Congratulations to Joe Cosentino for winning Best Contemporary Novel, Best Mystery Novel, Best Crime Novel, and Best Humorous Novel of 2015 for DRAMA QUEEN, the first Nicky and Noah mystery published by Lethe Press, in the Divine Magazine Readers’ Poll Awards! http://www.lethepressbooks.
WHY I WROTE THE NICKY AND NOAH MYSTERIES
WHY I WROTE THE NICKY AND NOAH MYSTERIES
Book Two: Drama Muscle, published by Lethe Press
I have always been fascinated with bodybuilders.
The concept of eating protein every two hours, lifting weights for three hours
a day, shaving every body part, spray tanning, and posing in tiny gold trunks
is amazing to me. What dedication! I quickly noticed the link between
bodybuilding and theatre. So I realized the second Nicky and Noah mystery would
take place in the Bodybuilding Department at Treemeadow College.
If you haven’t read Drama Queen (and you should!), the Nicky and Noah mysteries are set
in an Edwardian style university founded originally by a gay couple (Tree and
Meadow) whose name the university bears: Treemeadow
College. 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, there are
enough plot twists and turns and a surprise ending to keep the pages turning,
and at the center is a touching gay romance between Associate Professor of
Directing Nicky Abbondanza and Assistant Professor of Acting Noah Oliver. Along
the way, Nicky and Noah fall in love, as I’ve heard the readers fall in love
with them.
For most of my life I’ve read cozy mystery
novels. Though full of murder and mayhem, they always made me smile, challenged
my brain, and relaxed me. What could be better than a brain-teasing puzzle
taking place in a comfortable environment with lots of gay people? Like an
Agatha Christie novel, the mystery is the central focus with red herrings and
inversions leading to a satisfying conclusion. As in an Armistead Maupin novel,
the characters are wacky, surprising, and endearing.
In the first novel, it is winter, so white snow,
cherry wood mantels surrounding blazing fireplaces, and hot chocolate are in
abundance. In the second book, it is fall, so gorgeous leaves of amber, violet,
and scarlet blanket the campus. The third book (Drama Cruise not yet published) takes us on cruise to Alaska for
sights of glaciers and whales while Nicky directs a murder mystery dinner
theatre show onboard ship. In each book Nicky and Noah eavesdrop, seduce, role
play, and finally trap the murderer, as pandemonium, hilarity, and true love
ensue for a happily ever after ending—until the next book. 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?
In Drama
Queen college theatre professors were dropping like stage curtains and
amateur sleuths/college theatre professors Nicky and Noah had to use their
theatre skills, including impersonating other people, to figure out whodunit.
When the ebook reached #18 on the Amazon bestsellers list in its category and
the paperback and audiobook (with all twenty-four roles played by Michael
Gilboe) sold like tickets to Les Mis
after the Tony Awards, it was time for another Nicky and Noah mystery.
In the current novel, Drama Muscle, Nicky and Noah don their gay Holmes and Watson
personas again to find out who is murdering musclemen in the Physical Education
Department. Since I work out every day (yet see very little results!) and am
enamored of the real bodybuilders who are so big they don’t even need to iron
their shirts, Drama Muscle holds a
special place in my heart. In the novel Nicky is directing bodybuilding
students in Treemeadow College’s annual Bodybuilding competition on campus.
Bodybuilding students and faculty drop faster than barbells until Nicky figures
out the identity of the murderer, as well as Noah’s secret revolving around Van
Granite, one of the bodybuilding professors. Noah’s hysterically funny parents
visit from Wisconsin and are drawn into the action, and Nicky and Noah reach a
milestone by the end of the novel.
As a college professor/department head, I have
always been aware that colleges are rife with mystery, romance, and humor. It
is my joy and pleasure to share these stories with you. So take your front row
seat. The curtain is going up on young bodybuilders at Treemeadow College.
Lights (and weights) up!
Let's check out Drama Muscle by Joe Cosentino....
It
could be lights out for college theatre professor Nicky Abbondanza. With dead
bodybuilders popping up on campus, Nicky, and his favorite colleague/life
partner Noah Oliver, must use their drama skills to figure out who is taking
down pumped up musclemen in the Physical Education building before it is curtain
down for Nicky and Noah. Complicating matters is a visit from Noah’s parents
from Wisconsin, and Nicky’s suspicion that Noah may be hiding more than a cut,
smooth body. You will be applauding and shouting Bravo for Joe Cosentino’s
fast-paced, side-splittingly funny, edge-of-your-seat entertaining second novel
in this delightful series. Curtain up and weights up!
Publisher: Lethe Press
Language: English
Cover Design: Denny Minonne
ISBN-10: 1590215664
ISBN-13: 978-1590215661
ASIN:
Praise for
DRAMA QUEEN, the first Nicky and Noah mystery by Joe Cosentino from Lethe
Press:
"Without
doubt the funniest book I have read this year, maybe ever"
"brilliant" Three Books Over the Rainbow
“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
“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
“This
fast-paced, hilariously funny, entertaining novel will have you on the edge of
your seat as you try to figure out who-dun-it!” 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
“The tangled weave of murder mystery and other mysteries
comes to a startling conclusion that is both satisfying and mind boggling.”
MultitaskingMomma
“I am not
used to reading books that make me snigger out loud, but in Drama Queen Joe Cosentino has struck a
great balance between his use of tongue in cheek humour and a compelling
mystery which we want to see solved.” Divine Magazine
“Nicky and Noah are two sexy leading characters who conduct
the investigation in this comedic caper with wit and style.” Vance Bastian
Reviews
“Cosentino does a wonderful
job of writing a mystery that keeps the reader guessing right up until the
end.” Barron Owens Reviews
“I love
this story, just the right mix, of fun, hilarity and mystery in the mix. The
storyline is fresh and well thought out, and the dynamic of the characters is
through the roof! Bike Book Reviews
“The author
clearly knows of what he speaks on all matters theater, and the kind of
authentic details he brings to the table in terms of characters and staging
makes this immensely entertaining.” Love’s Last Refuge Reviews
Excerpt:
Noah
opened his mouth to say something, but Rodney Towers interrupted. “Professor, I
was thinking about what Professor Abbondanza mentioned.”
Noah
sighed. “Which of the numerous things said by Professor Abbondanza are you
referring to, Rodney?”
“The
thing about Zeus and Ganymede getting it on.” Rodney looked as if someone had
held his nose and poured vinegar into his mouth.
Noah
tried to speak again, and Maria Ruiz (our Athena) interrupted. “Homophobe
anyone?” Maria stood nose to nose with Rodney. “What’s wrong with you, Rodney?”
She pointed to the twins at the other end of the line. “Tim and Kim are playing
Hercules and Adonis. Everyone knows they were a couple. You don’t hear them
complaining.”
“Um
now that you like mention it, Kim would rather, you know, play another part,”
said Tim.
“Um
so would Tim,” added Kim.
Posed
with their hands on their hips, the twins looked like an advertisement for The King and I in double vision.
Let
me explain. Kim and Tim Sim (Try saying that three times fast), as identical
twins, can read each other’s minds. I could never read my brother’s mind when
we were kids. That’s why I had to read his diary, listen in on his phone
conversations, and bug his book bag.
The
muscles on Rodney’s massive back curled as if snarling. “Let me make myself
clear, Maria. I’m not happy playing Zeus, because I don’t want any part of an unnatural lifestyle.”
Maria
shot him dagger eyes. “And pumping iron three hours a day and spray-painting
our bodies is natural?”
“Maria
knows all about being natural. Don’t
you, Maria?” said compact Jonathan Toner (Achilles) with a smirk on his pimply
face.
“Shut
up, Jonathan,” replied Maria as if swatting a pesky fly.
Rodney
said to his workout partner, “Maria, don’t rag on me because I believe in the
Bible.”
“Then
you better get to work in the fields, ’cause you’re a slave, honey,” Maria
answered with a wave of her muscular arm and snap of her strong fingers.
“Kiss
my muscular black ass.”
“Kiss
my muscular Latina ass.”
Noah
said, like a referee at an A.D.D. Little League game, “Okay, let’s talk about
your character, Maria. Athena was the goddess of wisdom, courage, and justice.
As you think about your poses—”
“Try
to incorporate those feelings into your performance,” I said.
“Right,”
Noah added with narrowed eyes in my direction.
I
mimed buttoning my lips and rested my back against the wall.
Noah
continued, “And Jonathan, Achilles was shot in the heel, the only weak part of
his body.”
“Hence
the term ‘Achilles heel,’” I added, then placed my hand over my big mouth.
Jonathan
flexed his small, high-peaked biceps. “There’s no part of me that’s weak.”
“Except
your brain,” said Maria.
Waving
his stubby finger under her square jaw, Jonathan said, “Careful, Maria. You
don’t want to piss me off.”
Like
a substitute teacher on the last day of school, Noah tried to keep control.
Noticing Mack Heath (Ganymede) standing quietly, Noah said, “Let’s talk about
Mack’s character.”
Middle
weight, fair, perfectly proportioned, and amazingly cut, Mack said, “Didn’t
Ganymede represent youth and beauty?”
“Correct!”
I said then covered my mouth with both hands.
Jillian
Flowers (our Aphrodite), a raving blonde beauty, gazed at Mack with lust in her
violet eyes. “You um totally are like Ganymede, Mack.”
Mack’s
cheeks grew flushed. “Thanks.”
“For
what?” Jillian asked.
“You
just said I’m like Ganymede.”
Jillian
said, “Um isn’t that like who you are, you know, playing?”
Poor
Jillian. Last year, while working out, a barbell accidentally fell on Jillian’s
head, leaving her with poor short-term memory.
“Let’s
talk about your character, Jillian,” said Noah, clearly hoping to get things
back on track. “Aphrodite is the goddess of beauty—”
“And
love,” I added, then hid my face underneath my blazer.
Jillian
batted her long lashes at Mack, then rested her strong hand on his mountainous
shoulder. “Did um Aphrodite and Ganymede ever like, you know, hook up?”
“No,
they didn’t, Jillian.” Mack slid his shoulder out of her clutches.
“Who
didn’t what?” asked Jillian in confusion.
“Aphrodite
and Ganymede were never a couple,” Mack explained, then walked away.
Jillian
responded, “Who said they were?”
“Tim
is like getting, you know, bored,” said Kim.
“Kim
um wants to like get back to, you know, rehearsing,” added Tim.
Having
lost his patience, Jonathan walked past each of his classmates with a smirk on
his pockmarked face, like a carnival sharpshooter wiping out a row of rubber
duckies. “Jillian, Mack isn’t into you. Mack isn’t into anybody, except Mack.
Tim and Kim, you don’t need this competition. Stay home and wait for Daddy Big
Bucks Sim to kick the chop suey. Maria, you don’t want to tick me off, and you
know why. Rodney, join the twentieth century.”
Buy at:
http://www.amazon.com/Drama-Muscle-Nick-Noah-Mystery/dp/1590215664/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1449696136&sr=1-4
About the Author/links
Amazon Bestselling author
Joe Cosentino wrote Drama Queen and Drama Muscle Nicky and Noah mysteries (Lethe Press), An
Infatuation, A Shooting Star, A Home for the Holidays, The
Naked Prince and Other Tales from Fairyland (Dreamspinner Press), Cozzi Cove: Bouncing Back (Nine Star
Press), Paper Doll (Whiskey Creek
Press) and Porcelain Doll (Wild Rose
Press) Jana Lane mysteries, 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 Cruise Nicky and Noah mystery (Lethe
Press), Satin Doll and China Doll Jana Lane mysteries (Wild
Rose Press), and Cozzi Cove: Moving
Forward (Nine Star Press).
Web site: http://www.JoeCosentino.weebly.com
Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/JoeCosentinoauthor
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/JoeCosen
Amazon: Author.to/JoeCosentino
GIVEAWAY~ Post a comment about humor, mystery, or bodybuilders. The one that tickles our funny muscle the most will receive from the author a gift e-book or an audiobook code of the Amazon bestselling novel, DRAMA QUEEN, the first Nicky and Noah mystery by Joe Cosentino published by Lethe Press. Please specify which format you prefer. http://www.lethepressbooks.
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