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Dying In Style (Josie Marcus, Mystery Shopper, Bk 1)
Dying In Style - Josie Marcus, Mystery Shopper, Bk 1
Author: Elaine Viets
Women would kill for Josie Marcus's job as mystery shopper, which takes her in and out of boutiques, supermarkets, even fast-food joints to report on quality and service. But it's hard work. Besides being a single mom to a nine-year-old, Josie is the undercover shopping police, protecting unsuspecting consumers everywhere. And she never falsi...  more »
PBS Market Price: $8.09 or $4.19+1 credit
ISBN-13: 9780451216793
ISBN-10: 0451216792
Publication Date: 10/4/2005
Pages: 288
Rating:
  • Currently 3.7/5 Stars.
 190

3.7 stars, based on 190 ratings
Publisher: Signet
Book Type: Paperback
Other Versions: Hardcover
Members Wishing: 0
Reviews: Member | Amazon | Write a Review

Top Member Book Reviews

Melissa1959 avatar reviewed Dying In Style (Josie Marcus, Mystery Shopper, Bk 1) on + 27 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 8
I loved this book, the first in Josie Marcus, Mystery Shopper series by Elaine Viets. Josie Marcus may not be living up to her full potential, but she's doing what she wants to do right now -- she's a mystery shopper who is able to spend quality time with her daughter and even her mother, who lives upstairs. Marcus' character is intelligent, feisty and darn funny. Surprisingly, the book also had a good plot that kept me guessing to the end. I think Viets has a good chance of making Viets into a best-loved cozy character.
algernon99 avatar reviewed Dying In Style (Josie Marcus, Mystery Shopper, Bk 1) on + 418 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 7
I like Elaine Viets' books. Really, I do. So bear that in mind while I complain a bit here.

First, as an experienced mystery shopper in today's world (I've done maybe a thousand shops over the last ten years for about 50 different mystery shopping companies), I have to tell you that this is not how mystery shopping works in today's world. This is pre-Internet stuff, the way it used to be done in the old days. It's much more streamlined these days. There may be a few of the old-line, local companies still in the business as described in this book; I have no way of knowing that. But the vast majority of mystery shopping now is done in a totally diffent way. (Viets says that her mother was a mystery shopper, and this is the way she did it. That's undoubtedly true.)

So I was disappointed to find that my favorite moonlighting job was not represented here.

My second disappointment was the that larger-than-life oddball characters just didn't ring true for me. The whole situation was over the top--for me.

I'm going to read the second one in the series and hope for some improvement in the plotline, but this one was a disappointment.
reviewed Dying In Style (Josie Marcus, Mystery Shopper, Bk 1) on + 17 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 5
1st in the series. Couldn't wait to get the next book.
Josie is a single mom who lives in the same apartment building as her mother. She is makes her living as a mystery shopper
Timbuktu126 avatar reviewed Dying In Style (Josie Marcus, Mystery Shopper, Bk 1) on + 479 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
I LOVE Elaine Viets's Dead End Job series, but for some reason never got any books from this series. But I enjoyed it. I liked the mystery shopper behind the scenes info as well as the plot. Good ending too- I really had no idea "whodunnit"!
reviewed Dying In Style (Josie Marcus, Mystery Shopper, Bk 1) on + 17 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
Great Book!
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reviewed Dying In Style (Josie Marcus, Mystery Shopper, Bk 1) on + 79 more book reviews
Chick-lit to a T. This had it all! A fun, quick beach read.
reviewed Dying In Style (Josie Marcus, Mystery Shopper, Bk 1) on + 157 more book reviews
Great story!
reviewed Dying In Style (Josie Marcus, Mystery Shopper, Bk 1) on + 7 more book reviews
LOVED it! So funny, fast read, and entertaining!!!

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