Working Stiff (A Mattie Winston Mystery, #1)

by Annelise Ryan

"Former nurse turned deputy coroner Mattie Winston has gone from working on live patients to cutting open corpses. But she has no idea that trading in her nurse's cap for a deputy coroner's badge will take her closer to her own death than she'd ever imagined. Mattie Winston's decision to change careers had nothing to do with a mid-life crisis or desire to suddenly spend a lot of time with a bunch of corpses. But catching her surgeon husband David Winston in the act of receiving some very special loving care from R.N. Karen Owenby was enough to make Mattie never want to show her face again in the hospital where they both worked. When her best friend Izzy suggests she'd be a natural as a deputy coroner, she reluctantly gives it a try. Now, instead of taking patients' pulses, she's weighing their hearts and livers. But living in Izzy's cottage, which just happens to be next door to her ex's house, is a little too close for comfort, and Mattie can't resist spying on her husband one night. Peeking into a window, Mattie glimpses Karen Owenby and David in the middle of a heated argument - one that leads to David shaking Karen violently by the shoulders ... The next day when Izzy takes Mattie on her first homicide call, Mattie's shocked to discover the victim is none other than Karen. Recalling the previous night's scene, she refuses to believe David could be a killer. Keeping mum about what she saw, Mattie is also left speechless by the sight of hunky Detective Steve Hurley ... Mattie's investigation soon turns up a host of dizzying revelations, including the fact that Karen wasn't who she said she was. From learning the ropes on her new job to sorting out her feelings about her ex and dealing with her growing attraction to Detective Hurley, Mattie's in deep water and in danger of sinking quickly, especially when she places herself dead center in the path of a desperate - yet determined - killer ..."--Publishers description.

• ISBN10: 1306664241
• ISBN13: 9781306664240
• Publish Date: 1 January 2010 (first published 1 September 2009)
• Publish Status: Active
• Out of Print: 1 April 2015
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Kensington Publishing Corporation
• Format: eBook
• Language: English

Reviews

[Mystereity Reviews]

I don't know why it took so long for me to hear about this series, but I'm happy I found it! Laugh out loud funny and suspenseful, it was impossible to put down. In fact, I started this on audiobook and it motivated me to get out for my daily walk, but switched to the Kindle copy because it was so good, I just couldn't wait any longer to finish it!

Mattie is equal parts hapless and unflappable, with a positive attitude that I really enjoyed and appreciated. Despite the setbacks of her failed marriage, her cheating husband accused of murder and quitting her job, she took it all in stride and kept going, no dwelling on a pity party for our Mattie. The other great characters made the book even more enjoyable, from the hairdresser at the funeral home to Joey the superhero to Izzy and Dom, I loved every one of them (well, except the reporter. Why does there always have to be an annoying reporter? Ugh.) The smoldering on/off romance was amusing and a tad overdone, but I enjoyed it anyway. I really liked the forensics trivia tucked in there (I'm a sucker for that stuff) and the well-crafted plot had plenty of surprise twists and turned up suspect after suspect, ending with a bittersweet unexpected revelation at the end. I didn't pick up on who the murderer was until just before the exciting (and slightly hilarious) ending. Altogether, this was an excellent start to a series and I'm already well into the second book. Outstanding!

[MurderByDeath]

Not a bad start to a series. Interesting blend of humour and drama and the characters are interesting enough for me to read the next one.