Habit For Death

Nicky D'Amico Mystery #1

by Chuck Zito

Escaping the heat and heartbreak of New York City for a summer in rural Pennsylvania sounded like the perfect plan to Nicky D'Amico. Little did he know that what began as a heavenly idea would turn out to be a hell of a job!

Each year the nuns of rural St. Gilbert's College hire a city slicker to help with their summer theater festival. As the stage manager, Nicky has a lot to handle--a truly awful musical script, bickering school staff, a huge crush on the cute guy in the chorus but things are about to get a whole lot worse. Convent of Fear , the school's play, features a serial nun killer. When several cast members are murdered, the mystery moves from the stage to real life. With its suspenseful plot, loveable characters, and laugh-out-loud humor, A Habit for Death is one habit you won't want to break.

Genres: Mystery, Gay Fiction, Theatre, Gay, Queer, M M Romance

279 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Chuck Zito is a theater director and author of the Nicky D'Amico mysteries.

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Reviews

[Collin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not a mystery person. I've read a couple Agatha Christie books - And Then There Were None among them, obviously - but I don't even like the original Sherlock Holmes stories, and the only crime show I've ever really loved is Monk. I definitely don't /read/ mysteries.

I mean, unless your mystery includes a walking talking and utterly delightful skeleton - that's a conceit I can get behind. And that's something I'm discovering that I really, really like about cozy mysteries: you're allowed to just be in love with the /conceit/ of something. I mean, in my very limited experience, anyway. The whole THEME of the cozy mystery is what makes it so appealing, plus the puns in the titles. It's the one genre where I'm feeling like I can toss off my worries about Emotional Resonance, Character Arc, and Good Dialogue and just get lost in "Protagonist X is a [insert quirky job title here] in [insert small town name here] doing [insert whimsical activity here] when they encounter a MURDER BY [insert topical pun-inducing murder method here]!!"

It's nice. It's relaxing. It's, dare I say, cozy.

I liked Nicky. I thought the writing was mediocre. The murderer was jarring but also pretty obvious at the same time. The promised chemistry between Nicky and David was essentially nonexistent (or at least based only on physicality, which is a realm I am just too asexual to comprehend/appreciate). And yet I kept reading despite flaws I would have overlooked in almost all other genres.

What is it about cozy mysteries that make them just so readable?

[Michael Ritchie · Rating 3 out of 5]

(3-1/2 stars) A cozy mystery with a collegiate theatrical setting and a gay "detective" sounds right up my alley, and I did enjoy this, but was also disappointed in few elements. Nicky, the narrator, is a New York stage manager working for the summer with a college theater group at St. Gilbert's in rural Pennsylvania. The play they're working on, Convent of Death, is a dark musical comedy about nuns and murder, and a group of self-righteous protesters are making problems for the cast and crew, but soon they have a bigger problem to handle: a nun playing the lead role dies on stage during a rehearsal. Nicky is sure it's an accident, but it turns out to be a poisoning, and while the police investigate (and Nicky noses around with a visiting gay couple who he knows from the city), another death occurs.

The main pluses are the fun atmosphere (combining small town, college, and theater) and some interesting characters. The main minus is the mystery itself which is set up clumsily--too many characters introduced too quickly--and which never drew me in to its specifics. The solution is clever but the killer's motivations remain murkily left-field. Also, Nicky, likable as he is, is not fleshed out nearly as much as he should be; other characters are more memorable than he is. When this was over, I wanted to read more about Nicky but the excerpt from the second book included in the back left me cold.

[Bev · Rating 3 out of 5]

It looks like somebody has a real bone to pick with the nuns of St. Gilbert's College and the cast of
their latest theatrical production. This season's show is "Convent of Fear"--a murder mystery set in a convent. Certain staunch Catholic community members take exception to what they see as blasphemy--what with killing off nuns and having one nun renounce her vows for romance with the detective of the piece. But why would anyone start killing off real nuns to protest the fictional murder spree? Added to the mix is a crazy bicyclist in a yellow raincoat and red wig who has taken to running the sisters down, a vandal who tears up the stage manager's (Nicky D'Amico's) office and spray painting Bible verses on the walls, and the mob of believers who shout at the theater folk as the enter and leave rehearsals. Nicky would rather worry about stage directions and making time with with cute fellow in the chorus than to play boy detective--but with his leading woman and leading man dropping dead on stage and the homophobic State Trooper looking for ways to pin the murders on Nicky's best pal Paolo he begins to get serious about tracking down the killer.

This was a humorous and light sortof academic mystery--although the academic part is tenuous at best. I'd have to label it a theatre mystery before I'd slot it into the academic shelves. Nicky is an interesting character who just wants to do the best job he can on a really bad play. But nothing is destined to go right and when his friends Paolo and Roger (feuding lovers) show up expecting him to smooth out their relationship troubles...which are much more important than murdered nuns, by the way...the humor increases two- or three-fold. Paolo is irreverent and willing to say whatever pops into his head to whomever might be around. Roger wants to help Nicky play detective and has the computer skills to lend a hand.

The wrap-up has the feel of a Christie plot...although, I don't think it's quite as fairly clued. An enjoyable enough mystery and good for an afternoon or two of cozy reading. Three stars.

First posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting. Thanks.

[Ami · Rating 3 out of 5]

The main rule for a book with 1st person POV for me, is that I have to like the character. Because I read the story through his/her eyes and mind. In this book, Mr. Zito creates a very likeable character in Nicky D'Amico, who works as a stage manager in summer in rural Pennsylvania town. Dealing with very bad script, staffs who seem to hate each other (they're either related or have love relationship :p), and a huge crush over a cute member of the play, Nicky then finds himself in a middle of murder. Helped by two of his best friends from New York, this story is just a fun read. Though I think there are too many characters to keep in line, but sometimes the lines are hilarious ("So what's the plan? Nice fag/evil fag? Let me be the evil fag") -- especially coming out from Paolo's (Nicky's friend) mouth. The answer of the mystery is a bit Agatha Christie's style, which is good. A nice 3.5 stars for this likeable book.

[Hedvig · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked this book. I liked the characters, liked the murder mystery. So I'll definitely read the second book.

I did find it weird, however, that David never really became part of the group (I think; it's been a while since I read the book, but I think I'd remember if he was there a lot). I have to wonder if Chuck Zito thought it was too much to write a murder mystery and three different relationships, two of them new and developing. If that was the case, it seems like he put the least effort into Nicky and David's relationship, which is a weird thing to do to your main character.
I really loved the two other main relationships (between Roger and Paolo and Patsy and Mary Frances), so he can write them well.

But other than that, really fun and thrilling read!

[Buck · Rating 4 out of 5]

Honestly, this was the first "gay" themed mystery that I found really interesting and well written. Most of the time this genre dips into "soft porn" or "erotica" type novels and the mystery is secondary to the descriptions of anatomy.

THIS book is very different. The characters, while larger than life at times, are well drawn and believable. The plot is nicely thought out and the tone of the book is light and charming.

This makes a wonderful weekend read or rainy day read and I'm looking forward to other books in this line!

[Kati · Rating 4 out of 5]

Laugh-out-loud humor, that description fits this book perfectly. Nicky's hilarious inner monologue, whacked characters and Paolo's very unique wisdom that he loves to share with Nicky - and with everybody in the vicinity - make this book a keeper. The case was quite interesting and I loved the little sneak-peek into the background of a theater production, with Nicky as the only sane person around. The poor, poor thing. Very funny! The author's style reminds me a lot of Steve Kluger's.

[Robert · Rating 1 out of 5]

didn't finish

[LP · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was good, I liked the plot twists and the plausible look behind the scenes of the theater.