Dorothy Clicks Her Heels Fabulously With The Audio Book Release Of DRAMA OZ
Drama Oz is the 14th Nicky and Noah mystery novel, by Joe Cosentino, performed by Brian Cheney.
By: A.A. Cristi Dec. 16, 2023
Twenty-nine times! That's how many times Joe Cosentino saw The Wizard of Oz movie, the most beloved children's movie of all time. Joe also read and reread the original series of Oz books by L. Frank Baum.
So it isn't a surprise that for the fourteenth Nicky and Noah mystery novel, Joe decided the Treemeadow College theatre group would take a trip to a Wizard of Oz theme park in Key West, Florida. In the novel, college theatre professors Nicky and Noah stage an original musical adaptation of the much-loved classic entitled, Friends of Dorothy. Gay Sherlock Holmes, Nicky Abbondanza, is the wizard onstage and off, doing double duty as show director and playing the Wizard. As Nicky says, "It takes a wiz!" Nicky's gorgeous and devoted Watson and husband, Noah Oliver, is cast as the Scarecrow sitting on a long pole (smile). Their teenage son, Taavi, plays the role of the Tinman (with a large can of lube), and Taavi's best friend, Ty, counters as the Lion with a playful tail. Nicky's best friends, older couple Martin and Ruben, join the cast playing Aunt Em and Uncle Henry "going down on the farm." They also double as Glinda who does it good and the Wicked Witch of the wild West. As usual Nicky and his crew use their drama skills, including playing wacky characters in investigative role-plays with the suspects, to catch the killer before the witch's fireball sends them up in smoke.
For those of you who haven't yet ventured to the land of Nicky and Noah (and you should!), it's a gay cozy mystery comedy series, meaning the setting is warm and cozy, the clues and murders (and laughs) come fast and furious, and there are enough plot twists and turns and a surprise ending to keep the pages turning (as Nicky would say) "faster than a call boy at a Family Values convention." At the center is the touching relationship between Professor of Play Directing Nicky Abbondanza and Associate Professor of Acting Noah Oliver. We watch them go from courting to marrying to adopting a child, all the while head over heels in love with each other. Reviewers called the series "hysterically funny farce," "Murder She Wrote meets Hart to Hart meets The Hardy Boys," and "captivating whodunits." One reviewer wrote they are the funniest books she's ever read! Another said Joe Cosentino is "a master storyteller."
In the premiere novel, Drama Queen (Divine Magazine's Readers' Choice Award for Favorite LGBT Mystery, Humorous, and Contemporary Novel of the Year), Nicky directs the school play at Treemeadow College-which is named after its gay founders, Tree and Meadow. Theatre professors drop like stage curtains, and Nicky and Noah use their theatre skills, including impersonating other people, to figure out whodunit. The following novels also on audio book bring more cases for the thespians to solve in Drama Muscle, Drama Luau, Drama Detective, Drama Fraternity, Drama Castle, Drama Dance, Drama Faerie, Drama Runway, Drama Christmas, Drama Pan, Drama TV, and now Drama Oz.
As a past professional actor and emeritus college theatre professor/department chair, Joe knows first-hand the hysterically funny antics, sweet romance, and captivating mystery in the worlds of theatre and academia. The Nicky and Noah mysteries are full of them! You will laugh, cry, feel romantic, and love delving into this crackling new mystery audio book with more plot twists and turns than a congressional hearing.
The stage lights are coming up on the yellow brick road for a girl with a dog who is one hot bitch, a wicked witch who would kill for a new pair of shoes, a sexy Wizard who wants to bang the Scarecrow's brains out, a Tinman and Lion embarking on a mixed marriage, plenty of monkey business, and murder!
DRAMA OZ (the 14th Nicky and Noah mystery)
a comedy/mystery/romance novel by JOE COSENTINO
Hear a sample of the audio book performed by Brian Cheney here:
The Treemeadow College theatre crew stage an original musical adaptation of The Wizard of Oz, entitled Friends of Dorothy, at a summer theme park in Key West. Quickly cast and crew members melt away like a witch submerged in water. Nicky, as the Wizard on stage and off, must save the show and figure out whodunit. Once again, our favorite thespians will need to use their drama skills to catch the killer before a witch's fireball sends them up in smoke. You will be applauding and shouting Bravo for Joe Cosentino's fast-paced, side-splittingly funny, edge-of-your-seat entertaining fourteenth novel in this delightful series. It's a scorcher! So follow the yellow brick road. The stage lights are coming up in Oz on a girl with a dog who is one hot bitch, a wicked witch who would kill for a new pair of shoes, a sexy Wizard, a Scarecrow sitting on a big pole, a Tinman with a giant can of lube, a Lion with a long tail between his legs, plenty of monkey business, and murder!
Praise for the Nicky and Noah mysteries:
"Joe Cosentino has a unique and fabulous gift. His writing is flawless, and his plot-lines will have you guessing until the very last page, which makes his books a joy to read. His books are worth their weight in gold, and if you haven't discovered them yet you are in for a rare treat." Divine Magazine
"a combination of Laurel and Hardy mixed with Hitchcock and Murder She Wrote...
Loaded with puns and one-liners...Right to the end, you are kept guessing, and the conclusion still has a surprise in store for you...the best modern Sherlock and Watson in books today...I highly recommend this book and the entire series, it's a pure pleasure, full of fun and love, written with talent and brio...fabulous...brilliant" Optimumm Book Reviews
"adventure, mystery, and romance with every page....Funny, clever, and sweet....I can't find anything not to love about this series....This read had me laughing and falling in love....Nicky and Noah are my favorite gay couple." Urban Book Reviews
"For fans of Joe Cosentino's hilarious mysteries, this is another vintage story with more cheeky asides and sub plots right left and centre....The story is fast paced, funny and sassy. The writing is very witty with lots of tongue-in-cheek humour....Highly recommended." Boy Meets Boy Reviews
"Every entry of the Nicky and Noah mystery series is rife with intrigue, calamity, and hilarity...Cosentino keeps us guessing - and laughing - until the end, as well as leaving us breathlessly anticipating the next Nicky and Noah thriller." Edge Media Network
"A laugh and a murder, done in the style we have all come to love....This had me from the first paragraph....Another wonderful story with characters you know and love!" Crystals Many Reviewers
"These two are so entertaining....Their tactics in finding clues and the crazy funny interactions between characters keeps the pages turning. For most of the book if I wasn't laughing I was grinning." Jo and Isa Love Books
"Superb fun from start to finish, for me this series gets stronger with every book and that's saying something because the benchmark was set so very high with book 1." Three Books Over the Rainbow
"The Nicky and Noah Mysteries series are perfect for fans of the Cozy Mystery sub-genre. They mix tongue-in-cheek humor, over-the-top characters, a wee bit of political commentary, and suspense into a sweet little mystery solved by Nicky and Noah, theatre professors for whom all the world's a stage." Prism Book Alliance
"This is one hilarious series with a heart and it just keeps getting better. I highly recommend them all, and please read them in the order they were written for full blown laugh out loud reading pleasure!" Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words
Joe Cosentino was voted Favorite MM Mystery, Humorous, and Contemporary Author of the Year by the readers of Divine Magazine for Drama Queen, the first Nicky and Noah mystery novel. He is also the author of the remaining Nicky and Noah mysteries: Drama Muscle, Drama Cruise, Drama Luau, Drama Detective, Drama Fraternity, Drama Castle, Drama Dance, Drama Faerie, Drama Runway, Drama Christmas, Drama Pan, Drama TV, Drama Oz, Drama Prince, Drama Merry, Drama Daddy (novelette), Drama King; the Player Piano Mysteries: The Player and The Player's Encore; the Jana Lane Mysteries: Paper Doll, Porcelain Doll, Satin Doll, China Doll, Rag Doll; the Cozzi Cove series: Cozzi Cove: Bouncing Back, Moving Forward, Stepping Out, New Beginnings, Happy Endings; the In My Heart Anthology: An Infatuation & A Shooting Star; the Tales from Fairyland Anthology: The Naked Prince and Other Tales from Fairyland and Holiday Tales from Fairyland; the Bobby and Paolo Holiday Stories Anthology: A Home for the Holidays, The Perfect Gift, The First Noel; and the Found At Last Anthology: Finding Giorgio and Finding Armando. His books have won numerous Book of the Month awards and Rainbow Award Honorable Mentions. As an actor, Joe appeared in principal roles in film, television, and theatre, opposite stars such as Bruce Willis, Rosie O'Donnell, Nathan Lane, Jason Robards, and Holland Taylor. He received his Master of Fine Arts degree from Goddard College, Master's degree from SUNY New Paltz, and is currently a happily married college emeritus theatre professor residing in New York State.
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