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Jocelyn O'Roarke #6
Who Dropped Peter Pan?
Amateur sleuth Jocelyn O'Roarke comes to the aid of a gay friend who is suspected of murdering a middle-aged theater star. 10,000 first printing. Tour.
- GenresMystery
288 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1995
1 person is currently reading
42 people want to read
About the author
Jane Dentinger
13 books8 followersJane Dentinger was born and raised in Rochester, New York. She graduated magna cum laude from Ithaca College with a BFA in theatre, then moved to Manhattan, where she still resides. After making her stage debut in Joe Papp’s production of Pericles at the Delacorte Theatre, she acted off Broadway in All My Sons at the Roundabout Theatre and in Jack Heifner’s Vanities for ages.
By the time Vanities finally closed, there were a lot of people she wanted to kill, and hence, she wrote her debut mystery, Murder on Cue, on a grant of sorts from the New York State Department of Labor. It was the first of six novels featuring actress Jocelyn O’Roarke, whom the New Yorker dubbed “an artsy Philip Marlowe.”
While writing her novels, Dentinger managed Murder Ink, a preeminent mystery bookstore in New York City, for eight years. In October of 1999, Dentinger became senior editor of the Mystery Guild Book Club. In 2005, she was made editor in chief, a position she held until December, 2013.
By the time Vanities finally closed, there were a lot of people she wanted to kill, and hence, she wrote her debut mystery, Murder on Cue, on a grant of sorts from the New York State Department of Labor. It was the first of six novels featuring actress Jocelyn O’Roarke, whom the New Yorker dubbed “an artsy Philip Marlowe.”
While writing her novels, Dentinger managed Murder Ink, a preeminent mystery bookstore in New York City, for eight years. In October of 1999, Dentinger became senior editor of the Mystery Guild Book Club. In 2005, she was made editor in chief, a position she held until December, 2013.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
January 3, 2025
This was a reasonably solid final entry in the Jocelyn O’Rourke series. As always, I enjoyed the author's insights into the hive of material, intellectual, and emotional activity surrounding a theatrical production--although there were fewer deep dives into the play this time, possibly because it’s Peter Pan! I missed the analysis.
I think the story benefited from bringing Jocelyn back to the New York area. The milieu just rang truer. We spend less time looking at things from Jocelyn’s viewpoint, though, and although I enjoyed seeing things from other characters’ perspectives, and I really like Jocelyn, we get maybe a bit too much of others' views of her (and they are always terribly impressed).
For the most part, I liked the other characters, both familiar and new...despite the fact that, as in the earlier books, there's an inexplicably large number of southern and western characters with the requisite drawls and folksy expressions. That device and the incessant quipping often stood in for real character development, which made it difficult to keep the background characters straight. (Theatre people DO quip and make cultural references, but the contrivance wore thin.) That said, many of the archetypes do ring true!
The competing romantic interests were handled nicely and weren’t too foregrounded or distracting.
This last book was written in 1995, so the specter of AIDS is present and dealt with movingly.
I'm about the right age to understand the other cultural references (movies, TV shows, commercials, celebrities), but I wonder if they would make the book seem dated to a younger reader? But...not my problem, lol. I would recommend the series, despite the shaggy middle entries, to people interested in theatre. They're quick reads, not demanding, perfect for a commute. I may have been less impatient with some of the books if I'd let more time pass between entries.
I think the story benefited from bringing Jocelyn back to the New York area. The milieu just rang truer. We spend less time looking at things from Jocelyn’s viewpoint, though, and although I enjoyed seeing things from other characters’ perspectives, and I really like Jocelyn, we get maybe a bit too much of others' views of her (and they are always terribly impressed).
For the most part, I liked the other characters, both familiar and new...despite the fact that, as in the earlier books, there's an inexplicably large number of southern and western characters with the requisite drawls and folksy expressions. That device and the incessant quipping often stood in for real character development, which made it difficult to keep the background characters straight. (Theatre people DO quip and make cultural references, but the contrivance wore thin.) That said, many of the archetypes do ring true!
The competing romantic interests were handled nicely and weren’t too foregrounded or distracting.
This last book was written in 1995, so the specter of AIDS is present and dealt with movingly.
I'm about the right age to understand the other cultural references (movies, TV shows, commercials, celebrities), but I wonder if they would make the book seem dated to a younger reader? But...not my problem, lol. I would recommend the series, despite the shaggy middle entries, to people interested in theatre. They're quick reads, not demanding, perfect for a commute. I may have been less impatient with some of the books if I'd let more time pass between entries.
August 3, 2024
A Great Read
Wonderfully fascinating, well developed characters combined with a complex plot make for a great read. It is a real treat to find an author who can keep you guessing until the end. An added bonus is the delightful glimpse of the theater world behind the curtains. I can't wait to read more by this author.
Wonderfully fascinating, well developed characters combined with a complex plot make for a great read. It is a real treat to find an author who can keep you guessing until the end. An added bonus is the delightful glimpse of the theater world behind the curtains. I can't wait to read more by this author.
March 5, 2019
Fascinating way to bring the characters together in a classic play, but with a twist. Fast-paced with hidden dimensions and as usual quirky, eccentric characters, you are drawn into the plot, even if you know nothing about theater in New York.
July 25, 2022
I have read all of the books in this series. I am very disappointed with this last book in the series. It gave us no closure. Josh having got herself caught up with two men and then to just the ball at the end was in poor taste. Not what I had expected from this author.
January 22, 2023
Barely a 3. Might had been better had I read the earlier books in the series. But this appears to be the final one and I can't imagine how disappointed fans must be in the ending.
June 1, 2016
This just wasn’t my cup of tea. There was way too much of the “hip chatter” and not enough of the “plot zig-zags” that the front of the book promised. It was also a little too heavy on the romance for me. Despite the main character’s assertion that she is more than happy to leave her love life on the back burner, she spends more time thinking about who she’s dating and why then on the murder she is trying to solve.
July 31, 2009
Not as dreadful as that scifi stage manager one I read, though this one got a little hard to follow characters at times. Started off with the stage manager being framed, so of course you were hoping the ending would change (which it did). Lots of theatrical references which were kind of fun.
October 10, 2014
This is the last of the series, but leaves us very much in medias res as regards ongoing things in the overall narrative, which is not entirely unusual, but still rather irksome. As with other series where this happens, possibly author found they had painted themself into a corner?
June 11, 2019
Fluffy
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews