|
[ Home ]
[ About | Reviews | Search | Submit ]
After a violent incident with her ex-husband, former pensions and benefits director Helen Hawthorne is hiding out in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, working minimum wage jobs so she can be paid cash in hand. This keeps her off computer databases and means she can't be tracked down. Thus in the previous books in this series she worked in an exclusive boutique (SHOP TILL YOU DROP) and in a bookstore (MURDER BETWEEN THE COVERS). In DYING TO CALL YOU she finds herself working double shifts as a telemarketer selling septic tank cleaning systems over the phone. It's not exactly glamorous, but on the plus side it pays better than any of her previous jobs. Helen takes a lot of verbal abuse, and working conditions in the 'boiler room' are grim, but if she sells a lot in a morning, she often gets to work in the exalted Survey Department in the evenings. One night, whilst conducting a survey, Helen calls the home of a rich local financier, Hank Asporth. She hears an argument and screaming in the background, and is convinced she has heard a murder take place. The police investigate but find nothing to corroborate her fears. Helen is so sure of what she heard that she searches the company's database for more information on Mr Asporth and soon identifies a potential victim, Laredo Manson. Laredo is missing and Helen joins forces with Laredo's sister Savannah to investigate further. Before long, Helen finds herself embroiled in a very seedy side of the lives of some of Fort Lauderdale's most prominent citizens, and the bodies start to mount up. DYING TO CALL YOU is a fun light read with some very humorous moments. It's a little raunchier than its prequels but readers who enjoyed those, and Evanovich fans, should be entertained by this book too. It would easily stand alone though, as there are very few references to past adventures, and the main back story explaining why Helen is on the run is recapped during the book as if the reader is hearing it for the first time. Happily we get to spend more time with Helen's landlady Margery and we finally get to meet her neighbour Phil the (previously) invisible pot head. There are also two new characters staying at the Coronado apartment complex where Helen lives, and they provide a good secondary plot too. The author worked as a telemarketer herself to research this book, and we get a very interesting look behind the scenes at how such businesses are run, how their staff are motivated to sell, and the ploys they will adopt on the phone. I enjoyed this aspect a great deal. DYING TO CALL YOU is too modern and sexy to be considered a true cozy, despite including many cozy elements. If you want a quick easy read with some dry humour and a healthy dose of escapism, this is a book you'll enjoy.
Reviewed by Bridget Bolton, December 2004
[ Top ]
QUICK SEARCH:
Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
[ About | Reviews | Search | Submit ]
[ Home ]
| 
