The Man Who Couldn’t Miss: A Stewart Hoag Mystery

In Edgar-winner Handler’s delightful 10th Stewart Hoag mystery (after 2017’s The Girl with Kaleidoscope Eyes), Hollywood ghostwriter and novelist Stewart joins his ex-wife, actress Merilee Nash, at her farm in Lyme, Conn. While Stewart writes in the farm’s guest cottage, Merilee is focused on the upcoming one-night performance to save the decrepit Sherbourne Playhouse, where she’s playing the female lead in Noël Coward’s Private Lives. It’s 1993, and the many celebrities from New York attending the benefit show include Jackie O and her “dark and handsome son,” who Stewart believes “should have just become the next Tom Selleck instead of trying to be an assistant Manhattan D.A.” When, during the play’s intermission, the male lead is found in the men’s room with his head bashed in, Stewart once again turns sleuth. He must also deal with a failed actor who’s blackmailing Merilee. Fans of light period mysteries full of famous names will be enchanted. [em]Agent: Dominick Abel, Dominick Abel Literary Agency. (Aug.) [/em]