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Francesca Vierling Mystery #4
Doc in the Box
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 . . .
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 . . .
256 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published July 11, 2000
11 people are currently reading
243 people want to read
About the author
Elaine Viets
81 books569 followersAs a young girl, Elaine Viets was taught the virtues of South St. Louis: the importance of hard work, housecleaning, and paying cash. She managed to forget almost everything she learned, which is why she turned to mystery writing.
Living in South Florida has not improved her character. But it has given her the bestselling Dead-End Job series. Like her amateur detective, Helen Hawthorne, Elaine actually works those rotten jobs. Perhaps her early training has given her a lifelong fascination with jobs. She and Helen both know working for a living can be murder.
To research her novels, Elaine has been everything from a salesclerk to a survey taker. Her first book in the series is SHOP TILL YOU DROP, a novel of sex, murder and plastic surgery. It's set at a fashionable dress shop that caters to kept women. Book two, MURDER BETWEEN THE COVERS, takes place at a bookstore. Elaine worked at a Barnes & Noble in Hollywood, Florida, for a year.
For the third, DYING TO CALL YOU, Helen works as a telemarketer. Elaine sold septic tank cleaner and did telephone surveys. She actually asked women if they shaved their armpits. In the fourth Dead-End Job mystery, JUST MURDERED, Elaine and Helen explore big-money matrimony for better or worse. Elaine did her research in Zola Keller’s posh bridal salon in Fort Lauderdale.
For the fifth novel, Elaine and Helen go to the dogs. MURDER UNLEASHED is set at a high-end dog boutique, where people spend two hundred dollars for canine cuisine, women sneak illegal pets into condos using high-priced designer purses, and the dogs at the store have bigger wardrobes than the salesclerks. MURDER UNLEASHED is Elaine's first hardcover mystery. Publishers Weekly calls it “wry social commentary.”
Although Elaine lives in Fort Lauderdale, her heart – and her viewpoint – remain in the Midwest. Like Helen Hawthorne, another transplanted St. Louisan, she observes the outrageously rich Florida culture (and lack thereof) with wide-eyed fascination.
Elaine’s second series takes her back to work in St. Louis. It features Josie Marcus, a mystery shopper and single mom. The debut novel, DYING IN STYLE, tied with Stephen King on the bestseller list for the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association.
Elaine won both the Agatha and the Anthony Awards for her short story, "Wedding Knife," in CHESAPEAKE CRIMES.
Some honors don’t come with plaques and award banquets. Elaine was thrilled when her short story, "After the Fall," was featured on the same cover of the Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine as the master, Ed Hoch.
Her short story, "Red Meat," is in BLOOD ON THEIR HANDS, the Mystery Writers of America anthology edited by Lawrence Block. "Blonde Moment" is in the MWA anthology, SHOW BUSINESS IS MURDER, edited by Stuart Kaminsky. "Sex and Bingo" is featured in the HIGH STAKES gambling anthology. And if you've ever wondered about the early life of purple-loving landlady Margery Flax, read "Killer Blonde" in DROP-DEAD BLONDE.
Elaine has served on the national boards of the Mystery Writers of America and Sisters in Crime. She lives in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, with her husband, actor Don Crinklaw, where they collect speeding tickets.
Please buy her novels so she can pay her MasterCard.
Series:
* Dead-End Job Mystery
* Josie Marcus, Mystery Shopper
* Francesca Vierling Mystery
Living in South Florida has not improved her character. But it has given her the bestselling Dead-End Job series. Like her amateur detective, Helen Hawthorne, Elaine actually works those rotten jobs. Perhaps her early training has given her a lifelong fascination with jobs. She and Helen both know working for a living can be murder.
To research her novels, Elaine has been everything from a salesclerk to a survey taker. Her first book in the series is SHOP TILL YOU DROP, a novel of sex, murder and plastic surgery. It's set at a fashionable dress shop that caters to kept women. Book two, MURDER BETWEEN THE COVERS, takes place at a bookstore. Elaine worked at a Barnes & Noble in Hollywood, Florida, for a year.
For the third, DYING TO CALL YOU, Helen works as a telemarketer. Elaine sold septic tank cleaner and did telephone surveys. She actually asked women if they shaved their armpits. In the fourth Dead-End Job mystery, JUST MURDERED, Elaine and Helen explore big-money matrimony for better or worse. Elaine did her research in Zola Keller’s posh bridal salon in Fort Lauderdale.
For the fifth novel, Elaine and Helen go to the dogs. MURDER UNLEASHED is set at a high-end dog boutique, where people spend two hundred dollars for canine cuisine, women sneak illegal pets into condos using high-priced designer purses, and the dogs at the store have bigger wardrobes than the salesclerks. MURDER UNLEASHED is Elaine's first hardcover mystery. Publishers Weekly calls it “wry social commentary.”
Although Elaine lives in Fort Lauderdale, her heart – and her viewpoint – remain in the Midwest. Like Helen Hawthorne, another transplanted St. Louisan, she observes the outrageously rich Florida culture (and lack thereof) with wide-eyed fascination.
Elaine’s second series takes her back to work in St. Louis. It features Josie Marcus, a mystery shopper and single mom. The debut novel, DYING IN STYLE, tied with Stephen King on the bestseller list for the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association.
Elaine won both the Agatha and the Anthony Awards for her short story, "Wedding Knife," in CHESAPEAKE CRIMES.
Some honors don’t come with plaques and award banquets. Elaine was thrilled when her short story, "After the Fall," was featured on the same cover of the Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine as the master, Ed Hoch.
Her short story, "Red Meat," is in BLOOD ON THEIR HANDS, the Mystery Writers of America anthology edited by Lawrence Block. "Blonde Moment" is in the MWA anthology, SHOW BUSINESS IS MURDER, edited by Stuart Kaminsky. "Sex and Bingo" is featured in the HIGH STAKES gambling anthology. And if you've ever wondered about the early life of purple-loving landlady Margery Flax, read "Killer Blonde" in DROP-DEAD BLONDE.
Elaine has served on the national boards of the Mystery Writers of America and Sisters in Crime. She lives in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, with her husband, actor Don Crinklaw, where they collect speeding tickets.
Please buy her novels so she can pay her MasterCard.
Series:
* Dead-End Job Mystery
* Josie Marcus, Mystery Shopper
* Francesca Vierling Mystery
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
October 23, 2019
This book was super fun to read. Heartwarming, funny, and tragic, all at the same time. Even though this was I think #4 in the series, you can still pick this one up and read it without reading the previous books in the series. At least that's how it was for me. Highly recommend this book, and I'll probably read more of Viets' stuff. Francesca Vierling was a witty, funny character, and I liked all the rest, too. Some didn't have much character development, but they didn't need it. 5 stars, EASILY.
June 27, 2017
I've now read all four novels in this newspaper reporter series set in St. Louis. I enjoyed reading all four books.
June 10, 2017
I found out about the Francesca Vierling books from Goodreads. I am so glad I paid attention. This is a good solid mystery with two puzzlers. The main mystery has the added benefit of asking the question "are there people who we don't mind seeing murdered?" The solution is well done. I will read more of her books.
November 17, 2022
It was an OK tale but I found myself getting bored & losing track because of it. I was very pleased to find out that Jack was OK & had realised his dream. I liked the premise of the murders, the people killed deserved it, they were playing with the lives of some people who had little left to lose, but the road to discovery was fairly lacklustre.
February 26, 2017
The story started strong and then just went on and on.
By the end of the book, i had forgotten one of the story lines until she brought it up to bring to a close.
It was a good mystery, just drawn out.
plus, the HIPAA law did not infringe any of her medical contacts revealing information to her.
By the end of the book, i had forgotten one of the story lines until she brought it up to bring to a close.
It was a good mystery, just drawn out.
plus, the HIPAA law did not infringe any of her medical contacts revealing information to her.
May 24, 2014
#4 in the Francesca Vierling series. Author Viets wraps up this series with an above average entry. The series could probably have limped along for another entry or two, but columnist Francesca's professional life and her love life have reached logical stopping points for the series. Recommended.
Francesca Vierling series - 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.
Francesca Vierling series - 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.
July 28, 2011
Another great Francesca Vierling mystery set in St. Louis! What can you say when the murder victims (docs and other medical folks) are such horrible people to those around them that it's hard to find any sympathy for their deaths? This is what Francesca and the others around them are struggling with - but fear that the killer may take out innocent victims prompts her to once again try to find the killer.
If you live in St. Louis, you'll love the clearly identified locations, and have fun trying to put real IDs on those that are "masked" with different names.
If you live in St. Louis, you'll love the clearly identified locations, and have fun trying to put real IDs on those that are "masked" with different names.
September 1, 2008
The last of a 4 book series about Francesca Vierling, a 6' reporter for the St. Louis Gazette.
I never understood why she continued to work for the newspaper considering everything that she went through from the editors at the paper. However, she did what she had to do and managed to solve crimes along the way. Most of the time she just stumbled upon the killer or it wasn't who she thought.
The series isn't bad, just not my favorite by Elaine Viets
I never understood why she continued to work for the newspaper considering everything that she went through from the editors at the paper. However, she did what she had to do and managed to solve crimes along the way. Most of the time she just stumbled upon the killer or it wasn't who she thought.
The series isn't bad, just not my favorite by Elaine Viets
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October 1, 2011Various cancer professionals are being killed, our intrepid reporter Francesca Vierling can not resist solving this mystery. Along the way she also writes interesting columns about a male stripper and some other intriguing people of the St Louis area.
April 1, 2012
Someone is killing cruel or negligent doctors. Who would think of such a thing. This is the first in this series that I have read. It was an excellent story. The mystery wasn't the type you figure out, but the story was compelling.
July 12, 2016
I finally made it through all four, thank heavens. This one probably ranked in the top two of the four, but was still weak and (to me) boring; however, I got a lot of St Louis prompts from the series, which encouraged me to look up numerous fun things about the city.
April 24, 2017
Love Elains humor and precise writing. Her well developed characters and plausable plots are great.
Love Elains humor and precise writing. Her well developed characters and plausable plots are great. She needs to include the City Museum and the Snoiwflakey Lady in the next one.
Love Elains humor and precise writing. Her well developed characters and plausable plots are great. She needs to include the City Museum and the Snoiwflakey Lady in the next one.
January 18, 2014
The story moved along quite nicely, but I think I'm getting tired of cozy murder mysteries. Doesn't anyone trust the police to investigate?
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews