For thirty-two years, I had a stock answer when asked what a typical day was like for me, soap opera actress Veronica Walsh. I’d wake up at 5 a.m., drive to Manhattan, rehearse my scenes for the day’s filming of Days and Nights, have my hair and makeup done, get in costume, film the scenes, and then go home and learn the next day’s script. It adds up to 2,682 days. I spent every one of those days playing my alter ego, Rachel Wesley. I adored Rachel. She was married six times and never had to pick up a dirty sock or put the toilet seat down. Rachel had children who miraculously aged fifteen years during one of my summer vacations. She also had a number of catfights with her archrival, Diana. Those were the best days.
Then some network honcho decided a medical show would get higher ratings than our forty-seven year old soap, so he assumed the role of Grim Reaper and swung his scythe through the heart of Days. Despite a terrific protest from our fans, the soap was not given a reprieve. Days would not come back from the dead, like so many of its characters had done. I was out of work for the first time in my life. Thanks to my age (hello fifty-three!), I was not in high demand for other roles.
I returned to my hometown of Barton, New York. Nestled in the Adirondacks a few miles northwest of Lake George, Barton is a charming village that nurtured me in my youth and provided me respite in my adulthood. I figured I would spend a month or so in Barton, helping my mother in the bookstore she and my father opened in the 1960’s, hanging out with my best friend Carol, and planning my life’s second act. Barton is a great place for recharging your inner battery. It’s a quiet, peaceful place. Nothing ever happens in Barton.
I certainly did not expect to walk into the eye of a storm. First, I overheard my next-door neighbor Anna Langdon heartlessly ending her romance with my friend Tim. An hour later Anna struck again, this time threatening to evict Pauline Weber from the space she rents for her family’s longtime stationery store. Anna, who owns Barton’s most profitable business, the All Things boutique, also owns most of the retail buildings on the village’s Orchard Street. That’s enough power for Anna to think that Barton is her town.
That wasn’t the end of the drama. Two minutes after giving me a welcome-home hug, my mother informed me that a local farmer had just agreed to sell his land to a mall developer. Mom was in a cold-sweat panic; a shopping center posed an existential threat to the bookstore and the other shops in Barton.
Anna redeemed herself that night at an emergency meeting of members of the business community and the mall developer. She expertly turned the tables on the developer by making a competing offer for the farmland. Gary Pierce, the farmer, quickly accepted the bid, making Anna an instant hero to just about everyone in the village. Except for Mayor Jason Quisenberry. He wasn’t too happy about losing the tax revenue a mall would bring to Barton.
How do I know that? I heard Jason express his displeasure later that night, in Anna’s driveway. In between very noisy kisses. He’s twenty years her junior!
That was my first day home. I went to bed that night certain the peace and quiet would begin the next day. Because come on, life is not a soap opera. Right?
I thought so, until I went over to Anna’s the next morning and found her dead on the kitchen floor. One of her red stilettos and the cast-iron skillet used to kill her were lying at her cold feet. I raced outside and called 911. As I waited for help, I thought of Tim, Pauline, and the mayor. Did one of my friends murder Anna?
So much for hanging out with Mom and Carol. I suddenly had a new role to occupy my time.
Sleuth.
You can read more about Veronica in All Things Murder, the first book in the new “Veronica Walsh” mystery series, published Five Star. Books are available at retail and online booksellers.
GIVEAWAY
Comment on this post by 6 p.m. EST on May 26, and you will be entered for a chance to win an Advanced Reader Copy of ALL THINGS MURDER. One winner will be chosen at random. Unless specified, U.S. entries only.
Meet the author
Jeanne Quigley grew up reading mysteries, watching soap operas, and vacationing in the Adirondacks, never imagining these pleasures would be the foundation of her debut novel. Her love of characters—real and fictional—led Jeanne to study Sociology and English at the University of Notre Dame. Jeanne has never been a soap star, but she has worked in the music industry and for an education publisher. She lives in Rockland County, New York.
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Looking foreword to this new series. It has two of my favorites soaps and mystery. Congrats.
Thank you, Kari! Soaps and mysteries do make good partners, don’t they?
I have read other reviews on this book..all of them are good! Looking forward to reading and getting immersed in this new series. Sleuth away Veronica!
Hi, Marcy, and thank you. And Veronica thanks you for the support!
I love the sound of this one…looking for it to put on my t-b-r list!
Hi, Gram! Thank you for adding All Things to your reading list. I appreciate it!
You’ve enticed me, Jeanne, and what a fabulous cover the publisher designed for you! Gonna add this to my list ~
Thank you, Linda. I absolutely love the cover. Sometimes I’m embarrassingly giddy about it. ENC Graphic Services designed it. Thank you for adding All Things to your reading list!
Looks great, hope I get a chance to read it 🙂
Thanks, Lisa!
I love the idea of a soap actor turning into a sleuth.
Hi, Sharon! I think the skills a performer has, like improvisation, are very useful to the actor turned sleuth.
And the ability to overcome stage fright helps when confronting a murderer.
This sounds like a great book. Growing up I spent a lot of vacation time around Lake George , love up there. Would love to read/win this book
Thanks, Debbie. My family vacationed in Lake George, too. It’s absolutely gorgeous, isn’t it? Those vacations were so wonderful, I grew up thinking of the Adirondacks as an idyllic place. The area definitely inspired Barton.
This sounds really good. Thanks for the chance to win.
Good luck in the drawing, Nancy!
This character has a clue! This series sound really promising
Hi, Andrea. Funny comment!
This sounds like a book I would enjoy! Thank you for the giveaway!
Thank you, Carol. I do hope you enjoy All Things Murder. Good luck in the giveaway.
Love trying new cozy series – thaks for the giveaway opportunity!
Hi, Linda. Thanks for giving All Things Murder a try.
Sounds like a great new book, would love to read it early!
Thanks, Julie!
Another series with a very interesting sleuth….
Hi, Alicia. It’s great that readers are giving Veronica such a warm welcome to the cozy world.
This book sounds wonderful!
Thank you, Nancy! I hope it is as fun for you to read as it was for me to write.
Wow, if the book reads like this, we are in for one exciting read. This is going on my tbr list right now. Thanks for the chance to win.
Hi, Debbie. Thank you for adding All Things to your reading list. I appreciate it!
Looks like a good series to get started reading. Would love a copy.
Thank you, Nancy!
Isn’t it lovely when the murder victim is someone who truly deserves to be dead? Like the premise of this book.
Very funny, Annette!
Book sounds like fun even if I am not a soap opera fan.
Thanks, Barbara. Soap-watching isn’t a requirement for enjoying All Things!
This looks like a fun read. My upstate NY is a bit different though. It centers around Greene, Delaware and Schoharie counties. This is where my family spent 25 summers and my kids brought their families till the farm & dude ranch we loved was sold.
Dru, kindly toss that raggedy old hat of mine into the contest ring.
Thanks, Nora. It’s hard when a vacation spot that holds so many wonderful memories closes. I hope your family has started a new vacation tradition.
Good luck in the contest!
This book definitely sounds like a soap opera. I love soap opera’s so it is right up my alley. I can’t wait to read it.
Thanks, Anita!
Sounds like my kind of book. Thanks so much for the tease.
Thank you, Melanie!
Sounds like a great book, I can’t wait to read it
Thank you, Rita!
Oh this book sounds so good. I would love to be able to read an advanced copy of it. Either way, it is going on my TBR list.
Hi, Angie. Thank you for making All Things a to-read. I’m grateful!
So much for some quiet time to rethink her life plan, eh?
Hi, Libby. As the saying sort of goes, make plans and the cozy goddess laughs.
Aren’t most cozy series books like soaps? Fun to watch or read?!? Though I definitely think I’m more into reading and reviewing in book form. Looks like a fun read!!
Hi, Ronna. Yes, cozies do get a bit soapy. And I guess soaps get a bit cozy (especially for those characters married multiple times!). I hope you enjoy All Things!
This synopsis is great–would love to win!
Thanks, Stephanie. Good luck in the giveaway.
I am looking forward to reading this. I loved that everything happens on her first day home. I used to think soap operas would never happen until my mid twenties. I woke up one day and my life had become a soap opera. Lol. And small towns do have many things going on under the surface. Thank you for having this giveaway.
HI, Melody. I hope you had some of the romance and fun of soaps along with the drama!
What a first day home! This sounds like a fun one and I look forward to reading it. Thanks for the chance to win.
Hi, Mary. Veronica definitely does not get to ease into her hometown visit!
I love soap operas but only can watch one station at a time so I have my faves. Count me in for the giveaway, please.
This looks really interesting, and I always love finding a new series to read!
Thank you, Ellen. I am so grateful to you and everyone for your enthusiasm for All Things Murder.
Hi, Judy. Thank you for entering the giveaway!
Thanks Jeanne for interacting with my readers. I’ve read this book and it’s wonderful.
Thank you, Dru! I had great fun writing A Day In The Life. I appreciate the opportunity to introduce Veronica and All Things Murder to your readers. Thank you all for the very warm welcome.
This one sounds like fun.
kaye.killgore@comcast.net
Hi, Kaye. I hope you enjoy the book!
Well, here’s another series I want to read. The excerpt was wonderful – really wasn’t sure if it was fiction, or a real-life person telling her story.
Thanks, Donna, for the terrific compliment!
This looks like a fun series! Nice to have a main character who is a bit closer to my age ;-). On my TBR list.
Thanks, Sally, for adding it to your reading list!
Sounds like a great book, a cozy that it my favorite genre to read. Love reading the blog to find out more about the books and the authors, and I just wish there were 48 hours in a day so that I could get to read all of the books that interest me. Looking forward to reading Jeanne’s latest book, that is for sure. Thanks so much.
Cynthia
Hi, Cynthia. It would be terrific to have more hours in the day for reading and other fun things!
What fun!! A soap opera actress in a cozy.
suefarrell.farrell@gmail.com
Thanks, Sue!
I would love to read this book.
Thanks, Jenni. I hope you enjoy All Things Murder!
Sounds like my kind of read. Would love to read and review.
Thanks, Cheryl. Good luck in the giveaway!
As a person who hates soap operas, I almost didn’t read the whole review. However, once she gets moved back east with her parents and their bookstore, then I was hooked. I would love to read this book!
Thanks for hanging in there, Michel!
Thanks Jeanne for interacting with my readers.
Contest is closed.