Who Dropped Peter Pan? (Jocelyn ORoarke Mystery)
by By Dentinger, Jane
Category: Fiction , Mystery & Detective , General

Stints in Hollywood and academia have convinced Jocelyn O'Roarke that life on the road is for actors with youth, stamina, and a soupcon of masochism. So she's relieved to be back home on New York's Upper West Side, gossiping with her old pal P.J. Cullen, a transplanted Texan who's currently stage-managing a production of Peter Pan. With P.J. around, it doesn't take long for Josh to catch up on the theatre world's latest buzz - especially with P.J. providing entertaining but scathing reviews of Peter Pan's director and star, the wildly egotistic, undeniably middle-aged Rich Rafelson.As it turns out, Rafelson's run as Peter Pan is as short-lived as it is high-flown, for at the first preview as he soars above the stage his harness breaks, plunging him downward to death. Worse yet, as stage manager, P.J. ends up being the lead suspect in backstage foul play. It's time for Josh to wend her way through the growing number of suspects' bedrooms and her old police-precinct haunts in an all-out effort to save her friend. Along the way, as usual, she mingles with a fascinating cast of characters, from a sassy, hyper woman lawyer who discovers love on the boards to a salty police sergeant to a steady-Eddie carpenter who throws a monkey wrench into the proceedings.New York isn't the quiet town Josh thought she was coming home to, and it starts to feel rather small when her East and West Coast beaux collide. Josh doesn't miss a cue in the middle of all this high drama, though, proving once again that she's at the top of her form when it comes to murder, men, and mayhem.