Introducing Elliot Freed, rescuer and proprietor of an abandoned New Jersey movie theater, Cohen fires up the gag reel for a new tongue-in-cheek mystery series sure to please fans of his Aaron Tucker mysteries (As Dog Is My Witness
). After selling his novel to Hollywood, movie-obsessed Freed sinks the windfall into a beloved single-screen relic. When the lights go up after a showing of Young
Frankenstein
, it appears customer Vincent Ansella has had his last laugh—what at first looks like a fatal heart attack is soon revealed to be murder-by-popcorn. After the police shut down his theater, Freed decides to help investigate (if only to quicken the reopening), getting some help from his amicable, alimony-paying ex-wife and an alluring police detective. When Freed's projectionist, a young film student, suddenly goes missing, he's billed suspect number one by the police, but Freed has other suspicions. Ruffling feathers and getting violent warnings, Freed solves the mystery and earns his amateur sleuth credentials, promising more comic adventures to come. Cohen develops his lively characters almost as effortlessly as he delivers the jokes—and the occasional guffaw—and manages to sneak in some suspenseful twists besides. (Oct.)
