This spring, check out my new Dead End Job Mystery. In Checked Out, South Florida private eye Helen Hawthorne is looking for a missing million dollar watercolor stashed in a book and accidentally donated to a library. While Helen searches stacks of dusty books, Phil, her husband and PI partner, has his own dead end job. Phil is undercover, doing yard work in the sizzling sun while he tries to find a stolen necklace and a golf-cart rustler. Hey, pardner, that’s a crime in filthy rich neighborhoods.

Keep this quiet, but I learned lots of library secrets researching this mystery. I volunteered at the Galt Ocean Mile Reading Center, my local Fort Lauderdale library.

Reviewers love Checked Out. “Snappy,” Publishers Weekly said. “Another great read from a master storyteller” – Suspense Magazine.


    I’m booked for a 12-day tour, May 1-12. It starts in Maryland, then heads for the North Carolina Research Triangle with three top mystery writers: Frances Brody, Ann Cleeves and award-winning Marcia Talley, author of the Hannah Ives mysteries. Frances Brody's Murder in the Afternoon was a Library Journal 2014 Best Mystery. Ann Cleeves' mysteries are two PBS series, “Vera” and “Shetland.” From North Carolina, I go alone to my hometown, St. Louis.




 

Elaine Viets on Tour

 

Spring into Maryland

Saturday, May 2, 10 AM. Malice Domestic Mystery Convention, Bethesda. “Cozy Noir: Private Eyes” panel with V.I. Warshawski's creator, Sara Paretsky, and mystery writers Alice Loweecey, Lane Stone, Sheila York and me. I sign Checked Out at 11 AM. Details:  elaineviets.com/new/events

Sunday, May 3, 7 PM. Ivy Bookshop, Baltimore. Four Women of Mystery signing with Frances Brody, Ann Cleeves, Marcia Talley and me. Details:  elaineviets.com/new/events
 

Deadlier than the Male: North Carolina Research Triangle Tour

Tuesday, May 5, 7 PM. Flyleaf Books, Chapel Hill. Details:  elaineviets.com/new/events

Wednesday, May 6,
      12 Noon. “Brown Bag Lunch with Frances Brody, Ann Cleeves, Marcia Talley and Elaine Viets” at the Halle Cultural Arts Center, Apex. Details:  elaineviets.com/new/events

     7 PM. Panel and signing, Quail Ridge Books & Music, Raleigh. Details:  elaineviets.com/new/events

Thursday, May 7
     2 PM. Molly on Mysteries, Page-Walker Cultural Arts Center, Cary. Details:  elaineviets.com/new/events

     5:30 PM. Talk and signing, The Country Bookshop, Southern Pines. Details:  elaineviets.com/new/events
 

 Meet Me in St. Louis: From Ladue to Barnhart, Mother’s Day Weekend

Saturday, May 9
          11 to 1:30 PM.  Municipal Library Consortium Book Fair and Benefit Signing at Barnes & Noble Ladue. Ten percent of all store sales will be donated to the nine consortium libraries: University City, Webster Groves, Kirkwood, Richmond Heights, Ferguson, Rock Hill, Maplewood, Valley Park and Brentwood. Details:  elaineviets.com/new/events

           4 PM.  Talk and signing, Festus Public Library, Festus. Details:  elaineviets.com/new/events

Mother’s Day Sunday, May 10
          1 PM. Mother's Day talk and signing at Barnes and Noble - West County Center, Des Peres.Details:  elaineviets.com/new/events

          4 to 5 PM. Mother's Day talk and signing at the Book House, Maplewood. Details:  elaineviets.com/new/events

Monday, May 11   
          2 PM. Talk and signing at the Windsor Branch Library, Barnhart Details:  elaineviets.com/new/events
          7 PM. Benefit for Animal House at Left Bank Books, St. Louis. $30 ticketed event includes a hardcover Checked Out and a donation to the no-kill cat shelter.Details:  elaineviets.com/new/events

Tuesday, May 12  
          12 Noon to 1 PM. Hush-Hush unofficial signing, Barnes & Noble Mid Rivers Mall, St. Peters. Details:  elaineviets.com/new/events
 

South Florida Sprint

Thursday, May 14, 7 PM. Talk and signing at Barnes & Noble, Plantation. Details:  elaineviets.com/new/events

Friday, May 15, 7 to 8 PM. Signing at Well Read Books & Gallery, Fort Lauderdale. Details:  elaineviets.com/new/events

Saturday, May 16, 2 to 4 PM. Signing at Barnes & Noble, Fort Lauderdale. Details:  elaineviets.com/new/events

Tuesday, May 19, 7 to 8 PM. Delray Beach Library benefit and signing at Murder on the Beach Bookstore, Delray. Ten percent of all in-store sales donated to the Delray Beach Library. Details:  elaineviets.com/new/events

Memorial Day Weekend Saturday, May 23, 12 Noon to 4 PM. Sip & Shop Benefit for the Boynton Beach Library at the J. McLaughlin store, Palm Beach Gardens Mall. Fifteen percent of all sales will be donated to the Friends of the Boynton Beach Library. Details:  elaineviets.com/new/events

Tuesday, June 9, 1 to 2 PM. “Escape the Ordinary With Elaine Viets,” Broward County Main Library, Fort Lauderdale.Details:  elaineviets.com/new/events

 Want autographed copies of Checked Out, but can’t make a signing? Call any store on the tour and order signed copies. The store will mail your books or you can pick them up at your convenience.         
           

Check out the gifts and freebies at www.elaineviets.com

Download the Libraries and Las Vegas poster here.
Buy the Libraries and Las Vegas T-shirt and more at:  http://www.elaineviets.com/new/merchandise/default.asp
Win a free hardcover Checked Out. Click Contests at www.elaineviets.com.