner dialogue shows enough self-awareness that her flaws become funny rather than obnoxious. Her involvement in solving a crime is refreshingly up-front and intentional. She thinks the fastest way to get the murder of a client in her senior match-making service solved is to jump in and do it herself—and make her husband help. As with any amateur sleuth mystery, there’s an element of the implausible requiring suspension of disbelief, but within the context of the plot, characters and setting, Gracie's actions and motives work, and so does her husband Blake’s more reluctant involvement. Their marriage is a delight for the reader, full of wit and affection.
That said, there’s nothing saccharine about this cozy mystery. Some cozies are just too cozy to live, and I can’t finish them. This one is tart rather than sweet. Gracie is a sharp and critical observer of her fellow humans’ appearances, personalities, mannerisms, fashion sense and home decor—which is an asset in the both the mystery and the comedy departments. As well as being an aficionado of quality handbags and shoes, she’s a former fabric designer (laid off and desperate to make a living—hence the senior dating business), and she can assess a woman’s income and lifestyle from her living room and her clothes and accessories, which makes Gracie a suitable detective for the particular crime she’s looking into. I was so amused by the parade of suspects, especially the ones with bad taste, that I didn’t care which one of them had done it.
Gracie aspires to become a romance writer, and her observations on learning the craft of writing add an extra layer of enjoyment for a writer reading the book.
Talkative, a bit flaky, and quite attached to her designer shoes and handbags, Gracie Elliot is one of those characters who would drive me crazy if I had to meet her, but she’s hilarious in print. Her inner dialogue shows enough self-awareness that her flaws become funny rather than obnoxious. Her involvement in solving a crime is refreshingly up-front and intentional. She thinks the fastest way to get the murder of a client in her senior match-making service solved is to jump in and do it herself—and make her husband help. As with any amateur sleuth mystery, there’s an element of the implausible requiring suspension of disbelief, but within the context of the plot, characters and setting, Gracie's actions and motives work, and so does her husband Blake’s more reluctant involvement. Their marriage is a delight for the reader, full of wit and affection.
That said, there’s nothing saccharine about this cozy mystery. Some cozies are just too cozy to live, and I can’t finish them. This one is tart rather than sweet. Gracie is a sharp and critical observer of her fellow humans’ appearances, personalities, mannerisms, fashion sense and home decor—which is an asset in the both the mystery and the comedy departments. As well as being an aficionado of quality handbags and shoes, she’s a former fabric designer (laid off and desperate to make a living—hence the senior dating business), and she can assess a woman’s income and lifestyle from her living room and her clothes and accessories, which makes Gracie a suitable detective for the particular crime she’s looking into. I was so amused by the parade of suspects, especially the ones with bad taste, that I didn’t care which one of them had done it.
Gracie aspires to become a romance writer, and her observations on learning the craft of writing add an extra layer of enjoyment for a writer reading the book.
August 4, 2014
Gracie Elliott has a big problem. Like that other Jersey girl, Stephanie Whatshername, she’s lost her job and has to come up with a new way to make some cash. A true right-brain thinker—the perfect partner to her less imaginative husband, college professor Blake Elliott—Gracie decides to start her own business, “Relatively Speaking” an introduction (not dating!) service for the senior set.
Which leads her to another big problem. One of her clients, Sidney Mandelbaum, goes out to grab a quick smoke during one of Gracie’s senior “match-ups.” Concerned that Sid’s smoke break is taking too long, Gracie and Blake check on him and discover that Sid won’t be coming back. Ever. He’s been murdered.
Being good citizens of the Garden State, the Elliotts immediately call the police. The investigation is ratcheted up a few more notches when two men, flashing badges identifying themselves as federal agents, show up the next morning to question Gracie and scare her out of her wits. Who the heck was Sid, anyway?
The case garners notice in the local press, definitely not the publicity a start-up business needs. So an imaginative Gracie and a very reluctant Blake, decide to investigate on their own. With hilarious results.
“Definitely Dead,” the first in award-winning author Lois Winston’s Empty Nest series, is a real hoot with likeable characters and imaginative plotting that’s sure to resonate with people of a “certain age.” I can’t wait to see what trouble Gracie (and Blake) gets into in book two!
Reviewed by Susan Santangelo, author of “Class Reunions Can Be Murder”
Which leads her to another big problem. One of her clients, Sidney Mandelbaum, goes out to grab a quick smoke during one of Gracie’s senior “match-ups.” Concerned that Sid’s smoke break is taking too long, Gracie and Blake check on him and discover that Sid won’t be coming back. Ever. He’s been murdered.
Being good citizens of the Garden State, the Elliotts immediately call the police. The investigation is ratcheted up a few more notches when two men, flashing badges identifying themselves as federal agents, show up the next morning to question Gracie and scare her out of her wits. Who the heck was Sid, anyway?
The case garners notice in the local press, definitely not the publicity a start-up business needs. So an imaginative Gracie and a very reluctant Blake, decide to investigate on their own. With hilarious results.
“Definitely Dead,” the first in award-winning author Lois Winston’s Empty Nest series, is a real hoot with likeable characters and imaginative plotting that’s sure to resonate with people of a “certain age.” I can’t wait to see what trouble Gracie (and Blake) gets into in book two!
Reviewed by Susan Santangelo, author of “Class Reunions Can Be Murder”
June 17, 2017
This is a a series that will be appreciated by the over 50 set! Gracie and Blake Elliot have twins in college, and as many of us know, that is an expensive time of life for parents. Unfortunately Gracie's job has been outsourced and all she wants to do is write a winning romance novel. But that won't help pay the bills. So when she hits on another moneymaking idea, she decides to open a business without telling her husband. Thus "Relatively Speaking" which is a wing woman service for seniors is born. Pretending to be the client's relative, she takes them to places to meet women. Once the client selects his choices, she makes the introduction for him, calling him a faux uncle or something. By the time Gracie confesses all to Blake (who is a tenured professor at a university) she has over a dozen paying client. At $50 an hour with a three hour minimum she isn't getting rich, but the money helps. Until client #13 goes out to smoke while Gracie tries to set him up with his choice of the party. When she and her husband go out to bring him back in, they find him in the parking lot dead with a head injury and a knife sticking out of his front.
Unable to let the police handle it, Gracie (with Blake's reluctant help) goes about trying to figure out who done it. Seven women have dated him, and she intends to interview them all. However before she gets past the first one, she discovers Sidney Mandelbaum, client #13, isn't who he said he was. Thus the hunt is on to find Not-Sid's killer!
This is a funny book with humor popping up at unexpected times. When Gracie and Blake are outside one of the date's house waiting for her to answer the door, they are betting on whether she will have plastic seat covers on her furniture! Another lady has a granddaughter who is in Blake's class, who has just received an F- on a term paper. One she lifted from several internet papers and cobbled together. Too bad she didn't bother to notice that Professor Blake Elliot had been the author of those papers!
Aside from humor, the author has written a good mystery with some unexpected twists that lead to a conclusion I didn't see coming. Overall it was well written and a pleasure to read. All of the characters were believable, and Gracie did a credible job as a sleuth. Read it. You will enjoy this refreshing addition to the cozy mysteries available today. Oh and if you have ever read any other books by this author, you will especially enjoy little tidbits she inserts in the book!
Unable to let the police handle it, Gracie (with Blake's reluctant help) goes about trying to figure out who done it. Seven women have dated him, and she intends to interview them all. However before she gets past the first one, she discovers Sidney Mandelbaum, client #13, isn't who he said he was. Thus the hunt is on to find Not-Sid's killer!
This is a funny book with humor popping up at unexpected times. When Gracie and Blake are outside one of the date's house waiting for her to answer the door, they are betting on whether she will have plastic seat covers on her furniture! Another lady has a granddaughter who is in Blake's class, who has just received an F- on a term paper. One she lifted from several internet papers and cobbled together. Too bad she didn't bother to notice that Professor Blake Elliot had been the author of those papers!
Aside from humor, the author has written a good mystery with some unexpected twists that lead to a conclusion I didn't see coming. Overall it was well written and a pleasure to read. All of the characters were believable, and Gracie did a credible job as a sleuth. Read it. You will enjoy this refreshing addition to the cozy mysteries available today. Oh and if you have ever read any other books by this author, you will especially enjoy little tidbits she inserts in the book!
November 17, 2025
Definitely Dead is the first book in the Empty Nest mystery series. Known for her witty storytelling and clever plotting, award-winning author Lois Winston once again delivers an entertaining read. The story is replete with humor, intrigue, and a memorable cast of characters.
The book features a husband and wife detecting duo, reminiscent of the Thin Man’s Nick and Nora. The main characters are middle-aged and happily married, a refreshing change from the standard fare. After Gracie’s day job is eliminated, she searches for an alternate source of income. She is an aspiring romance author, but that endeavor won’t pay the bills until she finishes writing the book. Blake is a college professor. Their lifestyle requires two income streams to avoid winding up in an apartment over a repair shop in Jersey. To generate some revenue to cover their twins’ college tuition and her weakness for designer purses and footwear, Gracie creates a dating service for senior citizens.
When one of Gracie’s clients is found dead in the parking lot, they are reluctantly drawn into the murder investigation. Gracie attempts to interview all of the women her deceased client dated. Along the way, she discovers that her client was an imposter. There are lots of unexpected twists and turns that keep the reader turning the pages.
Gracie’s relationship with her husband is endearing. The characters are both likeable and relatable. Their interactions are amusing. The book is a fun lighthearted whodunit—an intriguing mystery infused with heart and humor.
I recommend the book to readers who enjoy humorous cozy mysteries. And I look forward to reading other books written by Lois Winston.
The book features a husband and wife detecting duo, reminiscent of the Thin Man’s Nick and Nora. The main characters are middle-aged and happily married, a refreshing change from the standard fare. After Gracie’s day job is eliminated, she searches for an alternate source of income. She is an aspiring romance author, but that endeavor won’t pay the bills until she finishes writing the book. Blake is a college professor. Their lifestyle requires two income streams to avoid winding up in an apartment over a repair shop in Jersey. To generate some revenue to cover their twins’ college tuition and her weakness for designer purses and footwear, Gracie creates a dating service for senior citizens.
When one of Gracie’s clients is found dead in the parking lot, they are reluctantly drawn into the murder investigation. Gracie attempts to interview all of the women her deceased client dated. Along the way, she discovers that her client was an imposter. There are lots of unexpected twists and turns that keep the reader turning the pages.
Gracie’s relationship with her husband is endearing. The characters are both likeable and relatable. Their interactions are amusing. The book is a fun lighthearted whodunit—an intriguing mystery infused with heart and humor.
I recommend the book to readers who enjoy humorous cozy mysteries. And I look forward to reading other books written by Lois Winston.
May 28, 2020
Lois Winston has crafted a humorous, entertaining cozy mystery. In Definitely Dead, New Jersey resident and empty nester Gracie Elliott has started a second career as a wing woman to single seniors. In her Relatively Speaking business pursuit she introduces seniors who are looking for romance. However, when Sidney Mendelbaum, Client #13, turns up murdered, matters do not bode well for Gracie’s business.
Gracie, narrator of the book, wants to write romance novels. But she soon finds herself embroiled in trying to discover who murdered her client. She even gets her college professor husband involved. They discover that Sid was not Sid at all but someone who had stolen that identity. It seems Sid was actually a crook who tried to scam money from the dates Gracie set him up with.
This novel with its fast pace, clever use of language and plot twists will keep the reader entertained from beginning to end.
Gracie, narrator of the book, wants to write romance novels. But she soon finds herself embroiled in trying to discover who murdered her client. She even gets her college professor husband involved. They discover that Sid was not Sid at all but someone who had stolen that identity. It seems Sid was actually a crook who tried to scam money from the dates Gracie set him up with.
This novel with its fast pace, clever use of language and plot twists will keep the reader entertained from beginning to end.
May 13, 2017
I found the main characters Gracie and Blake too make a wonderful team. They have their own banter between the two of them, which brought the characters alive. It was a quick read and an unpredictable ending to who committed the murder. I look forward to reading the second book in the series. I'd recommend it as a good beach read.
April 20, 2022
This was a cute, original novel about a husband and wife team, who set about solving the murder of a man who was one of the wife's clients. She runs a unique dating service for the elderly and finds it far more challenging than she ever considered.
April 26, 2025
I like this author however this story did not really keep my interest.
May 17, 2022
A new series for me it started off a little confusing. But I was quite good in the end.
March 4, 2017
The first in the Empty Nest Mystery series. Great husband and wife duo solving crimes together and making it work. A curtsy and a bow to the Tin Man.
July 2, 2015
What a charming little mystery. Gracie Elliot isn't quite the ditz she makes herself out to be, and her relationship with her husband is a total blast. Nice to see a happy couple still having to work things out even after 20+ years together. The mystery works and author Winston even has fun with the whole Too Stupid to Live thing, which really made me laugh.
July 8, 2014
Absolutely wonderful new series. Humor, homicide, hilarious secondary characters. I loved the husband and wife detective duo and can't wait for the sequel!
October 6, 2014
This book was ok, it wasn't a page turner. A wife with an odd occupation and not really enough about their home life to really care about the characters.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews