DRAMA QUEEN (a Nicky and Noah mystery)
a comedy/mystery/romance novel
by JOE COSENTINO
from Lethe Press
paperback and ebook available now in all formats
audiobook coming next week!
Purchase links:
Purchase the paperback from Lethe Press at: http://www.lethepressbooks.com/store/p303/Drama_Queen%3A_A_Nicky_and_Noah_Mystery.html
Purchase the paperback from Amazon at: http://www.amazon.com/Drama-Queen-Nicky-Noah-Mystery/dp/1590214676/
Purchase the Kindle from Amazon at: http://www.amazon.com/Drama-Queen-Nicky-Noah-Mystery-ebook/dp/B00YCJSEJO/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1432850588&sr=1-1
It could be curtains for college theatre professor Nicky Abbondanza. With dead bodies popping up all over campus, Nicky must use his drama skills to figure out who is playing the role of murderer before it is lights out for Nicky and his colleagues. Complicating matters is Nicky’s huge crush on Noah Oliver, a gorgeous assistant professor in his department, who may or may not be involved with a cocky graduate assistant...and is also the top suspect for the murders! You will be applauding and shouting Bravo for Joe Cosentino’s fast-paced, side-splittingly funny, edge-of-your-seat, delightfully entertaining novel. Curtain up!
“I cannot stop laughing. Drama Queen is Hardy Boys-meets-Murder She Wrote-meets-Midsummer Murders, with a side of parodic, farcical, satire.” “Who-dunits don't come more whodunnity than this.” Boy Meets Boy Reviews
“If you are looking for a fun mystery, lots of humor, like actors, play directors and hot professors, sweet romance and mild, mostly off-page but sensual man-sex this is definitely for you!” MM Good Book Reviews
“If you like broad comedy with a side of crime and a host of suspects, Drama Queen should fill the playbill nicely.” GGR Reviews
“I’m hoping that this is just the start for Nicky and Noah. If Jessica Fletcher could have so many murderers in Cabot Cove, why shouldn’t the same hold true for Treemeadow College?” Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words Reviews
“The mystery took me on a journey with plenty of twists and turns and left me questioning who the murderer was. The romance portion was cute and sexy all rolled into one.” “As for the drama, this book has drama on every page, and for those of us who appreciate the theater, there is plenty of behind the scenes happenings!” Joyfully Jay
“a murder mystery, a comedic romp, an investigative caper, and a love story all rolled up into one nifty little novel” The Novel Approach
Joe Cosentino is the author of Drama Queen the first Nicky and Noah mystery (Lethe Press), An Infatuation (Dreamspinner Press), Paper Doll the first Jana Lane mystery (Whiskey Creek Press), and The Nutcracker and the Mouse King (Eldridge Plays and Musicals). 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. His one-act plays, Infatuation and Neighbor, were performed in New York City. He wrote The Perils of Pauline educational film (Prentice Hall Publishers). Joe is currently Head of the Department/Professor at a college in upstate New York, and is happily married. His upcoming novels are Drama Muscle the second Nicky and Noah mystery (Lethe Press), A Shooting Star (Dreamspinner Press novella), A Home for the Holidays (Dreamspinner Press holiday novella),The Naked Prince and Other Tales from Fairyland (Dreamspinner Press fairytale novella), and Porcelain Doll the second Jana Lane mystery (Wild Rose Press).
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/JoeCosentinoauthor
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JoeCosen
Paperback: 194 pages
Publisher: Lethe Press (June 6, 2015)
Language: English
Cover Design: Ben Baldwin
ISBN-10: 1590214676
ISBN-13: 978-1590214671
Release date: June 6, 2015
Excerpt:
While Scotty stared at us with an inquisitive look on his face, Noah led me to a window seat in a corner of the theatre lobby. White snow fell softly outside the window behind us like cotton bits in a glass ball. I could tell something was bothering Noah, and it hurt me that he was hurting.
“I don’t want to take advantage of our friendship.”
Take advantage! “What’s wrong?”
“It’s about my tenure application.”
I thought back to the neurosis, prayers, nightmares, and sheer terror before my tenure decision. “Noah, anybody lucky enough to get a tenure track position nowadays goes through the jitters stage. It’s not fun, but it’s part of the game. I read your application. It’s very strong. All the students and all the faculty in the department like you.”
His head dropped to his chest. “Not everybody.”
David, the self-prescribed technical theatre god, strikes again.
“I went to David’s office while you were giving notes.”
Tongue firmly in cheek, I said, “And the two of you had a cozy little chat about your promising future at Treemeadow College?”
Noah let out an I Love Lucy, “Hah!” then continued. “After complimenting David on the set design for the show, I mentioned my positive student surveys, and my supportive evaluations from Martin as department head.”
“And when you asked if he will support your tenure, David said he’d have to think about it.” I sneered. “That’s what David said to me when I applied for tenure.” I felt my jaw, hands, and knees clench in unison. “His was my only no vote, which I will never forget.”
“I fared worse than you. David came right out and told me I am too easy on my students, and that like most gay men I am too weak to be a dynamic lecturer.”
“That’s a lie. And against the law in this state.”
Noah’s magnificent lips pouted. “David told me that he wouldn’t support my tenure if I gave him a thousand dollars.”
“He’s never supported anyone for tenure. He has voted against every new course and program modification proposal in the department. He even voted against having a department holiday party. But David’s is only one vote.”
GIVEAWAY OFFER: Post a comment about Drama Queen (the first Nicky and Noah mystery) by Joe Cosentino. The one that tickles our fancy the most will receive from the author a free ebook of Joe Cosentino’s hit novella AN INFATUATION published by Dreamspinner Press. http://www.amazon.com/
A NEW GAY MYSTERY SERIES IN THE WACKY WORLD OF ACADEMIA
by Joe Cosentino
I’ve been a college theatre professor for over twenty years and a department head for ten years. Though I love my job, it requires an enormous amount of creativity, energy, and diplomacy. I have also met the most amazing students, faculty colleagues, staff, and administrators. It occurred to me one day that a college campus with its numerous buildings, around the clock access, and diverse personalities is the perfect place for a mystery series.
Mystery novels have always been my favorites, in particular those in a series that includes humor and romance. However, I was unable to find many gay mystery series along that line. So I decided to create my own. Since the mysteries I like are of the cozy variety, I set my series in the quaint, fictitious, New England college town of Treemeadow, named after its original founders, gay couple Tree and Meadow. Edwardian buildings, stone fireplaces, and hot chocolate are in abundance. At the center of the series is Nicky Abbondanza, Professor of Directing, and Noah Oliver, Professor of Acting. It’s up to Nicky and Noah to use their theatrical skills like role play to figure out whodunit and why. Complicating matters is the fact that in book one Noah is the top suspect. As Nicky and Noah embark on one hysterically funny escapade after the next, they fall in love with each other, and hopefully the readers fall in love with them.
In Drama Queen, Nicky and Noah have to uncover why college theatre professors are dropping like stage curtains while Nicky directs the college play production—a murder mystery. In Drama Muscle, Nicky and Noah have to find out why musclemen are dropping like weights in the Physical Education department while Nicky directs the Student Bodybuilding Competition. In Drama Cruise, Nicky and Noah go on a cruise to Alaska, and discover why college theatre professors are going overboard like lifeboats while Nicky directs a murder mystery dinner theatre show onboard ship.
I enjoy mysteries with strong clues, enticing red herrings, plot twists and turns, reversals, and a shocking yet earned and satisfying ending. The characters I enjoy are larger than life, witty, and loveable with healthy sex lives. Plots need to move quickly, and the unexpected is always welcome. So my mystery series incorporates all of those things.
I hope everyone will welcome Nicky and Noah into their libraries and into their hearts. There’s nothing better than a good laugh, a tantalizing romance, and a clever mystery.
No comments:
Post a Comment