A Nicky & Noah Mystery, No. 3 - Drama Cruise

That definitely not ambiguously gay duo, Nicky and Noah, are back at it again, setting the stage for their latest production and solving the latest series of murders - this time on board a luxury cruise ship!  First, it was the Drama Queen...then there was the Drama Muscle...and now, all set to produce a murder mystery show on what is supposed to be a relaxing vacation cruise, Nicky and Noah find themselves caught up in a Drama Cruise!

You have to wonder, sometimes, how it is that these (somewhat) normal people in murder mystery series books manage to always stumble across dead bodies and be involved with solving one murder after another.  Sooner or later, you would think people would realize (like viewers did with Jessica Fletcher eventually) - you don't want to be a guest of these people, because those around them have a tendency to be killed off!  At least with these Nicky and Noah mysteries, author Joe Cosentino manages to interject quite a bit of humor, sarcasm, and just plain wicked fun into each book.

Drama Cruise starts off well enough - Nick and Nora...er, I mean Nicky and Noah...have been invited on a cruise by the entertainment director, Aurora Star, to direct a murder mystery show, utilizing various theater professors as their actors for the production. Nick is excited at the prospect, but he quickly discovers that the professors, with all of their individual quirks, are not necessarily enthusiastic about the whole thing.  Before you know it (and before the end of the first chapter), not only do both Nicky's and Noah's parents appear on the ship to surprise their respective sons, but one of the theater professors turns up dead - with a name tag that reads, "Who's next?"

The ship's captain (who happens to also be a bigot when it comes to gay, lesbian, transgender people) assures the troupe that his ship detective has the matter under control and to go on with things as usual.  With a spot to fill, entertainment director Aurora (who can't help but tell anyone who will listen about her college days as a theater major) takes over the role of the deceased.  And then another professor turns up dead.  And another.  Nicky and Noah realize that if they want to survive this cruise (and see their production completed by the final night of the cruise), they had better get busy and solve the murders.

All the while, dealing with two sets of parents who are making all of the plans for Nicky and Noah's upcoming wedding...

Cosentino gives readers no shortage of suspects, that's for sure.  In fact, the only people who are guaranteed not to be the murderer (besides Nicky, Noah, and their parents, of course) are the murder victims themselves!  There are the other theater professors, of course, who each seem to have a grudge against the others; there is the ship's captain, who harbors an intense hatred for gays; there is the ship's massage therapist who has a rare condition that has him mimicking anyone he is communicating with; there is the ship's entertainment director who can't seem to let go of her college days in the theater; there is the ship's doctor, who is definitely more than what he appears to be; there's the ship's porter, who seems to have a penchant for sneaking into the passengers' drawers; and that's just the tip of the iceberg (with no relation to the Titanic, thank you).

In all honesty, I was debating on whether to continue with this series or not - I read so many series, and I have so little time to truly keep up with all of them - - but this book pretty much clenched the fact that I have to keep reading these books.  The Nicky and Noah mysteries are fun, well-plotted, with sometimes over-the-top yet still believable characters, and completely engaging to the point where you want to finish it in one sitting!  So, I will be returning to the theatrical antics of Nicky and Noah so long as Cosentino keeps telling their tales...

RATING:  10 slices of pineapple blueberry cheesecake out of 10 for making drama, well, so much fun to read!