Review: Dial Emmy for Murder & Giveaway

Summary: Tabloids and fans are stunned when daytime soap opera star Alexis Peterson leaves her show. She’s too busy with her new job as presenter at the Daytime Emmy® Awards to even notice. But when a co-presenter goes missing on award night, Alexis is determined to find who is killing Hollywood’s biggest and brightest before another burns out... -- Obsidian

I was looking for a light, quick read to take with me to the pool the other day, and I thought DIAL EMMY FOR MURDER by Eileen Davidson and co-authored by Robert Randisi sounded like it might hit the spot. I wanted an entertaining book that would hold my interest, but I didn't want to have to concentrate too much because I still needed to be able to watch my kiddos. DIAL EMMY FOR MURDER was ideal, and I actually enjoyed it quite a bit.

When I was growing up, I was a huge fan of The Young and The Restless as well as Eileen Davidson -- I always loved Ashley Abbott. When I found out that Ms. Davidson was writing a mystery series and that it was getting some positive reviews, I knew I had to give it a try. It's a little embarrassing to admit this, but one of my main reasons for reading this book is that I wanted to learn a little bit about the world of daytime drama. DIAL EMMY FOR MURDER gave me that scoop, and it's apparent that Ms. Davidson's 25 plus years in daytime drama have made her an expert on this topic.

I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed reading DIAL EMMY FOR MURDER. I used to read ton of mysteries and then I became more interested in other genres. While I don't pick up mysteries very often anymore, I still find that I like them when I do. DIAL EMMY FOR MURDER had all of the elements that make for an entertaining mystery. The story kept me guessing and was suspenseful, but it also had some likable characters. It didn't hurt that I found myself laughing a few times too.

While I enjoyed the story with its fair share of twists and turns, I think my favorite part of this book were the characters. Of course, that's probably the intention when an author sets out to write a series -- create likable characters so readers gets caught up in their story. I really liked Alex, a single mom and soap star, who also happened to be an amateur sleuth; and I found myself quite interested in her love life. I thought Ms. Davidson did a good job of keeping the book pretty clean (although there was some bad language) while also creating tension between Alex and Jakes, the investigating police officer (whom I really liked by the way.) I also thought Alex's best friend George was a hoot and added some humor to the story; and I'd actually like to see more of him in future books.

I also enjoyed the secondary storyline of Alex's ex-husband Randy. He decides to return to Southern California after years being MIA and suddenly wants a relationship with his daughter. Randy was actually kind of a mystery to Alex since he disappeared a few years ago, and she wasn't sure what his intentions were or what he was capable of. The book definitely leaves this storyline open-ended and I have a feeling that we'll be seeing more of Randy in the future --- kind of like a cliffhanger on a soap!

DIAL EMMY FOR MURDER is actually Ms. Davidson's second mystery book with these characters. The first book is called DEATH IN THE DAYTIME; and if it's anything like DIAL EMMY FOR MURDER, then I definitely want to read it too. The second book did give hints and references to the murder that occurred in the first novel; however, I definitely think it stands alone. Ms. Davidson has a third book in the series coming out DIVA, LAS VEGAS!; and there is a brief excerpt of the book in the back of DIAL EMMY FOR MURDER. I have a feeling that I'll need to get my hands on this one too based on the teaser.

If you think you'd be interested in winning a copy of DIAL EMMY FOR MURDER, just leave a comment with your e-mail address telling me your favorite daytime soap. If you don't have one, that's okay too -- just let me know. To double or triple your chances, you can blog and/or tweet about this contest with a link back to this post. This contest is open until July 31st, and I will notify the winner the following day. Open to U.S. and Canada citizens only. Good Luck!

Thanks to Authors on the Web for sending me a copy of this book.