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Ayelet Waldman
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A Playdate With Death (Mommy Track Mysteries Book 3) Kindle Edition

by Ayelet Waldman (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 28 ratings
See all formats and editions
Smart, witty mystery from the author of Bad Mother and Love and Treasure...

Public defender turned stay-at-home mom Juliet Applebaum is a “smart and fearless” (Sue Grafton) sleuth whose previous adventures have been praised as “compelling” (Publishers Weekly) and “entertaining” (Booklist). In A Playdate with Death, she’s back in top form—taming tantrums, battling boredom, chasing clues…

No one ever said motherhood was a walk in the park, but Juliet Applebaum is doing her best. She’s been showing up (more or less) on time to pick up her daughter from preschool. She’s trying (in vain) to discourage her two-and-a-half-year-old son’s interest in firearms. And in between planning playdates and playing dress up, she’s even managed to fit in some much-needed kid-free time, working out with a personal trainer at the local health club. It’s going well. She’s losing weight. She’s even happy—until her trainer commits suicide.

A charming, cheerful aspiring actor, Bobby Katz seemed to have it all—and Juliet just can’t believe he died at his own hand. She suspects that there’s a much more sinister explanation—and that it may lie with Bobby’s parents, who never told him he was adopted. Or with his grieving fiancee, a recovering addict who just fell off the wagon. Or with his birth mother, a woman he had recently started to look for—who had gone to great lengths to ensure that she would never be found. Always up for a task that will get her out of the house, Juliet keeps running down secrets—until, at last, she runs into the truth…

Ayelet Waldman is the author of Love and Other Impossible Pursuits, Red Hook Road, Daughter's Keeper, and other acclaimed works, as well as the Mommy-Track Mysteries, including such titles as The Big Nap and Death Gets a Time-Out.
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  1. Book 3 of 4
    Mommy Track Mysteries
  2. Print length
    236 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  5. Publisher
    Berkley
  6. Publication date
    July 1, 2003
  7. File size
    610 KB
  8. Page Flip
    Enabled
  9. Word Wise
    Enabled
  10. Enhanced typesetting
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  11. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Juliet Applebaum, lawyer turned full-time mother, seems to have a talent for encountering murder. In her third case, she arrives at the gym for a session with her personal trainer only to find that he is dead. Ever ambivalent about her decision to stop working outside the home, she agrees to investigate when the police write the death off as a suicide. The victim's history of drug abuse, his fiancee's fall off the wagon, and the complex web of relationships in his family provide a multitude of possibilities, but Juliet's search for clues quickly opens a Pandora's box that puts her and her family in danger. Waldman's deft portrayal of Los Angeles's upper crust and of the dilemma facing women who want it all will make it possible for readers to forgive a rather flimsy plot. Barbara Bibel
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

Smoothly paced and smartly told. -- New York Times

Smoothly paced and smartly told. (New York Times)

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00OZ0TNMM
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Berkley; Reprint edition (July 1, 2003)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ July 1, 2003
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 610 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 236 pages
  • Page numbers source ISBN ‏ : ‎ B001PIHSIS
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 28 ratings

About the author

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Ayelet Waldman

Ayelet Waldman

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AYELET WALDMAN is the author of A Really Good Day: How Microdosing Made a Mega Difference in My Mood, My Marriage, and My Life, the novels Love and Treasure, Red Hook Road, Love and Other Impossible Pursuits, and Daughter's Keeper, as well as of the essay collection Bad Mother: A Chronicle of Maternal Crimes, Minor Calamities, and Occasional Moments of Grace and the Mommy-Track Mystery series. She is the editor of Inside This Place, Not of It: Narratives from Women's Prisons and of the forthcoming Kingdom of Olives and Ash: Writers Confront the Occupation. She was a Federal public defender and an adjunct professor at the UC Berkeley law school where she developed and taught a course on the legal implications of the War on Drugs. She lives in Berkeley, California, with her husband, Michael Chabon, and their four children.

Customer reviews

4.1 out of 5 stars
4.1 out of 5
28 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

N. Gargano
5.0 out of 5 stars Ms. Waldman....getting better and better
Reviewed in the United States on July 24, 2003
Verified Purchase
I really enjoyed this book. As a matter of fact, I thought it was much better then the last book, (the second in this series). I had decided to wait for paper on this one, but I won't do that again. I am going to rush out and get her next one as soon as possible. By the way, note to Ms. Waldman, I love the way you say things about your children, and things about being a mother, that all of us think at one time or another, but never say out loud!
One person found this helpful
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evilincarKnit
4.0 out of 5 stars No blood, lots of guts
Reviewed in the United States on September 19, 2002
I'm an avid mystery reader (PD James, D Sayers, R Hill) and enjoy Waldman's series immensely. Characters come across, even with brief descriptions and the dialogue is full of things I wish I'd have the chutzpah to say myself. I picked up 'Playdate' and didn't put it down until I was done.
As a new mom I relate totally to Juliet Applebaum (what mother wouldn't?!) and I greatly appreciate the lack of blood and gore. Many mystery writers rely on these devices to hold audience interest but Waldman never sinks to this level, instead relying on factual revelations and character analysis to further the plot development. Granted, one won't find a Dalglieshian tortured soul expounding on human philosophy while quoting WH Auden, but for an enjoyable, quick-paced humorous read I would recommend this book and series highly.
2 people found this helpful
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rita
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on March 4, 2015
Verified Purchase
Really enjoyable series.
One person found this helpful
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BOOKLOVER EB
3.0 out of 5 stars A so-so mystery that lacks the wit of its predecessors.
Reviewed in the United States on June 25, 2002
Ayelet Waldman had a great idea when she came up with the idea for the "Mommy-Track" mysteries. The main character in this series is Juliet Applebaum, an attorney who has decided to be a stay-at-home mom. Between wiping up the assorted messes that her two toddlers are constantly making, ferrying her kids to school and playdates, and tending to her other assorted "mommy duties," Juliet solves murders. What has made this series enjoyable thus far is that Juliet is usually witty and self-deprecating and the mysteries have been fun.
Unfortunately, "A Playdate with Death," as brief as it is (a bit over 200 pages and undersized ones at that), is a chore to read. Gone is the humorous and easy-to-take Juliet, whose wisecracks are not particularly funny in this novel. Waldman has churned out a formulaic and labored mystery about the death of Juliet's personal trainer, Bobby Katz. Bobby appears to have shot himself, but Juliet suspects that he was murdered. Bobby was an easygoing guy who did not seem to be at all suicidal, and for some reason, Juliet feels compelled to solve the mystery herself.
In the course of her investigation, Juliet barges in on all of Bobby's friends and relatives, including both the parents who adopted him and his birth mother. One of the ridiculous conventions of this type of book is that Juliet has no standing at all in this investigation. She is not a private detective, she is not a police officer and she is not even related to Bobby. Since the police have ruled that Bobby's death is a suicide, the case has officially been closed. Yet, Juliet manages to pry information out of an assortment of people who do not have to say one word to her. Yet, of course, they give her all of the information that she needs to solve the crime.
Juliet's long suffering husband, Peter, puts up with her shenanigans, even though she is endangering both herself and her family with her "investigations." The formulas and conventions wouldn't bother me if the mystery itself were at all entertaining. Unfortunately, there is nothing compelling about this case nor is the uncovering of the murderer's identity particularly suspenseful or believable. If Waldman wants to get back on track, she needs to bring back the truly humorous Juliet Applebaum and she needs to craft a mystery with a little more bite and substance.
9 people found this helpful
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Lots of fun
Reviewed in the United States on October 28, 2002
Poor Juliet Applebaum...she's a stay-at-home mom who's a little bored with her life. Fortunately, things keep cropping up to make her life more interesting. First, the director of the preschool she's trying to get her daughter into is mowed down in a hit-and-run (Nursery Crimes). Then, her babysitter disappears (The Big Nap). Now, her personal trainer has committed suicide...or has he? Juliet's determined to find out the truth.
The Mommy-Track mysteries are a great way to spend a couple of hours escaping from everyday life. Especially if that life involves Sesame Street and potty training.
2 people found this helpful
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars intricate cozy
Reviewed in the United States on June 7, 2002
She is on indefinite leave from her job as a public defender but Juliet Applebaum isn't satisfied being a stay at home mom to her two children. The only time she is truly happy is when she can fit a murder investigation into her hectic schedule. When her friend and trainer is found dead the police rule it a suicide but Juliet's instincts go into overdrive.

In Juliet's expert opinion, Bobby was a laid back, easygoing guy with no apparent reason to kill himself. She convinces his girlfriend to give her Bobby's computer to see if there is anything on it that would give a clue to her trainer's state of mind before he died. She discovers that Bobby was searching for his biological parents and when Juliet starts questioning those involved in the search, somebody reacts by threatening her family.

A PLAYDATE WITH DEATH is an that stars a protagonist that is impossible to dislike. Her frustrations and troubles with being a stay at home parent add comic relief to a very serious and believable story line. Ayelet Waldman is a natural storyteller who has created such an intricate mystery that readers will want to finish the book in one sitting while obtaining other Mommy-Track novels.

Harriet Klausner
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