Killing Kelly [Hardcover]

Heather Graham (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 2005

A New York Times Bestselling Author

Playing Marla Valentine, the malicious, man-hating advice diva on a popular daytime soap, actress Kelly Trent has garnered wealth, fame - and more than her fair share of hate mail. She doesn't believe anyone would confuse her with Marla, but when an accident on set hits too close for the producers' comfort, Kelly's character is unceremoniously put on hiatus.

--This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

"Kelly smiled deeply at that, a full, rueful grin." "This is Sam," she said ruefully. "Sorry." Sam is a dog and maybe the only character who doesn't do rueful in bestselling Graham's (Night Heat, etc.) clunky romantic suspense tale. Soap actress Kelly Trent, who plays bitchy advice diva Marla Valentine, is given a lengthy, unsought leave of absence after a number of death threats, some near-lethal "accidents" and the murders of three real-life advice therapists. Her consolation prize is a starring role in a music video for the rock group Kill Me Quick, to promote their new song "Tango to Terror." Filming will take place on a private Florida island—Dead Man's Key. Can it be that Kelly's in danger? She doesn't think so, but her manager does. Enter Doug O'Casey, not-quite-retired private eye and tango instructor. Kelly resents his insistence that she needs his protection, but she's attracted in spite of herself. "One of the very slow, rueful smiles she found so appealing curled onto his lips." Graham introduces enough red herrings to make a seafood salad, while the ending leaves no doubt that Doug and Kelly will exchange rueful smiles forever after. Best moments: the tango scenes. (Mar.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Kelly Trent may play malicious Marla Valentine, advice therapist, on a television soap opera, but they have completely different personalities. A nearly fatal accident on the set is the excuse the soap's major sponsor uses to get back at Kelly for spurning his advances. Once Kelly is in a coma on TV and out of work in real life, her agent figures that now is a good time for her to dance in a music video for a new band. Kelly is teamed up to tango with bodyguard/dance instructor Doug O'Casey, who is more than a little concerned about Kelly's safety since a serial killer seems to be targeting advice therapists. Unfortunately, it seems that a fan of the soap opera doesn't really get the distinction between television and reality, and may have picked Kelly to be his next victim. Graham's writing appears effortless, creating a comforting and undemanding read, the perfect respite from everyday demands. Diana Tixier Herald
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Mira; 1ST edition (March 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0778321592
• ISBN-13: 978-0778321590
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,232,332 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

New York Times and USA Today best selling author, Heather Graham was born somewhere in Europe and kidnapped by gypsies when she was a small child. She went on to join the Romanian circus as a trapeze artist and lion tamer. When the circus came to South Florida, she stayed, discovering that she preferred to be a shark and gator trainer.

Not really.

Heather is the child of Scottish and Irish immigrants who met and married in Chicago, and moved to South Florida, where she has spent her life. (She has, at least, been to the Russian circus in Moscow, where she wished she was one of the incredibly talented and coordinated trapeze artists.) She majored in theater arts at the University of South Florida. After a stint of several years in dinner theater, back-up vocals, and bartending, she stayed home after the birth of her third child and began to write. Her first book was with Dell, and since then, she has written over one hundred and fifty novels and novellas including category, suspense, historical romance, vampire fiction, time travel, occult, horror, and Christmas family fare.

She is pleased to have been published in approximately twenty-five languages, and has had over seventy-five million books in print. She has been honored with awards from Walden Books, B. Dalton, Georgia Romance Writers, Affaire de Coeur, Romantic Times, the Lifetime Achievement Award from RWA and more. Heather has also become the proud recipient of the Silver Bullet from Thriller Writers. Heather has had books selected for the Doubleday Book Club and the Literary Guild, and has been quoted, interviewed, or featured in such publications as The Nation, Redbook, Mystery Book Club, People and USA Today and appeared on many newscasts including Today, Entertainment Tonight and local television.

Heather loves travel and anything that has to do with the water, and is a certified scuba diver. She also loves ballroom dancing. Each year she hosts the Vampire Ball and Dinner theater at the RT convention raising money for the Pediatric Aids Society and in 2006 she hosted the first Writers for New Orleans Workshop to benefit the stricken Gulf region. She is also the founder of "The Slush Pile Players", presenting something that's almost like entertainment for various conferences and benefits. Married since high school graduation and the mother of five, her greatest love in life remains her family, but she also believes her career has been an incredible gift, and she is grateful every day to be doing something that she loves so very much for a living.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Better than her Last One BUT................., February 25, 2005

By 

Elaine C McTyer "avid reader" (Dawson, GA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Killing Kelly (Hardcover)

Kelly Trent is a soap opera actress, who has an accident on the set. She could have been killed. So the producer of the soap puts her character in a coma so she can be protected (IF) someone is trying to kill her. It seems she plays an advice giving ballbuster on the show. (Her character reminded me alot of Susan Lucci's) When a television advice giver is murdered, her husband is arrested. Then somewhere in Ohio another radio advice giver drowns in her tub. Is this a coincidence? On the basis of these two deaths she is encouraged by her manager, agent and producer to take a vacation and do a music video for a group called "Kill Me Quick". The vacation is endorsed by the sponser of the soap,( maybe because she would not jump into bed with him). Anyway she has to dance a tango in the video.

Doug O'Casey is a dance teacher/private investigator who used to be a cop. WOW. He is hired to teach her to dance and also to be a kind of bodyguard. When he is not dancing in competitions he works with his brother who is married to a dancer who owns a dance studio. His brother is a PI.

With all this background which makes me a little nausous. The book gets somewhat better, and the romance and romantic scenes are some of her better work. I was really getting into it and thinking she was going to pull it off. But the resolution was the pits. Totally unsatisfying. It seemed to be something out of a soap opera. I wonder if she wrote herself into a hole and needed a quick fix to get out. This is not the worst book I have read, but I encourage you to get it from the library or wait for the paperback.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Inane tripe, June 15, 2005

By 

Beverley Strong (Australia) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Killing Kelly (Hardcover)

If I could have done so, I would not have given this book any stars at all. Kelly is a soap opera star who plays the role of a malicious and bitchy advice columnist on a popular day time TV show. After a series of near fatal accidents happen to her, the backers of the show decide that she should be given a leave of absence, just in case something happens to her which would be to the detriment of the show. Her agent books her to appear in a rock video where she is to play the part of a tango dancer, and hires a dance teacher/bodyguard to stay close to her at all times while teaching her the rudiments of the dance. Several more incidents occur during rehearsals and, instead of being grateful to her guardian who is repeatedly warning her to take commonsense measures to ensure her safety, this stupid airhead takes offence at his warnings and flouces off in a pet. I found this character to be not only incredibly stupid, but irritating in the extreme and in dire need of a good slap around the legs!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars & 1/2 stars: Not her best but still entertaining as a mystery, March 9, 2006

By 

Valerie Matteson "Bookaholic" (Ann Arbor, Michigan) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Killing Kelly (MIRA) (Mass Market Paperback)

"Killing Kelly" uses characters from two previous books "Dead on the Dance Floor" and "Dying to Have Her". If you haven't read either of those, I highly recommend them as both mysteries and romances!

Kelly Trent who plays viciously sniping advice columnist and younger sister of Serena McCormick on the soap opera "Valentine Valley" has had death threats and during the filming of a scene is nearly killed when a mound of dirt gives way pitching her towards a cliff. Her manager, Mel, and Joe Penney, the soap producer, decide to write her out of the show for now and put her character in a coma. Kelly is not happy with this and feels the shows sponsor, Matt Avery, may have had undue influence on Joe and since she had dated and rejected Matt, maybe he is out for revenge.

Mel signs Kelly up to do a rock video with an up and coming group. As part of the video Kelly needs to do a tango and since it will be shot in the Florida Keys, Mel hires Doug O'Casey (former cop and brother of Quinn from "Dead on the Dance Floor") to teach her and be a bodyguard.

As the story progresses there are more near-misses on Kelly's life and sparks of all kinds between Kelly and Doug. There are also several suspects so the final climax is definitely a surprise both who and why. I felt the mystery was the best part and the romance a little jerky and not as consistent as Ms. Graham's usual romances.

This is still a fun read if just to meet Kelly's dog Sam!