Death In Daytime: A Soap Opera Mystery [Paperback]

Eileen Davidson (Author)

Book Description

Series: SOAP OPERA MYSTERY | Publication Date: October 7, 2008

First in a fun new soap opera MYSTERY series—written by an emmy®-nominated soap star...

She’s bold. She’s beautiful. And she’s about to go to jail for murder...

Soap opera actress Alexis Peterson has starred in the nation’s top soap opera for almost 20 years. But her career takes a nose-dive when Marcy Blanchard is hired as the head writer. Little did Alexis realize that Marcy’s been holding a grudge all these years—and is ready to take her revenge.

So when Marcy turns up dead, bludgeoned to death with her Emmy®, no one is surprised that Alexis is the prime suspect. No one except Alexis, that is, who knows she has to take matters into her own hands if she wants to avoid being arrested for a crime she didn’t commit—and becoming the real killer’s next victim...

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Real-life soap actress Eileen Davidson brings a bland realism to her simplistic mystery series debut. When soap star Alexis Peterson discovers the body of a hated head writer, all suspicion is focused on her. Knowing her own innocence, she sets about trying to discover whodunit while avoiding harassment by the police, until the killer decides to come after her. Davidson throws in enough red herrings to keep readers guessing, but Peterson is a dry, self-centered protagonist with unclear motives and relationships. Her ostensible love triangle suggests uncertainty more on the author's part than the heroine's. The police are too nice to Peterson and she has no real conflict, especially with the mandatory gay best friend to give her perfect advice. Davidson's familiar name on the cover is the only thing that makes this mystery anything other than run-of-the-mill. (Oct.)
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Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Signet (October 7, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451225643
• ISBN-13: 978-0451225641
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #731,840 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "My name is Alexis Peterson and I'm not a diva.", October 10, 2008

By 

K. M. "literary devotee" (California) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

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This review is from: Death In Daytime: A Soap Opera Mystery (Paperback)

Current The Bold and the Beautiful star Eileen Davidson joins other daytime drama vets Harley Jane Kozak, Louise Shaffer, and Finola Hughes in adding "author" to her curriculum vitae. Death in Daytime is the first of a projected cozy mystery series (the second will be entitled Dial Emmy for Murder) starring Alexis Peterson. The intrepid Alex, narrator of these Soap Opera Mysteries, amateur sleuth out of the necessity of keeping herself out of jail, and heroine of course, happens to star in the The Yearning Tide, a fictional analogue for the the real soaps where Davidson has worked.

Naturally, none of the characters literally depict real persons, but soap fans might have fun trying to guess which real actor, writer, producer, or crew member inspired this or that aspect of Davidson's creations. For instance, it may not be too difficult to guess the actual head writer[s] who might have served as model[s] for Marcy Blanchard, the witch who hates Alex and wants to write out her popular character, Tiffany Benedict.

When Marcy buys the farm unnaturally, Alex becomes suspect prime. She and her CSI show consultant boyfriend poke into the possibilities themselves, leading Alex to another body. Meanwhile, one of the two L.A. detectives investigating the murders is a starry-eyed fan of The Yearning Tide and Tiffany and the other one and Alex begin to form a mutual attraction between their real life selves. But Alex, who has a three-year-old daughter and a devoted mother, is less interested in romance than in clearing her name and keeping herself from becoming the killer's next victim.

Alex is a kick: she, one guesses, is an alter ego of sorts of Davidson's. She is offended when people call her a "diva" saying, "I've never been a diva." She also bemoans a rumor about herself that claimed she was actually a man, and there is a chuckle in reading her annoyance at the ridiculousness of it all. Ah, the price of being a soap celebrity, real or fictional.

Davidson puts together a light, enjoyable read. The identity of the murderer isn't totally obvious -- always a plus. The structure of the mystery itself isn't off-the-charts ingenious, and this is one of those books that moves rapidly from plot point to plot point (a bit like a modern soap, perhaps) with pretty basic dialogue as connective hookups. But Death in Daytime is still good fun, especially for fans of Davidson or the soaps in general.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Solid start to a new series, October 8, 2008

By 

Amy Leemon (North Fond du Lac, WI) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Death In Daytime: A Soap Opera Mystery (Paperback)

Eileen Davidson played Ashley on "The Young and the Restless" and is now starring on "The Bold and the Beautiful" so there is a lot of insider information about soaps in this mystery.

It's the first in a series so a lot of the continuing characters are introduced - Alexis's family, boyfriend, co-workers and of course, the police detective who I'm sure will be in the next book.

The head writer on "The Yearning Tide" is murdered with her emmy, of all things, and Alexis is the main suspect. They had had a big argument and to Alexis's dismay, many of her co-workers think she did it. The police seem to agree so of course its up to Alex to clear her name.

Alex is likeable and the insights into the world of soap operas make it an above average cozy.

I don't know when book 2 is coming out but the title is "Dial Emmy for Murder".

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a soap lovers kind of boook, February 2, 2009

By 

Earlene Garnitz (wv usa) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Death In Daytime: A Soap Opera Mystery (Paperback)

after having watched soap operas for more years that i would like to admit. this book was like seeing the show behind the show. very interesting and was able to keep my attention as i read.