Drama Daddy, a Nicky and Noah mystery novelette
Nicky and Noah mystery 17 by Joe Cosentino
I’ve always thought that our country’s founding fathers were gay. The wigs, makeup, and frilly shirt collars and sleeves were a dead giveaway. They were always pictured with their hands on their hips and a knowing smirk on their faces. We’ll never know what really went on behind the closed doors of the all-male Continental Congress and their male couriers in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1776, but we can take a good guess. As John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and those other early Americans made their Declaration of Independence for freedom, it sure seemed like a coming out party to me. That may be one of the reasons July 4th has always been my favorite holiday. The idea of freedom, democracy, and liberty and justice for all makes right-wing dictators and Republican legislators wince, but it is food for my soul. So when after sixteen novels Nicky and Noah mystery readers asked for a Nicky and Noah mystery novelette, I decided Nicky, Noah, and their theatrical troupe at Treemeadow College would stage an original musical production of the founding of our nation in 1776 entitled, I Do Declare.
In my version of the story, it’s summer stock time at Treemeadow College. Professor of Play Directing sexy Nicky Abbondanza directs the show and takes on the leading role (What else did you expect?) of John Adams. Nicky’s gorgeous and faithful husband, Associate Professor of Acting Noah Oliver, is cast as Adam’s love interest, Thomas Jefferson. Nicky and Noah’s best friend and department chair, Martin Anderson, grabs (among other things) the plumb role of Adams’s beard Abigail. Electricity sparks fly as Martin’s long-suffering husband, Ruben Markinson, plays a frisky Benjamin Franklin. Nicky and Noah’s son, Taavi, and Martin and Ruben’s son, Ty, threaten to call Child Protective Services until Nicky casts them as the Couriers. Nicky’s nemesis, the oblivious Detective Manuello, worms his way into the cast as King George III with a roving eye for muscular male servants. Nicky’s dog, Asterisk, shows his molars until he secures the treat role of the king’s dog Georgie. New to the cast are hunky Sami Zaman, Graduate Assistant of Music, Musical Director, and Edward Rutledge, who has a yen for handsome Haku Yamato, Assistant Professor of Dance, Choreographer, and John Dick-in-son. Hot Theatre majors, Hector Alvarez and Philippe Laurent, play the father of our country George Washington and his French kiss lover Guy Raffleur III, giving new meaning to the term, “Sugar Daddy.” When the actor playing John Hand-cock finds snarky Professor of Music Hank Tobias (Caesar Rodney) murdered in the theatre wing, Nicky and Noah take flight to solve the case—before the murderer clips their wings.
For those of you who haven’t yet ventured to the land of Nicky and Noah (and you should!), it’s 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 (as Nicky would say) faster than a Mormon meeting his fifth wife. At the center is the touching relationship between Professor of Play Directing Nicky Abbondanza and Associate Professor of Acting Noah Oliver. We watch them go from courting to marrying to adopting a child, all the while head over heels in love with each other (as we fall in love with them). Reviewers called the series “hysterically funny farce,” “Murder She Wrote meets Hart to Hart meets The Hardy Boys,” and “captivating whodunits.” One reviewer wrote they are the funniest books she’s ever read! Another said I’m “a master storyteller.” Who am I to argue?
The premiere novel, Drama Queen, was voted Divine Magazine’s Readers’ Choice Award for Favorite LGBT Mystery, Humorous, and Contemporary Novel of the Year! The subsequent novels won many Rainbow Award Honorable Mentions and Favorite Book of the Month awards: Drama Muscle, Drama Cruise, Drama Luau, Drama Detective, Drama Fraternity, Drama Castle, Drama Dance, Drama Faerie, Drama Runway, Drama Christmas, Drama Pan, Drama TV, Drama Oz, Drama Prince, and Drama Merry.
As a past professional actor and current college theatre professor/department chair, I know first-hand the hysterically funny antics, sweet romance, and captivating mystery in the worlds of theatre and academia. The Nicky and Noah mysteries are full of them! I know you’ll laugh, cry, feel romantic, and love delving into this crackling short compact mystery with more plot twists and turns than, as Nicky would say, than a past Republican president ordering the insurrection after he lost the election.
I’m more excited, as Nicky would say, than a right-wing legislator banning drag shows, to share this novelette with you. So take your seats for the fireworks. Not only Ben Franklin’s kite will rise as the men in the Continental Congress find romance, rollicking fun, and rousing murder!
And drop me a line. I’ll share it with Nicky and Noah! http://www.JoeCosentino.weebly.com
DRAMA DADDY (a Nicky and Noah mystery novelette)
Nicky and Noah mystery 17 by JOE COSENTINO
E-book and Paperback: 92 pages
Language: English
Genre: MM, contemporary, mystery, comedy, romance, theatre, musical theater, college, 1776, July 4, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Independence Day
Heat Level: 1
Cover Art: Jesús Da Silva
Release date: July 1, 2023
Summer stock, romance, and murder blossom at Treemeadow College on July 4th when theatre professors and husbands Nicky and Noah and their thespian cohorts stage an original gay musical adaptation heralding the signing of the Declaration of Independence entitled, I Do Declare. Nicky and Noah need to use their drama skills to catch the killer before the frills on their collars are tied in a knot—around their throats. You will be applauding and shouting Bravo for Joe Cosentino’s fast-paced, side-splittingly funny, edge-of-your-seat entertaining first-time novelette (mystery #17) in this delightful series. Take your seats. It’s Independence Day! The curtain and fireworks are going up on an enamored John Adams and Thomas Jefferson who raise Ben Franklin’s kite, Daddy John Dick-in-son, John Hand-cock, George Washington and his French squeeze Guy Raffleur, and murder!
Amazon
Excerpt of Drama Daddy, a Nicky and Noah novelette, by Joe Cosentino:
Noah and I headed past the oak study to our bedroom. We stripped to our T-shirts and boxers, leapt into our oak fourposter, and cuddled under the white satin sheets with our legs entwined like tree roots.
As I lay back on my hypoallergenic pillow, Noah rested his head on my chest. The scent of strawberries filled the sky-blue room. I stroked Noah’s golden locks. “Our son keeps growing up.”
Noah patted my expanding package. “So does his father.”
I slapped his bubble butt.
“Do you think everything is okay with Taavi?”
I nodded. “We’re not ready to be empty-nesters. And Taavi doesn’t seem ready to fly the coup.”
Noah breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank goodness.”
“So now all we have to worry about is the show—and the murder.”
His eyes twinkled like little stars. “What did you find out earlier by eavesdropping on the cast and crew?”
“I don’t spy on people.”
Noah kissed my cheek. “Come on, Sherlock, tell your Watson what you know.”
I happily relented. “Our Graduate Assistant of Music Sami Zaman desires Hank Tobias’s teaching position, and Assistant Professor of Dance Haku Yamato wants that for Sami too, making Sami and Haku good suspects.”
“I don’t believe Haku would murder anyone. During rehearsals, I talked to him a great deal. He’s a terrific guy.”
I did a double take, which nearly gave Noah whiplash. “Are you and Haku an item now? Do you want your independence too, Noah?”
He slapped my chest. “Of course not. I’m with the man of my dreams. And you’re all I’ll ever want.”
“Ditto.”
We kissed and Noah’s strawberry scent filled my nostrils.
“What else did you discover, Nicky?”
“Our theatre students Hector Alvarez and Philippe Laurent admitted their dislike for Hank Tobias.”
Noah sighed. “It seems nobody liked poor Hank. What a shame.”
I cocked my head. “Did you like Hank, Noah?”
“I heard Hank was once a top-notch professor.” He rested his head on my shoulder. “I think everybody should have somebody.”
“Maggie Tobias doesn’t have anyone—now. She said it’s been she and Hank for the last few years after her mother died and Hank discovered Maggie’s fiancé was a player.”
“Good for Hank.” Noah said, “See? There’s some good in everyone.”
“Especially you.” I kissed his smooth forehead.
“I told Maggie we will invite her to dinner.”
“Great.” Noah snapped his fingers. “Hank has been a professor at Treemeadow for decades. He must have left Maggie a windfall.”
“Hardly. With her parents’ doctor bills, Maggie comes away empty-handed. Oh, Maggie saw our student stage manager kneeling next to Hank’s dead body. Adrienne said she was looking for a lost eyelid ring.”
“Adrienne was in my Acting I class.” Noah sighed. “She’s at Treemeadow on a juvenile prison to college program.”
That caught my attention. “What did Adrienne do to land in juvenile prison?”
“She beat up a teacher over a grade dispute at her high school.”
I shuddered. “I’m glad Adrienne wasn’t in my Play Directing class.”
Noah cocked his head. “Adrienne is a good stage manager.”
“When her jewelry doesn’t get caught in the theatre equipment.” I added, “She volunteered to understudy Caesar Rodney.”
“That was nice of her.” Noah asked me, “Did Adrienne or anybody see the quill pen leave the stage?”
I shook my head. “Manuello interviewed everyone. As usual he came up empty. No surprise there.”
“I asked around too.”
“My Watson.” I pinched his pec.
“Nobody saw or heard anything.” Noah kissed my nose.
I grinned. “With Taavi and Asterisk down the hall, and Sloane, Nicky Jr., and Tag away, nobody can see or hear anything we do in here.”
He chuckled. “Is that so, Sherlock?”
“Elementary, my dear Watson.”
We slid down in the bed and made love under the skylight as the twinkling stars and silvery moon heralded our passion.
Post a comment about why you love men in ruffled shirts. The one that tickles us under the collar the most will win your choice of one of the first three Nicky and Noah mystery audio books: Drama Queen, Drama Muscle, or Drama Cruise!
Joe Cosentino was voted Favorite MM Mystery, Humorous, and Contemporary Author of the Year by the readers of Divine Magazine for Drama Queen, the first Nicky and Noah mystery novel. He is also the author of the remaining Nicky and Noah mysteries: Drama Muscle, Drama Cruise, Drama Luau, Drama Detective, Drama Fraternity, Drama Castle, Drama Dance, Drama Faerie, Drama Runway, Drama Christmas, Drama Pan, Drama TV, Drama Oz, Drama Prince, Drama Merry, Drama Daddy (novelette), Drama King; the Player Piano Mysteries: The Player and The Player’s Encore; the Jana Lane Mysteries: Paper Doll, Porcelain Doll, Satin Doll, China Doll, Rag Doll; the Cozzi Cove series: Cozzi Cove: Bouncing Back, Moving Forward, Stepping Out, New Beginnings, Happy Endings; the In My Heart Anthology: An Infatuation & A Shooting Star; the Tales from Fairyland Anthology: The Naked Prince and Other Tales from Fairyland and Holiday Tales from Fairyland; the Bobby and Paolo Holiday Stories Anthology: A Home for the Holidays, The Perfect Gift, The First Noel; and the Found At Last Anthology: Finding Giorgio and Finding Armando. His books have won numerous Book of the Month awards and Rainbow Award Honorable Mentions. As an actor, Joe appeared in principal roles in film, television, and theatre, opposite stars such as Bruce Willis, Rosie O’Donnell, Nathan Lane, Jason Robards, and Holland Taylor. He received his Master of Fine Arts degree from Goddard College, Master’s degree from SUNY New Paltz, and is currently a happily married college theatre professor/department chair residing in New York State.
Web site: https://JoeCosentino.weebly.com
Facebook: https://facebook.com/JoeCosentinoauthor
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JoeCosen
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4071647.Joe_Cosentino
Amazon: Author.to/JoeCosentino
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joecosentinoauthor
I love seeing them as they make me smile. I love when someone is self assured.
If you grew up with ‘80s New Wave like I did, how could you resist? Stand and deliver, indeed!
Why of course its because they look dashing! I love to see them on shows, covers and movies; and the variety of colors! The men sure can pull them off.
I’m thinking of Engelbert Humperdinck and Paul Revere and the Raiders! Now I’m pulling up uTube videos and singing along! Which isn’t pretty because I can’t carry a tune!