MURDER UNLEASED by Elaine Viets (New American Library)

I've been reading Elaine Viets since her first book came out, and the "dead end job" series is my favorite. Helen Hawthorne has settled into a series of truly awful jobs but she's tempered her life with truly caring friends and a new love interest. In this outing, the job isn't really so bad—she's working in the Pampered Pet Boutique—but the animal parents are frequently over the top. When she delivers one pampered pet to his owner, Helen finds the woman not dead drunk, but dead. In case murder isn't enough, the boutique's groomers are at war, Ft. Lauderdale's most valuable dog is pupnapped, and a hurricane is targeting the city. I always feel better after an afternoon with Helen—my problems pale!