Feature: Drama Detective by Joe Cosentino




HOLMES & WATSON MEET NICKY & NOAH TO THE TUNE OF BROADWAY
Drama Detective by Joe Cosentino
For those of you who haven’t read the first four novels in the Nicky and Noah mystery series (and you should!), it is a gay cozy mystery comedy series, meaning the setting is warm and cozy, the clues and murders (and laughs) come fast and furious, and there are enough plot twists and turns and a surprise ending to keep the pages turning. At the center is a touching gay romance between Associate Professor of Directing Nicky Abbondanza and Assistant Professor of Acting Noah Oliver.
In Drama Queen (Divine Magazine’s Readers’ Choice Award for Favorite LGBT Mystery, Humorous, and Contemporary Novel of 2015) college theatre professors are dropping like stage curtains at Treemeadow College, and amateur sleuths/college theatre professors Nicky and Noah have to use their theatre skills, including impersonating other people, to figure out whodunit. Reviewers called Drama Queen hysterically funny farce, Murder She Wrote meets Hart to Hart meets The Hardy Boys, and a captivating whodunit. Who am I to argue? One reviewer wrote Drama Queen was the funniest books she’d ever read! In Drama Muscle (Rainbow Award Honorable Mention 2016) Nicky and Noah don their gay Holmes and Watson personas again to find out why bodybuilding students and professors at Treemeadow are dropping faster than barbells. Also, Nicky and Noah’s relationship reaches a milestone by the end of the novel. In Drama Cruise it is summer on a ten-day cruise from San Francisco to Alaska and back (which my spouse and I also did). Nicky and Noah must figure out why college theatre professors are dropping like life rafts as Nicky directs a murder mystery dinner theatre show onboard ship starring Noah and other college theatre professors from across the US. Complicating matters are their both sets of wacky parents who want to embark on all the activities on and off the boat with the handsome couple. (The first three books are also available as wonderful audiobooks!) In Drama Luau, Nicky is directing the luau show at the Maui Mist Resort and he and Noah need to figure out why muscular Hawaiian hula dancers are dropping like grass skirts. Their department head and his husband, Martin and Ruben, are along for the bumpy tropical ride. In addition to the sexy hula dancers, we meet a handsome Hawaiian detective, a Bloody Mary type housekeeper, a cigar chomping hotel manager, the hotel owner and his senator wife who give new meaning to the term family values, and a cute young waiter who wants to be a hula dancer more than an anti-gay politician wants a dark backroom in a gay bar.
Now in book five, I combine my infatuation with Sherlock Holmes and musical theatre for the fifth Nicky and Noah mystery novel, where Nicky is directing and ultimately co-starring with his husband Noah as Holmes and Watson in a new musical Sherlock Holmes play at Treemeadow College prior to Broadway. Their department head and best friend, Martin Anderson (who I want to play if there’s a television series), Martin’s husband Ruben, their office assistant Shayla, Nicky’s brother Tony, and Nicky and Noah’s son Taavi are also in the cast. The additional cast members are quite a mixed bag of good looks, egos, and suspicious motives. Of course dead bodies begin falling over like hammy actors at a curtain call. Once again Nicky and Noah use their drama skills to figure out who is lowering the street lamps on the actors before the handsome couple get half-baked on Baker Street.
So put on your Sherlock Holmes hat and coat, grab your pipe and program, and take your front row seat for the musical. The game is afoot in Drama Detective!
DRAMA DETECTIVE (a Nicky and Noah mystery)
a comedy/mystery/romance novel by JOE COSENTINO
purchase links:
Theatre professor Nicky Abbondanza is directing a Sherlock Holmes musical in a professional summer stock production at Treemeadow College, co-starring his husband and theatre professor colleague Noah Oliver as Dr. John Watson. When cast members begin toppling over like hammy actors at a curtain call, Nicky dons Holmes’ persona on stage and off. Once again Nicky and Noah will need to use their drama skills to figure out who is lowering the street lamps on the actors before the handsome couple get half-baked on Baker Street. You will be applauding and shouting Bravo for Joe Cosentino’s fast-paced, side-splittingly funny, edge-of-your-seat entertaining fifth novel in this delightful series. Curtain up, the game is afoot!

Joe Cosentino has a unique and fabulous gift. His writing is flawless, and his use of farce, along with his convoluted plot-lines, will have you guessing until the very last page, which makes his books a joy to read. His books are worth their weight in gold, and if you haven't discovered them yet you are in for a rare treat. Divine Magazine
a combination of Laurel and Hardy mixed with Hitchcock and Murder She Wrote…
Loaded with puns and one-liners…Right to the end, you are kept guessing, and the conclusion still has a surprise in store for you.” Optimumm Book Reviews
adventure, mystery, and romance with every page….Funny, clever, and sweet….I can’t find anything not to love about this series….This read had me laughing and falling in love….Nicky and Noah are my favorite gay couple.” Urban Book Reviews
Bestselling author Joe Cosentino was voted Favorite LGBT Mystery, Humorous, and Contemporary Author of the Year by the readers of Divine Magazine for Drama Queen. He also wrote the other novels in the Nicky and Noah mystery series: Drama Muscle, Drama Cruise (Lethe Press), Drama Luau, Drama Detective, Drama Fraternity, Drama Castle; the Dreamspinner Press novellas: In My Heart/An Infatuation & A Shooting Star, A Home for the Holidays, The Perfect Gift, The Naked Prince and Other Tales from Fairyland, The Perfect Gift; the Cozzi Cove series: Cozzi Cove: Bouncing Back, Cozzi Cove: Moving Forward, Cozzi Cove: Stepping Out, Cozzi Cove: New Beginnings (NineStar Press); and the Jana Lane mysteries: Paper Doll, Porcelain Doll, Satin Doll, China Doll, Rag Doll (The Wild Rose Press). He has appeared in principal acting roles in film, television, and theatre, opposite stars such as Bruce Willis, Rosie O’Donnell, Nathan Lane, Holland Taylor, and Jason Robards. Joe is currently Chair of the Department/Professor at a college in upstate New York, and is happily married. Joe was voted 2nd Place Favorite LGBT Author of the Year in Divine Magazine’s Readers’ Choice Awards, and his books have received numerous Favorite Book of the Month Awards and Rainbow Award Honorable Mentions.


Excerpt of Drama Detective by Joe Cosentino:
Noah sat next to me and rested my head on his shoulder. “Remember the theatre mantra, ‘Tech week is called tech week because it’s technically only a week long.’”
I kissed Noah’s smooth neck and tasted vanilla. “Whoever thought up the concept of summer stock at Treemeadow anyway?”
Martin and Ruben, our best friends.”
Is it too late to unfriend them?”
Nicky, this isn’t social media. It’s real life.”
No, it’s more like a nightmare.” I rubbed my tired eyes. “I feel like the captain of the Titanic.”
Nicky, the script is fun, the music is catchy, and the actors all fit their roles well. Taavi is having the time of his life. And the director is incredibly creative, patient, and sexy. We’ll be just fine.” He kissed my long sideburn. “And I’ll massage all your worries away tonight in bed.”
That caught my attention. “All my worries? Even the big one?”
Especially the big one.”
We shared a long, amorous kiss, as I thought about what we’d be sharing later that night.
Back in director mode, I asked, “Do you really think the show’s staging is good?”
It’s perfect, like my husband.” Noah kissed my other sideburn. “And Mark’s musical direction and Tony’s choreography are top notch.”
Speaking of my brother, I was worried when he emailed me about his visit, but you two seem to have hit off.”
Noah’s handsome face filled with sunshine. “It’s been wonderful getting to know your brother. He’s so much like you in some ways. And in other ways he’s even more
Younger? Sexier?
“…sensitive.”
My brother?”
Behind all the muscles, sarcasm, and tough guy talk is a sweet, lonely guy.”
Who seems to spend a great deal of time with my husband. I said begrudgingly, “He is a good choreographer – for a straight guy.”
Noah said, “And he works really well with the cast.”
Especially you.”
I love Tony.” Noah added quickly, “Because he’s your brother.”
Trying to forget about Tony and Noah, I asked, “Do you like the other cast members?”
Always the diplomat, Noah replied, “They’re all terrific in the show.”
I groaned. “Have you heard Trevor Worth played Professor Moriarty eighteen times?”
Yes, eighteen times.” Noah’s luscious dimples appeared. “Have you heard that Harvey Snigger’s TVQ popularity is at stake with this show?”
More times than an altar boy kneels in front of a priest.”
Noah and I laughed wickedly.
I kissed his cheek. “What a troupe we have on this show. Bruno Lucho threatening to wrestle everyone. Mark Melody speaking in musical theatre-ese. Richard’s wife, Delilah Dream, telling me she’s twenty-nine-years-old.”
Noah eyes widened. “She said that?”
I nodded. “Twenty-nine centuries is more like it.”
They’re not so bad. Just insecure actors who need their egos fed.”
I winked at him. “Do you need your ego fed, Noah?”
You feed my every need, Nicky.”
We kissed again. I was lost in Noah’s warm embrace, and I forgot about the show. For a moment. Then running a shaking hand through my frazzled hair, I said, “What do you think about our ex-student, Corey Sundance?”
I know Corey has been a bit short with some people. And he’s made some mistakes as stage manager. But I’m proud of our graduate and his talent.”
Which is plastered all over the internet,” I said.


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