Cell

by Judy Klass

Cell is a murder mystery - to about the same extent that Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex is a murder mystery. Lieutenant Rodriguez questions Dennis Kadman about his older brother Michael, who has OD’d on heroin in Dennis’ apartment. Dennis wants to who gave Michael the drugs? Michael was a cunning, manipulative addict. But he was a diabetic double amputee, placed in his brother’s care by the courts - and Dennis tried to keep him alive and drug-free. Through flashbacks, we see the fractious relationship between the brothers, and how they interacted with other “suspects,” including Edith, the Jamaican nurse who believed Michael should be allowed to choose to die; Julie, Dennis’ fiancee who hated what Michael was doing to Dennis and to their relationship; and Byron, Michael’s homeless fried with whom he had lived on the streets. Like Oedipus, while looking for the culprit, Dennis learns far too much about himself. “Judy Klass’s Cell gives us believable dialogue about two brothers . . . characters who live and breathe, needle and provide, and who truly get under your skin.” -Kenneth Wishing, Judge, Best Play 2009 Edgar Allan Poe Awards, Edgar-nominated author of The Fifth Servant

80 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2009