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.
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/JoeCosen
Amazon:
Author.to/JoeCosentino
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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