Sometimes it’s very comforting to read a book written by someone who knows he knows what he’s doing. Henry Slesar was that writer. Born in 1927, Slesar earned a place in our lexicon by coining the term “coffee break.” But he did a lot more than that. Slesar wrote literally hundreds of short stories (two of which won Edgars) and tons of television and movie scripts, including many episodes of ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS and the soap opera THE EDGE OF NIGHT (which earned him an Emmy).

Capitalizing on his own experience in his 1993 mystery, MURDER AT HEARTBREAK HOSPITAL, Slesar locates the action on the set of the popular (and fictional) TV soap HEARTBREAK HOSPITAL. The cast, as usual, fights like cats and dogs, but they all seem to hate the resident bitch Sunday Tyler. Every soap has to have a bitch character that the fans love to hate, and Tyler is that character. Unfortunately, she’s also that way in real life. In fact, the only person who seems to like her is William Troy, an NYPD officer assigned to the TV/movie unit whose job is to work the on-location shootings.

And so Troy seems to be the most affected when Tyler is found brutally murdered in her apartment. Every cast member has a motive, and almost everyone has a pretty shaky alibi. Troy’s investigation has to weather innumerable lies and evasions, and suffers a considerable blow when Troy himself comes under investigation for another murder. It’s a soap-opera plotline brought to real life.

Slesar writes efficiently and smoothly. There are few embellishments – just straightforward and realistic dialogue, breezy descriptions of setting and characters, and a story that keeps driving toward its finish. It reads like a two-hour long mystery movie of the week, one that keeps your interest while it’s on but after it’s done, you start to think of plot holes and inconsistencies. So it’s not entirely perfect, but this reissue of the book by Academy Chicago should introduce new readers to an author who should not be forgotten. –Mark Rose

Buy it at Amazon.
Discuss it in our forums.