Elaine Viets is a Midwestern American newspaperwoman and mystery writer.
A native of St. Louis, Missouri, Viets has a degree in journalism and became a longtime popular media figure in St. Louis. She was a regular columnist for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch for twenty-five years, her columns focusing mostly on local issues and human-interest fare. She also hosted the local light-news television program Viets Beat, for which she won Emmy Awards in 1989 and 1990. After moving to Washington, D.C., and leaving the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Viets wrote a syndicated column carried by United Feature Syndicate and later by United Media.
She also began writing mystery novels and eventually left the newspaper business almost entirely to become a full-time novelist. Viets first drew on her professional experience to produce four novels set in St. Louis and featuring fictional St. Louis newspaper columnist Francesca Vierling (and exciting speculation over which characters might represent real-life Post-Dispatch figures).
By the time she had written the last of these, Viets had relocated to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in 1997, which became the locale for her next novels, the Dead-End Jobs series.[1] Viets researches these books herself by taking the same sort of low-level dead-end jobs - telemarketer, shop clerk, and so forth - as the series' protagonist, Helen Hawthorne.
Viets, married for over thirty years to author and actor Don Crinklaw, is active in the trade organizations Mystery Writers of America and Sisters in Crime. She is a board member of the Mystery Writers of America. In 2004 she was nominated for three Agatha Awards.[2] In 2005, she won awards presented for Best Short Story at two notable mystery conventions: an Agatha Award at Malice Domestic Ltd and an Anthony Award at Bouchercon, both for her story Wedding Knife.
On April 11, 2007, Viets's fellow contributors to The Lipstick Chronicles reported that Viets had suffered a stroke. According to a subsequent update, Viets is recovering well and is again creating mysteries based on real life and the people who live it.
She appeared one the very first episode of Mythbusters during the "Biscuit Bullet" story.
| Title | PublicationDate | Publisher | ISBN | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Back Stab | 1997 | Dell | ||
| 2 | Rubout | 1998 | Dell | ||
| 3 | The Pink Flamingo Murders | 1999 | Dell | ||
| 4 | Doc in the Box | 2000 | Dell |
| Title | PublicationDate | Publisher | ISBN | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shop Till You Drop | 2003 | Signet | ||
| 2 | Murder Between the Covers | 2003 | Signet | ||
| 3 | Dying to Call You | 2004 | Signet | ||
| 4 | Just Murdered | 2005 | Signet | ||
| 5 | Murder Unleashed | 2007 | Signet | ||
| 6 | Murder with Reservations | 2007 | NAL Hardcover | ||
| 7 | Clubbed to Death | 2008 | NAL Hardcover | ||
| 8 | Killer Cuts | 2009 | Signet | ||
| 9 | Half-Price Homicide | 2010 | NALObsidian | ||
| 10 | Pumped for Murder | 2011 | NALObsidian | ||
| 11 | Final Sail | 2012 | NALObsidian | ||
| 12 | Board Stiff | 2013 | NALObsidian | ||
| 13 | Catnapped! | 2014 | Obsidian | ||
| 14 | Checked Out | 2015 | NALPremier Mystery Series | ||
| 15 | The Art of Murder | 2016 | NALBerkley New American Library Premier Mystery Series |
| Title | PublicationDate | Publisher | ISBN | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dying in Style | 2005 | Signet | ||
| 2 | High Heels Are Murder | 2006 | Signet | ||
| 3 | Accessory to Murder | 2007 | Signet | ||
| 4 | Murder with All the Trimmings | 2008 | Signet | ||
| 5 | The Fashion Hound Murders | 2009 | Signet | ||
| 6 | An Uplifting Murder | 2010 | Obsidian | ||
| 7 | Death on a Platter | 2011 | Obsidian | ||
| 8 | Murder Is a Piece of Cake | 2012 | Obsidian | ||
| 9 | Fixing to Die | 2013 | Signet | ||
| 10 | A Dog Gone Murder | 2014 | Signet |
| Title | PublicationDate | Publisher | ISBN | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brain Storm | 2016 | Thomas & Mercer Brilliance Audio Kindle | |||||||
| 2 | Fire and Ashes | 2017 | Thomas & Mercer Brilliance Audio Kindle | |||||||
| 3 | Ice Blonde | 2018 | JABberwocky Literary Agency Kindle | 4 | Death Grip | 2021 | JABberwocky Literary Agency Kindle |
| Title | Contents | PublicationDate | Publisher | ISBN | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Images of St. Louis | Introduction | 2000 | University of Missouri | ||
| Blood On Their Hands | Red Meat | 2003 | Berkley Prime Crime | ||
| High Stakes | Sex and Bingo | 2003 | Signet | ||
| The World's Finest Mystery and Crime Stories | Red MeatSex and Bingo | 2004 | Forge | ||
| Chesapeake Crimes I | Wedding Knife | 2004 | Quiet Storm | ||
| Show Business is Murder | Blonde Moment | 2004 | Berkley Prime Crime | ||
| Drop-Dead Blonde | Killer Blonde | 2005 | Signet | ||
| Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine | After the Fall | January/February 2006 | |||
| Many Bloody Returns | Vampire Hours | 2007 | Ace Books | ||
| Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine | Death of a Condo Commando | May 2009 | |||
| Vampires in Love | Vampire Hours | 2010 | Barnes & Noble | ||
| Crimes by Moonlight | The Bedroom Door | 2010 | Berkley Prime Crime | ||
| Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine | Main Squeeze | November 2015 | |||
| Happy Homicides 2: Thirteen Cozy Mysteries | Red Meat | 2016 | Spot On PublishingKindle | ||
| Deal with the Devil and 13 Short Stories | The Seven | 2018 | Crippen & Landru |
| Title | Coauthor | PublicationDate | Publisher | ISBN | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Urban Affairs: Tales from the Heart of the City | 1988 | Patrice Press | |||
| Viets Guide to Sex, Travel and Anything Else That Will Sell This Book | 1993 | Patrice Press | |||
| St. Louis: Home on the River | Quinta Scott | 1995 | Towery Pub | ||
| How to Commit Monogamy: A Lighthearted Look at Long-Term Love | 1997 | Andrews McMeel Publishing | |||
| How to Survive the Happiest Day of Your Life | 1997 | Dh Audio (audio cassette) | |||
| Censored Viets | 1996 | Wildstone Audio (audio cassette) |