The Morning Show Murders

al roker is a pretty good mystery writer for his first time. i enjoyed the humor with the mystery. would hope he writes another book with the same characters.

I enjoyed reading this mystery. Not a very heavy weight whodunit, but an enjoyable read.

Al Roker and Dick Lochte appear to be on the road to a successful partnership as co-authors of an entertaining and humorous murder mystery, if "The Morning Show Murders" is any indication. Chronicling the lives of those people, especially Billy Blessing, who make up the daily morning show known as WUA (Wake up America), this novel was a real treat. Known as a Chef/Restaurateur,/Cable TV Network Personality, Billy finds himself in the precarious position as a suspect in the poisoning death of his philandering/womanizing producer Rudyard "Rudy" Gallagher. All fingers point to Billy (who didn't particularly like him and some believed had a few reasons to want him dead) and his "coq au vin" as the culprits. And while Billy tackles the mystery of who murdered Rudy and reveals the truth, he encounters an assassin named "Felix", a sexy bodyguard named Lee, an ex-Mossad agent (Goyal Aharan), aggressive fellow network employees (Trina), wrestles with his assertive personal assistant (Cassandra), and two very determined Detectives (Soloman, Butker), who all have their own parts to play in this story. What I enjoyed the most about the novel was its fast pace, short easy to read chapters, and the authors ability to keep the audience guessing who did it up until the end (although I don't think it was too complicated or hard to figure out). I certainly didn`t hate the ride/journey to get to the truth. And while there were times that I felt they tried too hard to make Billy humorous (glib and sharp tongued) most of the time it worked. Billy Blessing has tons of charisma, personality and brains, so I just didn't feel that it was always necessary to have Billy tossing out jokes all the time. But I didn't let that take away my joy of being entertained. And overall, I give this book a solid 5. I feel that it is definitely a nice foundation for a promising series. Well, I am hoping that it will be a series. I wouldn't mind finding out what "Billy" is up to.

Billy Blessing is riding high. He's good-looking, successful and free to play the field. He's also the regular host of a cooking segment, Blessing's in the Kitchen, on the popular morning show "Wake Up, America!" and the owner of a profitable Manhattan bistro. Everything is most definitely going his way. However, there exists a thorn in his side by the name of Rudy Gallagher, his executive producer and general nemesis. Billy has plenty of reasons to dislike Rudy: at the moment, Rudy is dating Billy's ex-girlfriend and forces him to appear on a nonsensical reality show. The man loves to make Billy's life miserable. So it is, when Rudy ends up dead, all signs point to Billy as the culprit. While Rudy was a general pain, he was certainly not enough of one to inspire murder in Billy. Unfortunately, after a run-in that morning over a new cooking reality show, "Food School 101," Rudy dies from eating poisoned coq au vin from Billy's restaurant. Now, the police are closing down the establishment and rooting through every aspect of Billy's life. Fortunately for Billy, he is not the only one who might have wanted Rudy dead. Such that he was, Rudy made enemies wherever he went, and there were any number of people in the cut-throat world of morning television who might have had enough of his high-handed ways. However, the people who might have held a grudge against Rudy extend beyond the circle of morning television. Any number of women who are listed in his little black book and rated according to their looks and sexual prowess may have had a problem with Rudy. He has also just come back from an investigative reporting trip to Afghanistan, bringing back much international intrigue with him. How do you begin when there are more people who wanted the victim dead than those who didn't? Rudy isn't the only victim, though. When the killer strikes again, it is obvious that someone is setting up Billy to take the fall. If he wants to hold on to everything that is near and dear to him --- particularly his freedom --- Billy better switch his oven up to high heat and get to the bottom of the mysteries and scandals that are swirling around him. But as Billy gets closer and closer to the truth behind Rudy's murder, he moves from the scary realm of viable suspects to the even scarier world of moving target. Someone wants him out of the way --- and they aren't playing around. THE MORNING SHOW MURDERS takes us behind the scenes of the cheery world of morning television where we learn that appearances can be deceiving and the biggest television personalities also have big egos to match. It would be interesting to know how much of this book is fact and how much is fiction. Al Roker is obviously eminently qualified to give us the picture of what goes on behind the cameras as well as in front of them after all his years in the business, and he works superbly with Dick Lochte, author of SLEEPING DOG, in this thrilling tale of lights, cameras and murder. --- Reviewed

All too often books by celebrities are not well written or a thinly disguised versions of the celeb's own life. The Morning Show Murders is neither of those, but instead a funny, well-aced mystery that anyone would enjoy, even if you had never watched cooking shows or morning TV news. The main character is Billy Blessing a celebrity chef, with two cooking shows, a gig on morning TV and a popular restaurant. Roker, a veteran of both The Today Show and FoodTV, can write about these worlds with real authority. In Chef Blessing he has created an engaging character.Roker's co-author, Dick Lochte, is an award-winning crime fiction writer. Between them, they have created a good mystery. The action starts when a executive at the morning show's network is killed, with Blessing as the prime suspect. Throw in a potential hit man, more murders, contract negotiations and the double-whammy of a family-owned TV network, and you have the makings of a delightful story. The identity of the first murderer had me guessing until the end at practically an Agatha Christie-like revelatory dinner. I loved it. Funny, well-written, and engaging, I'm looking forward to more from this team.