Death Gets A Time-Out (Mommy-track) [Bargain Price] [Paperback]

Ayelet Waldman (Author)

Book Description

Series: Mommy-track | Publication Date: June 1, 2004

Between juggling lunchboxes, piano lessons, and baby-sitters, public defender turned stay-at-home mom Juliet Applebaum promises to help her famous friend clear her brother's name of murder. But what will she do when she begins to suspect her friend may not be as innocent as she seems?

Editorial Reviews

Review

A funny, quick-witted protagonist. -- Houston Chronicle

A perky, enthusiastic, and infectious read. -- Library Journal

A perky, enthusiastic, and infectious read. (Library Journal) A funny, quick-witted protagonist. (Houston Chronicle)

About the Author

Ayelet Waldman is a Harvard Law School graduate and former public defender who is now a stay-at-home mom. She currently lives with her writer husband Michael Chabon and three children. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Berkley (June 1, 2004)
• ISBN-10: 0425197123
• ASIN: B001PIHS2Y
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 0.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,821,978 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hot on the Mommy-Track, August 12, 2003

By 

Sarah Rocklin (Timonium, MD USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Death Gets a Time-Out (Mommy-Track Mysteries) (Hardcover)

I've read all of Ayelet Waldman's Mommy Track mysteries and this one may be the best yet. Juliet Applebaum is at work again, to clear the name of her best friend's step-brother. She must discover what went on in the past to figure out what has happened in the present. In the course of her investigation, she begins to wonder if she won't clear her friend's step-brother only to find out that her friend is the killer!

The usual humor of Ms. Waldman's mysteries is in full flow here. Juliet is someone you'd love to have as a friend in the good times and would hope to have as a champion in the bad times.

This is an exceedingly fun series.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Likeable heroine in a readable mystery, August 11, 2003

By 

Dr Cathy Goodwin (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Death Gets a Time-Out (Mommy-Track Mysteries) (Hardcover)

I was hooked as soon as I read page one, and had trouble putting down the book until the end. This is a tribute to Ayelet Waldman's skill as a writer as well as her likeable heroine.

The ending is pretty easy to guess (well, except for the exact villain, and by the end it didn't matter which of two or three possibles was actually guilty). The heroine remains charming -- the kind of person you'd want to know as a neighbor, a "normal," unglamorous mom on the edge of the Hollywood scene. The plot elements actually seem a little stale: true/false memories, rehab center with psychiatrist who's a little too cozy with his patients, cult, ex-hippies with names like Polaris and Jupiter.

Still, I read the book all the way through and I never once felt the urge to pull out the blue pencil and second-guess the writer or the editors. And we get some comic relief with vignettes of family life from the mommy perspective. Juliet's children are typical little terrors. Her husband, Peter, is almost too good to be true.

This is a cozy mystery, deftly plotted, perfect for an escape, by a real pro. With fresher plot ingredients and a little more character depth, would be five stars.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Juliet looks for a murderer in the past, March 31, 2005

By 

Booked4Life "booked4life" (middle america) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Death Gets A Time-Out (Mommy-track) (Paperback)

This entry in the mommy-track mystery series follows Juliet as she tries to be a good mommy, wife, and detective--with morning sickness interruptions.

Juliet detects in various interesting places, including a drug treatment clinic for the very rich, a strange Raellian-like cult, Hollywood, a Mexican commune in the 60's, and among the Pasadena politicos.

An interesting mystery with lots of interesting twists.