| Book #8 of the Dick Hardesty Mystery Series finds protagonist Dick Hardesty and his partner Jonathan taking a much-needed vacation to New York City to visit Dick's ex-partner Chris and Chris' new partner Max, who are involved in an off-Broadway show. When Ron Pierce, one of the show's leads and lover of the production's playwrite is murdered a few days before Dick and Jonathan's arrival, Tait Duncan, the founder of the company, hires Dick not to find the killer so much as to rule out anyone from the theater being involved.
1980s New York as seen through the eyes of first-time visitor and always enthusiastic Jonathan adds flavor to story as Dick tries to eliminate possible suspects, including the dead actor's understudy, the playwrite, Tait's 'personal assistant' and Tait himself. | ||
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Plot & Themes Tone of story - very upbeat How difficult to spot villain? - Difficult, but some clues given Time/era of story: What % of story relates directly to the mystery, not the subplot? - 60% Murder of certain profession? Kind of investigator Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book descript. of violence and chases - 0 % Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 40 % Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 40 % How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 20 % Crime Thriller Yes Murder Mystery (killer unknown) Yes Main Character Gender - Male Profession/status: Age: - 20's-30's Ethnicity/Race Main Adversary Identity: - none How sensitive is this character? Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters Setting City? Yes Writing Style Accounts of torture and death? - moderately detailed references to deaths Explicit sex in book? Yes What kind of sex: - homosexuals doing their thing Amount of dialog - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog |
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