The Soap Opera Slaughters

The plot of the popular daytime soap opera Riverday was melodramatic to be sure but as detective Hilary Quayle and her sometime lover Gene discover it's not nearly as tangled -- or as deadly -- as the drama its stars are acting out in real lifts.<P>First the unclad body of the show's head writer is found on the street in front of the television studio. Then the director yells Action! and the leading villainess is poisoned appropriately enough in the middle of a deathbed scene. And when the show's producer is discovered lying in a pool of blood with his head bashed in the east and crew are suddenly fearing for something besides the show's ratings. Namely their own lives.<P>Before the cameras can roll again Hilary and Gene must separate fact from fiction -- and egos from alter egos -- to learn who on Riverday is hiding behind a mask of tragedy ... and murder!