Death on the D-List

Hailey Dean #2

by Nancy Grace

The brutal slayings of a string of her patients in New York and a horrific attempt on her own life left Hailey Dean down, but not defeated. After a yearlong respite, former violent crimes prosecutor Hailey Dean finally returns to Manhattan, determined to rebuild a normal life and settle back into her growing practice as a therapist. But in a twist of fate, Hailey agrees to follow her heart and fight crime once again, this time in a new arena, in front of a camera. Under the hot lights of a TV studio, Hailey learns that the TV industry’s not so glamorous, but downright deadly! Waning celebrities, all stunning actresses—each one a shining star turned has-been, now struggling to get off the D-List and back into the limelight—meet with a bloody stage exit. Hailey’s archenemy, Lieutenant Ethan Kolker, the NYPD cop who hunted Hailey down for the murders of her own patients, now wants the past forgotten and reaches out for Hailey’s help to solve the murders.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Suspense, Thriller, Detective, Crime, Womens

352 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

Nancy Grace is an American legal commentator and former prosecutor. She frequently discusses issues from what she describes as a "victims' rights" standpoint. She was the host of Nancy Grace from 2005 to 2016 on HLN, and she was the host of Court TV's Closing Arguments from 1996–2007.

Librarian’s note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[Britney · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is book 2 in the Hailey Dean series. D-list celebrities are getting killed and Hailey is asked on the show to talk about the the criminal system works since she used to be prosecutor.

This was a more complete story than the last one. All the chapters seemed to fit within the story unlike before. The more I read about Hailey's character the more I like her. She tells it like it is but in a nice why.

Detective Kolker came alive in this book. He is a good addition to the story line. It would be nice to see him and Hailey get together if there is more to the series.

[Danielle Gonzalez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great thriller from Nancy Grace. This is the second novel with Hailey Dean as the main character. Hailey returns to New York to resume her psychology practice, but is invited to appear on a news talk show. Her first show puts her at odds with the antagonistic host of the show. Because of ratings she is asked to return to additional shows to provide her knowledge and expertise relating to criminal law, all the while sparring with the show's host. Meanwhile, she works with detectives to solve another string of murders. Detective Kolker returns in this story, and it is interesting to see his interactions with Ms. Dean. Hailey is a very likable character, as a smart woman not afraid to stand up for herself or what is right. (Kind of reminds me of the author). This is a well written story that leaves you wanting to read more. While the murders are solved (and the killer is a surprise) there are some loose ends which make me hope there will be a third Hailey Dean mystery.

[Althea Mason · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book and am looking forward to the third one in the series. I find that this entire series, especially this book, was written well and keeps you guessing. The characters are explained perfectly and each one is written into the story very well. Every piece of the story seemed to flow well, unlike, the first one in this series where there were two stories going on once. I loved that you saw a return of many of the characters from the first one. This was a really good mystery.

[Katie · Rating 1 out of 5]

To sum this book up in a blunt way is pretty much Hailey is a self insert character of the author that completely is a Mary Sue. All the male characters fauna over her, she has magical insights into problems she shouldn't, and is overly qualified for everything. Oh also the other characters constantly over compliment her when its not really warranted. Because of this my emersion as a reader was complete ruined i wish I could say the pure boredom and bad writing stopped there but no. I hated all the characters none of them were someone you rooted for or had likable traits, even more when 99% of them were these weird projections of hateful stereotyping especially when the character was female. They all were portrayed as wealthy rich gold diggers who were bitter about being divorced or washed up stars desperate for attention from younger men. A few things that irritated me beyond belief was how almost all the male characters literally are just there for fauning purposes such as Tony and Kolker. They never grow or even show any intelligence as a cop Kolker should have been fired for sending Hailey weirdly stalkerish items that's just the reality of it. He is bluntly incompetent at being a cop pretty much letting Hailey do his job for him no joke. There's logic that makes no sense in this book and weird tangents/introduced characters that go nowhere. I really had to force myself through this book i do not recommend it.

[Peg · Rating 1 out of 5]

So obviously autobiographical and so egotistical.

[Nolan · Rating 2 out of 5]

This gets two stars, but it deserves 2.5. I just never liked this main character much. It’s sad that I can’t even construct for you a path to why. Most of this you can blame on me as the reader. The writing is decent enough. I just don’t get emotionally involved with the death of celebrities. Yeah, yeah! Spare me the lecture! Someone misses them! Ok, bot that. It just isn’t me.

Hailey Dean, a lawyer turned psychologist, reluctantly gets a gig on a cable TV show in which she can talk about her legal expertise regarding cases of the day. The characters who run the show are all obnoxious and stupid to a fault, and the red herring of a serial killer/stalker was largely a time waster.

A bunch of has-been actresses die at the hands of a murderer, and the guy who wanted to put Hailey Dean in prison in the first book has become her most ardent supporter as he seeks her help with the cases of these dead actresses.

Read this if you must but spare me the whining about the three hours of your life you won’t get back.

[Lucy Takeda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’d actually give this a 3.5, because I got really tired of reading about Hailey’s dead boyfriend and the issues with Lieutenant Kolker. Yes, I understand the emotional/physiological traumas involved, but I don’t need to read about it 50 times in one novel.
Hailey was arrested by Kolker decades ago, and was accused of killing her boyfriend and two other people. She left being an attorney, and is now doing mental counseling. Kolker has been sending her flowers, candy, etc., for decades, trying to apologize. She carefully opens each box, and ships it back. A psycho that she actually got convicted has escaped parole and may still be stalking her, so she maintains a fairly secure protective team at her residences.
Then a series of D-level actress’s start being murdered, and Kolker desperately shows up to ask her for help.

[Storm · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book has been sitting on my shelf since CrimeCon 2023. Why they gave out the 2nd book in a series published in 2010 is beyond me. The book was an easy read, but was not that great. The author liked repeating things quite a bit. The amount of times I had to read the heroine killed the bad guy in the first book with a dentist drill, we get it, stop saying it over and over. Then there were ramblings that just didn't need to be there, like, she is eating a turkey sandwich for lunch but what she really wanted was collard greens, but NYC doesn't really sell collard greens...I thought the sandwich was going to be poisoned or something, but no, she's literally just eating a sandwich.

Anyway, 2.5 stars but I rated down when I started thinking about that stupid collard green paragraph.

[Tita · Rating 2 out of 5]

Seriously!?

Too many characters. Very confusing plot. Hailey Dean continues go go in a tabloid tv show while trying go make herself a sympathetic character. She could have said no and just grilled it the detective. Then, she is a total bad-ass hero trying things an average person (per the character outline) would do. Also, the detective his been a cop for a while, apparently, as he has gained this rank. But, he's just stupid. What a waste if taxpayer's money.

[Tabbitha Rivera · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm I was honestly a little bit skeptical about this book but it turned out to be not too bad.

Hailey Dean, surprisingly, has been requested by Kolker to help investigate the murders of D-List actresses. Everyone thinks it could be the work of a stalker but Hailey Dean discovers otherwise. It is up to her to solve the case.

#tabbyslibrary
#nancygrace #deathonthedlist

[Larry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty decent crime fiction/mystery featuring Hailey Dean. Good plot that wasn’t too predictable and will keep the interest of the reader. Not a long book so probably a good pick for the weekend or beach.

[Jacob · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't realize at first that this was the second book and that a first had been written (what can you do), but I thought overall it was a good read. It's not on the top of my list to recommend to others, but I would tell someone to read it if they asked me about it.

[Donna B. Gee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story

I really liked this book. The ending, I never saw coming!! The characters were great. The manner in which this was written was superb. I am anxious to read additional books by this author!!

[Lchamp · Rating 2 out of 5]

I guess I would say that this novel is marginally better than the first in the series, but not worth another star. I may read the next in the series...or maybe not...I'm not sure.

[Debra · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too many story lines. Way too much detail. Really glad I didn't buy this book! Love my Library!

[Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having survived a near fata attempt on her life Hailey is back fighting crime - life's as dangerous on film as in the court! A suspenseful, fulfilling read!

[Tonia Craft · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed. Lots of twists and turns but didn't get lost. Good thriller and attention getter

[Jenna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVED the characters in this book. I loved the different story lines in it. This book had me hooked. I love Nancy grace as a writer.

[Stephanie R. · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was not easy to keep up with the skipping around from character to character and timeline to timeline, but it was a good story.

[Jacqueline · Rating 5 out of 5]

As always, fantastic story. I really do enjoy Nancy Grace and her character Hailey Dean.

[Christina Mages · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another amazing book in this series.

[Roy Lawton · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's such a great middle of the series book. I just love twists and turns into a surprise outcome.

[Grace Newman]

1/5

[Gail Cooke · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is so satisfying to read books by authors who really know their subjects, and Nancy Grace tops that list. She was a prosecutor of perpetrators of violent crime in inner city Atlanta for over ten years. And, while doing so she racked up a perfect record – almost 100 prosecutions and no trial losses. She later became a part of Court TV. Today she's eagerly watched on theHLN show Nancy Grace and the syndicated program Swift Justice with Nancy Grace. On top of all that she pens first-rate thrillers such as Objection!, The Eleventh Victim (the first Hailey Dean mystery) and now DEATH ON THE D-LIST.

With stories based on her life experiences each novel compels with reality and crackles with excitement from page 1 to the closing paragraph. DEATH ON THE D-LIST begins with Hailey's return to NYC and a feeling that it is as if she had never left – feels the same as before, “Before two of her favorite clients were murdered at the hands of a man who was once her courtroom adversary, a man who not only passed as an upstanding and highly successful member of the Georgia State Bar, but before that, as an Atlanta beat cop....”

With those thoughts in mind Hailey is looking forward to building a quiet, normal life – as quiet as it can be for a therapist. Nonetheless, before long the urge to fight crime takes over and she agrees to do it not on dark streets but in front of a television camera.

However, TV appearances turn deadly when former stars trying to get off the dreaded D-List and back in the limelight are murdered. It's up to NYPD cop EthanKolker to solve these murders, and he wants Hailey's help. Forget the fact that Kolker once hunted Hailey for killing her own patients. He's been trying to make amends with flowers, chocolates – all of which she returned. But nothing gets Hailey's attention like unsolved murders.

With DEATH ON THE D-LIST Nancy Grace has crafted a carefully plotted thriller that captures until the final page.

- Gail Cooke

[Cynthia Repsher · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like Hailey Dean. She is very smart in the courtroom and this aids in her discovery for the truth when she helps track down a killer.

[Jan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hailey Dean, a former prosecutor returns to Manhattan after a terrible attack on her life. Her fiance was killed, and her heart is still broken. She had been unjustly accused of his murder by a NYPD Police Officer, and he had made her life hell. On finding her innocent, he had tried to make it right, but Hailey Dean was having none of it. Starting a new life, she finds herself in the middle of another murder mystery. Movie Stars on the D List are being murdered, and she is asked to join a T.V. show to answer questions on crime, she is also a Therapist. She is blindsided by the interviewer, and instead of backing down, she fights back, and becomes an overnight success on the Show. Asked back again and again. However, the TV Industry is not all it is cracked up to be, and there are deadly twists and turns, as new stars are killed, each of them having had a "last interview" on the T.V. Station. In the background is a young man who believes all these lovely ladies are his girlfriends, all in his mind, he wonders, has he killed them? Great story, good ending, enjoyable read.

[Erin George · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bombshell tonight. I knew the murderer on page 100. I love Nancy Grace. I watch her all the time. I bought the book because I expected more than I got with Death on the D List. I feel like Nancy didn't give her readers enough credit. She tries to get us stuck on two suspects as possible killers but goes overboard with hints that lead any half-brained reader right to the real murderer.

The only mystery in this for me was how long it would take for her to reveal that I was right.

I did like the charactor development in the book and felt it was an easy read. Definitely entertaining but not something to take seriously. More like a lazy reader by the pool...

[Jess Kittelson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great book by Nancy Grace! She writes her books using fiction and nonfiction. Some of her main charaters life is part of Nancys real life. This book is again written from many points of views. Unlike the first book all points of view make sense and you understand it's all the same story. The first book seemed like 3 seperate stories that never tied together till the end. The way this book ended I am sure that Nancy will be coming out with a 3rd story. Nancy deffinitly has bite both in her real life and her book life.

[Stephanie]

Interesting story line, it moved along at a very good pace. Hopefully some of the characters will be in other books, other than the main character, because otherwise I don't understand why she would put them in their if not to continue their storyline. I assume this character is based on Nancy herself, just from the small amount of information I know of her this character seems to be based on her life. Will probably try a few more books by Nancy Grace to see if I continue to find them interesting.

[Maureen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is my second "Hailey Dean" series by Nancy Grace. Though I enjoy the books I feel she adds information to fill pages. Such as, we ate lemon meringue pie and how grandma or someone made it, or what type of food and drinks they were having. Too much information unnecessary to the relevancy of the book. If her writing could focus purely on the case at hand and not fill it with trite information I would be giving 5 stars. I just get annoyed with all the fill in writings.