Working Stiff: A Sofie Metropolis Novel

Copy Cat

This is nothing more that a stolen Janet Evanovich. A PI, read bail bondsman, who's not very good, 2 men, one perfect one unattainable, an overbearing mother, silent father, a grandmother and an aunt who owns a mortuary. Such possibility but no real depth of character. And nothing that makes you laugh like Stephanie Plum. Not worth the hardback price.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

LOVE THIS SERIES

I am a fan of Janet Evanovich and now a huge fan of Torri Carrington and her Sofie Metropolis PI series. Just wish the book Foul Play in the series was also an E-book. Can't wait for the next Sofie novel.

A reviewer

Tori Carrington have out down themselves again. Each book with Sofie Metropolis gets better and Sofie grows up a little bit more. She improves with each experince she has had and has learned from any mistakes she has made. It is the week before Halloween and a body is missing from her Aunt's Funeral Home which she must find it before word gets out on the street. A new animal arrives into her life, but will he or she stay? Who is going to be the man in her life - Jake Porter or Dino? Working Stiff is fourth in the series but like the other three you do not need to read the ones before it to understand all of the things that have happened in Sofie's life. Each book, just like this one, can stand alone. Just like those books, this one is a must read...enjoy!

Worth a look

I know that some have made unfavorable comparisons to the Stephanie Plum series but I enjoyed this book overall. In fact I liked Sofie better than Stephanie. I found Sophie Metropolis to be an interesting character who could develop into a nice series. I think in some ways that this novel is a bit of a send up of female detectives written from the perspective of romance writers. However, the romance angle is the part I got tired of fast. Sofie¿s obsession with the Australian hunk got old fast and the sexual tension was too much. I did like the description of the ¿hound from hell¿, especially since I have a friend who owns a neurotic Jack Russell terrier. Overall the book is a quick read and is certainly worth a look.

To Much Life Stephanie Plum

I am a fan of Tori Carrington however, this read to much like Janet Evanovich's Plum series. Same ethnic,dysfunctional family, same hot guy showing up all the time and a cop who is a part of her past. I am disappointed.

Has potential but doesn't live up to it...

As an avid fan of Evanovich's Stephanie Plum novels, I thought that this novel looked similar and I was eager to read it. While I felt that the character was likeable and had potential, the storyline felt too disjointed to me. There are so many threads to the storyline that seem to go nowhere and are dropped at the end of the book. I think the authors intend to pick these threads up in future novels but including them here just made the novel too messy. Had these jumbles of ideas either been addressed or not brought up in the first place, I would have liked the book a lot better. I hope the authors realize that sometimes one or two main threads are all that is necessary for a good book.

Great fun!

After catching her intended in a clutch with her maid of honor, in the church before their wedding nonetheless, Sofie Metropolis sets out to change her life. Sofie quits her job waiting tables in her family¿s cafes and begins working at her uncle¿s detective agency. Her spare time, if you could call it that, is spent attempting to collect rent from the financially challenged tenants in the apartment building that she received as a wedding gift from her family. When Sofie¿s detective job requires her to find a missing man thought by some to be a vampire, a missing Jack Russell terrier and attempting to expose a cheating wife, she finds herself hiding from the FBI with a sexy man of mystery, Jake Porter. Sofie wants Jake to be more than just her own personal protector, but she does not even know and cannot seem to find out, just who he really is. The expectations of Sofie¿s family and friends would be the undoing of the average woman. Sofie, however, seems to thrive on them using them as fuel to strengthen herself as a woman. Sofie¿s unyielding drive and determination is heartening, an endearing quality that everyone in her life come to expect. Jake is, of course, the stuff of every woman¿s dreams. The team of Tori Carrington has once again given us an adorable character that is intelligent and strong. Secondary characters are directly out of everyone¿s family and neighborhood, cleverly written with incredible imagination and humor. Readers are made to feel as if they have stepped through the pages and directly into Sofie¿s life. This book is chick lit at its best, with sexual references being made, but containing no sex scenes. The lack of explicitness makes this a book that will appeal to a very broad audience. Sofie¿s Greek family is written with such realistic detail that you can picture and hear them in your mind for some time after you put the book down. The quirky Sofie will remain with you also, just like an old friend. This book is exceptionally written with lovable characters it is easy to give it an outstanding recommendation. Courtesy Laurie/Romance Junkies.

Move over Stephanie Plum...Sofie has arrived!!!

When Sofie catches her finance with his pants down in the arms of her maid of honor just minutes before she is supposed to say I do she takes that as a sign and decides she will completely change her life. Despite her families objections she calls off the wedding but keeps the ring and the wedding gifts. She quits her waitress job in the family restaurant and takes a job in her uncle, Spyro¿s detective agency. Sofie¿s first case is to catch a cheating spouse and simple as that sounds she soon finds herself in a shoot out outside a hotel. Enter mysterious Australian hunk Jake Porter to save Sofie¿s hide. This simple case seems to be something much more than first expected but Sofie is determined to get to the bottom of it even if it kills her. Sofie picks up a couple more cases along the way. Her mother¿s best friend and next door neighbor, Mrs. Kapoor¿s dog has been dog napped and Sofie is chosen to find the mutt. Also the vampireish man down the street Mr. Romanoff seems to have vanished to be replaced by his equally strange nephew. Has the old man met with foul play? It¿s up to Sofie to figure it out. In the first of what looks to be a highly entertaining series from the writing team of Tori Carrington Sofie Metropolis proves to be a laugh out loud read. Sofie and family give the reader a hilarious glimpse into the life of a Greek Family. Many secondary characters prove to be very interesting and hopefully they will be more fully developed in upcoming installments of this series. The renters in Sofie¿s apartment house were of particular interest and Sofie¿s mysterious Australian hottie Jake Porter made for a sexy diversion from the everyday life of an amateur PI. Sofie Metropolis is a charming beginning to what promises to be a successful series for this talented writing duo. I can¿t wait for the next installment.

Excellent mystery

Greek-American Sofie ¿Sof¿ Metropolis has always been a well behaved respectful daughter. That is until moments before her marriage ceremony when she sees her groom ¿schtupping¿ the maid of honor. Sof dumps the womanizing former fiancé, keeps the presents, quits her waitress job at her family's restaurant, and joins Uncle Spyros¿ detective agency......................... Sof expects glamour, but finds boredom and being on call 24/7 the norm. Her neighbor the forgetful Mrs. Kapoor demands Sof find her missing Muffy, an evil canine who the unlicensed sleuth (blame that on New York State¿s stupid law) believes should stay lost. Sof also must prove that Mr. Romanoff still lives instead of being spiked in the heart as one would do to kill a vampire. Then there is her paying client, Bud Suleski, who wants her to obtain evidence that his wife is cheating on him. While juggling her cases, the FBI seeks her and Jake Porter, who does not exist in any database. Jake keeps helping her out of trouble at timely moments as if he is her personal Aussie angel though she wants a lot more with the attractive hero........................... This terrific private investigative tale reads more like a chick lit amateur sleuth novel as Sofie is a rookie learning on the job. The story line focuses on her lighthearted cases with a hint of romance between the heroine and Jake. Tori Carrington writes a fun breezy detective tale starring a likable protagonist who brings alive the mean street of Queens, New York.................. Harriet Klausner

A different type of P.I.

Sofie 'Sof' Metropolis lives in Queens. She is a young Greek-American. She did everything a nice Greek girl was supposed to do in order to please her family. But that all changed when Sofie caught her groom doing a lot more than kissing the maid of honor only moments before the wedding. Amazingly, her family and the priest tried to get her to go through with the wedding anyway. Well, Sofie began thinking for herself right then! She punched out the priest, chucked the engagement ring into the garbage disposal, quit her waitress job at the family's Greek restaurant, and became a junior detective for her uncle's detective agency. ............................................. Being a P.I. is not glamourous as everyone believes. Sofie had gone to school with Pimply Pino. With Pino now a copy and her a P.I. things are even worse now than back in school. Being a P.I. also means that the family volunteers your services too, no matter how busy you are. So Sofie finds herself multitasking. Mrs. K, the nosy neighbor, insists Sofie locate her mongrel (a mean Jack Russell terrier named Muffy) that has disappeared. She must also prove to various people that another neighbor, Mr. Ivan Romanoff, has NOT been knocked off by one of his relatives. (Sof will not even attempt to make them believe he is not a real vampire.) At the same time she must pay her bills by doing what her client, Bud Suleski, hired her to do which is to prove that his wife is having an affair. And just WHY is the FBI hunting her? Sofie has to keep the FBI from finding her just so she can do her job. ............................................. Oh, and one last thing, the mystery man. Jake Porter will not say who he is or what he does. Background check says he does not exist. Yet he keeps popping up to help her. He is especially handy with tinkering under the hood of her Mustang. But she wishes he would tinker more with her. .................................................................... ...................... **** This story takes 'Fiction' to a whole new level. More than one plot is continuously running. There are also a few sub-plots to keep the pace moving at a good clip. Romance is touched on, but no hot scenes, so either gender will enjoy the ride. Of course, everything closes neat and tidy. Yet Tori Carrington ends it in a way so that another 'Sofie' book may come out in the future. I certainly hope there is another! Lots of action, comedy, and mystery rolled into one great tale. Recommended reading. ****

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