The Midnight Show Murders

Billy Blessing #2

by Al Roker, Dick Lochte

From bestselling author and iconic news personality Al Roker comes The Midnight Show Murders, the second book in the delightful Morning Show Mystery series.

Celebrity chef and Wake Up, America! co-host Billy Blessing heads to Los Angeles in order to help launch O’Day At Night, a new late night show hosted by Irish comedian Desmond O’Day. LA brings up bad—and bloody—memories for Billy, but a special request from the head of the network sends him flying across the country.

Twenty years ago, before becoming a famous New York Chef, Billy worked in LA at Chez Anisette. One unfortunate evening, the young hostess, Tiffany Arden, was murdered with a meat tenderizer. While Billy always suspected the head chef, Roger Charbonnet, to be the murderer, the case was never solved.

Now, back in a city he never thought he’d return to, Billy is confronted by Roger who is still determined to exact vengeance. After a horrifying explosion during taping kills more than Desmond O’Day’s chance at high ratings, Billy believes that he was the intended target—and that Roger was somehow involved. But when politics, infidelity, and high finance get sprinkled in, the case turns out to have more ingredients than Billy ever imagined.

Filled with the high-style hilarity, insider info, and surefire suspense that are Al Roker’s series trademark, The Midnight Show Murders is a five-star feast for any fan of top-flight mystery fiction.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Cozy Mystery, Audiobook, Adult, Cozy, Mystery Thriller

386 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 26, 2010

About the author

Al Roker is an American weather forecaster, journalist, television personality, actor, and author. He is the current weather anchor on NBC's Today.

Reviews

[Mary Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one was less showing of his beliefs, but he does have his main character, Billy Blessing, show his bias towards police. When he is involved in a bombing at the studio, where another person is blown up. He is asked why he didn't notify police of what had happened and states that he didn't believe it would do any good.



In this mystery, he has been flown to CA to help start a new Midnight show and he meets an Irishman who has a past and his friend. They invite him to stay at the house that has been rented for them, in the guest house. He meets the daughter of a man he knew when he was living in CA and is supposed to be working with an author on a story about the serial killer that he helped police catch. When the host of the Midnight show is blown up the police suspect that Billy was the targeted person.



It was an okay story and I was interested to know how it would end but unhappy with the biases against police.

[Jill Manske · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The Midnight Show Murders" was an extremely entertaining book, a tongue-in-cheek murder mystery with colorful characters and witty, quite amusing writing. Al Roker is quick with the puns and jokes on The Today Show, so it was no surprise that his book would capture his sense of humor. I particularly enjoyed his rather snide portrayal of an Alex Delaware/Jonathan Kellerman-esqe character. "The Midnight Show Murders" will never go down in literary history as one of the best mystery novels, but it was a great deal of fun and would be a terrific summer beach read.

[Sandy Duke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Still loving Billy Blessing. This second book in the series seemed to have more foul language that I didn't particularly care for, but I suppose that it was appropriate to the characters. Still a funny, fast-paced romp through behind the scenes TV Land with a surprising twist at the end.

[Toni Perreira · Rating 3 out of 5]

This review is for the audiobook version read by Al Roker. This is the second book in the series that has been made into a tv series that changed the MC from male to female. I quite like both versions. Because the book is voiced by Al Roker, I see him as the man in the book and this was only disconcerting during the (very mild) sexual situations he finds himself in occasionally. I like his voice a lot but some of the changes for the other characters did not go well. I particularly disliked his voice for the detective and found that I skipped over some of that dialogue. The story is decent but I felt there were elements to the ending that were a little forced. Good not great read.

[Clayton Yuen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful narrative-style in this crazy Hollywood murder. I like this type of upbeat story because it's like being in the head of the hero, Billi Blessing. Many novels are dark and serious, creating a mood to scare you or bring you into the horror, but the author happily carries you along for a fun and cheerful ride .... why does every murder mystery have to be so dark?

Four stars for the novel. Sorry, but after reading so many murder mysteries, I think the writing world has me convinced that a great mystery has to be a bit dark ......

[Karen Hufman · Rating 2 out of 5]

Where to begin? It just didn't really work: the dialogue felt like it should have been in a 1940's gumshoe cheap penny novel, there were too many characters to keep track of, I kept picturing Al Roker in my head as the main character (since it seemed to be loosely based on him) and I was having trouble separating the two. A new talk show host gets blown up and Billy Blessing (Al) may have been the intended target. I realize that the story was a bit tongue in cheek but it felt clunky.

[Sharon Falduto]

A serviceable if a bit heavy handed mystery in which Al Roker seems to have re-cast himself as a celebrity chef who also happens to appear on a morning talk show. Some of the references were over the top--yes, Al, you don't have to say "Fight Club, referencing that old Brad Pitt/Edward Norton film"--we know what you mean.

Then again I kept losing track of the ancillary characters, which is bad in a mystery novel.

So this was fun to read, not great, not terrible.

[Jaret · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting take on a cozy mystery. I loved that the main character was a male person of color. I didn't realize this was a series, so I missed book one. However, I don't feel like I missed out on too much by starting with book 2. I enjoyed the characters, and even though the story was grittier than the usual cozy, I enjoyed the mystery. Al Roker's narration of the audiobook added to my enjoyment of the story.

[Ryan Hoffman · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Midnight Show Murders is the second in this series. TV personality and professional chef Billy blessing is back this time he's in Los Angeles. The place he hasn't been for over 20 years since a girl died and the man responsible got off. There is an explosion during a late show with comedian Desmond Day and Billy figures it was intended for him. It was a fun, fast pased mystery and follow up the first book.

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a fine series.
There's a bit too much hidden from the reader until the very end. It's hinted at, but not outright stated.
And I didn't mean just like "secret twin" but like "secret twin that was President Of Science and invented time travel", just a ton of secret information that is extremely important but night not be known by ANYONE.

Also: was there a period of time where cellphones beeped while making outgoing calls?

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took me a minute to get into this book, but if I remember correctly, that was the case with the last one as well. I gotta say a lot of improbable, especially the end of scene when Billy almost bites the dust because what kind of criminals are that dumb. But it was entertaining to be honest. I’m gonna certainly be reading more books in the series. If nothing else I find it intriguing. Some parts were a little bit of a cob, but they weren’t so much so that they were total turn offs.

[Charles · Rating 3 out of 5]

Billy Blessing is back again and travels back to L.A. A brutal murder on set makes Billy wonder if that murder is connected to a cold case from 20 years ago. Can Billy discover the truth? I have read both Billy Blessing books, and found this to be much better in plot, characters and story line. It is a light and entertaining read.

[Maureen E. · Rating 3 out of 5]

My book club read this book as our July selection. It was not a book that I particularly enjoyed. The characters seemed too stereotypic, including Billy Blessing himself. Since the mystery took place in Hollywood and surrounding areas, I guess it was to be expected. Reading about the so called beautiful people simply does not excite me.

[Betsy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the 2nd Al Riker/Dick Locate mystery I have read and enjoyed. Both are light, humorous mysteries. In this one I particularly enjoyed a minor character who was unashamedly stolen from Jonathon Kellerman, Benjamin Dover, whose resemblance to Alex Delaware was unmistakable.

[Camisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting romp through Hollywood as Billy becomes entangled in new and historic murders. He was able to bring closure to the deaths and still get his show done on time. I enjoy these light reads with plenty of twists and the ultimate satisfactory ending.

[Jeff Macey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Much better than the first Blessing book! Maybe because Mr Roker was better in giving the different voices noticeably different tones on the audio book so I was able to keep track of the characters. Good, easy to listen to fun!

[Michelle Cutter · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the second book in the Billy Blessing series. It was entertaining but not a great read. Some elements are a little far fetched, other times it felt the story was rambling a bit. Solid 3 stars. Ok, not great.

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the murder story and, of course, the fabulous food! But WAY to many characters introduced for this to be a smooth read. I found myself going back and forth to try to keep the characters straight.

[Jerry King · Rating 3 out of 5]

2010

[Carole · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mystery was slow to develop and story was mostly about what goes on to put on a talk show. Parts were very good but overall story was slow paced and at times, boring.

[Jewell · Rating 3 out of 5]

One more to read in this series of just okay novels.

[Patti Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

deserves a 3.5. held my interest mostly near the ending.

[Susan Boyce-Cormier · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a bad whodunit .

[P.D. Workman]

My first Al Roker mystery. Interesting characters, insight into the world of late-night television and Hollywood, and some good plot twists.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This has just the right amount of backstage information and professional murder mystery with these two authors combining their talents.

I loved the scenes in Malibu and followed the clues to determine who wanted the victim dead. Nice misdirection and compulsive writing.

Love that there is one more in the series to read.

I borrowed a copy from the public library.

[Jay · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this one. Al is a funny and good writer.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

third book in this series find out intrepid chef in more hot water.

[Jeanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was alright for what it was, though the authors don't know how to write women (even if they did have a few good one liners). Also a LOT of unchallenged transphobic language that was unnecessary and annoyed me, though I feel like at the time this book came out our national dialogue about this sort of thing was nonexistent, so it makes sense even if I hated it.

Also it was weird listening to the audio book, there are just certain things you don't want to hear Al Roker talking about....

[Barbara Ellis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed it. Second book in Mr. Roker's Billy Blessing series. Blessing is witty, humorous, and sharp as can be and the plot is compelling and entertaining. Happily looking forward to Roker's next book in this series.

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Roker should be applauded for making this, the second book in the series, a little better than its debut. That said, we are still best to file it under summer beach fluff in order not to confuse it with some of the other literary options out there. The story is a little better and the characters are a little stronger, but there is still an air of cheesiness that cannot be shaken, either from the story or the narration.

Roker must surely be doing this on the side as a little fun, for it reads as such. He weaves together a decent storyline, though is far from making the flow as stellar as some mystery/suspense writers on the market. If the reader is in line for a quick read and one that is truly light and fluffy, this is one for you. That said, it does get a little cheesey, much like a Richard Castle novel. I can see progress, for sure, though I never did expect this to compete with the likes of Connelly, James Patterson (in his Cross persona) or even DeMille.
The book shifts to LA and the ‘night scene’, where our main character fled after the murder of a former belle. Roker weaves that story loosely into this one, with some references to old characters that come back into the picture. I disagree with the review of those who feel the chapters begin to repeat one another. They do, sometimes hash through old stories, which can prove confusing.
Decent work Mr. Roker. Do not follow James Patterson's advice and quit your day job, though.