This is a guest post from Elaine Viets, author of the popular Josie Marcus mystery shopper mystery novels. Although mystery shoppers seldom get involved in murder investigations, other aspects of Josie’s life and career will be very familiar to mystery shoppers. Here is Elaine’s story of how she came to write a series of books about mystery shopping, and her personal mystery shopping past.

My mother was a mystery shopper in the mid-1960s. The job helped her escape four noisy kids and earn a little extra money for herself. Mystery shopping was the only work she was allowed outside the home.

It’s hard to understand her world now. The Sixties are seen as a wild time, but they weren’t for traditional blue collar wives. My father was a supervisor for Union Electric in St. Louis. My mom cleaned house and took care of three unruly boys and me. No mom in our neighborhood worked outside the home.Continue Reading