A Scarlet Death

 

A Scarlet Death by Elaine Viets (2024) 231 pages

Angela Richman is a Death Investigator who gathers a slew of information at the scenes of murders and hands off the info to the county's medical examiner. Like other stories in the series, which is set in a fictional area described as 40 miles west of St. Louis, Angela is working with Jace, a police detective at the scene of a murder. An older man of wealth and respectability has been found dead in his love nest—an apartment over a chocolate shop—on a 9-foot square "Alaskan" king-sized bed with black silk sheets. He is naked, except for a blue tie and a woolen letter "A" on his chest. This is the first of a few cases they handle in this book, and if you like details about what death investigators look for, this is a book that will hold your interest. Angela works with Jace to help solve the cases, as well.

Additionally, Angela's relationship with Chris, a policeman in the same department, advances when Chris asks Angela to marry him. Like a stunned rabbit, she avoids answering, not sure if she wants to marry again after having lost her first husband at a young age. When Chris is badly injured in an area far from his usual beat, his coma turns their lives upside down..

The antagonists in Viets's stories might be slightly caracatured, but she creates characters one loves to hate. Her protagonists always seem relatable, with dialogue that feels natural. The solutions of the murders felt right, but after that, there was an ending I didn't expect.

A Star is Dead

A Star is Dead by Elaine Viets (2019) 212 pages

Angela Richman is a death investigator. She works with police, going to the scenes of deaths and documenting everything she can with notes and photographs: the position and condition of the body, the temperature, etc. Her profession differs from that of a medical examiner.

In this novel, the fourth in this series, Angela's friend Mario, owner of a salon, is hired to handle the hair styling needs of Jessica Gray, an aging actress who is making the rounds  in theaters, both spewing hateful comedy and attempting to sell her beauty products. When Jessica dies, Mario is charged with her murder, in spite of the fact that there is no shortage of suspects. Angela tries to maintain her professional career without seeming too vested in trying to gather evidence that her friend is not guilty of murder.

 Viets, a St. Louis native, sets the location of the series about 30 miles west of St. Louis, and adds a lot of St. Louis flavor to her writing. The dialogue is natural, with a good share of humor spliced in. The main characters are likeable (except for Detective Greiman, whose literary job is to remain a jerk), and I was kept guessing who the murderer was. I especially enjoy this series.

Late For His Own Funeral

 

Late For His Own Funeral by Elaine Viets (2022) 227 pages

Sterling Chaney's car had crashed, rendering the driver unidentifiable. He was declared dead. As it turns out, someone else had stolen his Porsche and died in the wreck. When Sterling shows up at his own funeral with a bottle of Johnny Walker, it causes quite a stir.

Sterling's wife, Camilla, had previously kicked him out as a result of his serial infidelity. After his "return from the dead," though, she agrees to a reconciliation. But when it is publicly revealed that Sterling makes his money from running a business where women read sexual scripts to men, and that these women barely make a living while Sterling and his manager rake in great wealth, Camilla is disgusted and kicks him out again. It's also clear that Sterling is already straying.

When yet another car wreck occurs, really killing Sterling and a female passenger, Camilla is the prime suspect. Her friend, Angela Richmond, the death investigator for the county, makes it her mission to find out who the real killer is, even as it strains the relationships Angela has with two police officers, Chris Ferretti, her boyfriend, and Jace Budewitz, an officer she often worked with.

Elaine Viets again produces a story with all the drama of a good mystery, with realistic details and relationships, along with a smattering of humor.

Ice Blonde

 

Ice Blonde by Elaine Viets (2018) 156 pages

This novella by St. Louis native Elaine Viets features Angela Richman, a death investigator based in the fictional Chouteau County, Missouri, "ten square miles of white privilege about 30 miles west of St. Louis." Juliet, a sixteen year old with "future debutante" written all over her, didn't arrive home after a party (complete with alcohol) at her cousin's home. The housekeeper was in a panic and notified Juliet's parents, who flew home from a ski trip in their private jet, to prod the local authorities into action.

The parents arrive at Angela's home at 6:30 am, hoping that she has some pull and can get the more experienced police detectives out looking for Juliet. Angela is quite concerned when she learns that Juliet was likely out in the snowy, below-zero weather without a coat. She had been wearing just a strapless dress, velveteen jacket, and heels. As the physical search gets underway, Angela reaches out to some of Juliet's friends to learn where she could possibly be and whether she had a boyfriend (which Juliet's parents had too fiercely denied). These rich young people don't seem to understand the gravity of the situation, and it's all Angela can do to pull information out of them. Meanwhile, it seems that the rich, older people are more concerned about their families' reputations and whether their donations and their connections will net their daughters a coveted spot on the court at the annual Daughters of Versailles Ball.

This was a quick read, with more than a pinch of St. Louis flavor.