The third installment in Elaine Viets’ peppy and enthralling mystery series finds Helen Hawthorne working for a boiler room telemarketing company.  Her job – to sell a septic product that is as useless as the stuff you would find in your septic tank!  However, Helen needs the cash/under-the-table payment plan, so for that she’ll sell just about anything.

When she is moved temporarily to survey taking, Helen is overjoyed!  Her shift will be spent calling wealthy residents and asking them about vodka—easy money!  However, her joy is short lived when she over hears someone being strangled.  The police check things out and buy the homeowner’s story that he had the TV up too loud.  Helen knows that was not any television show – those sounds were real.

After doing a little snooping, Helen learns that the man she called was living with a woman who is now missing.  Helen and the missing woman’s sister team up to uncover the truth.  This time the truth will put Helen into situations she never imagined. 

If you have not read the previous two books, I would start with those.  Elaine Viets does bring new readers up to date, but personally I can’t imagine missing any of them.  Packed with witty, delightful characters, Elaine’s books show the gritty details of some of today’s employment offerings.  The past two have shown the life of a designer clothing salesperson and a bookstore employee.  This time, however, delving into the life of a telemarketer paints a new picture.  How many of us stop to think about the person who is just trying to make a decent living?  Of course, this doesn’t mean I will be taking my name off the Do Not Call list. 

Regular readers of this entertaining series will be delighted to know that Phil the Pothead has a much more demanding role in this book.  You finally get to “see” what Phil looks like, and you learn more about how he really spends his days.  That alone makes this book a must read!