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A Habit for Death

by Chuck Zito

Here is still another brand new author to welcome to the murder-mystery genre, and no, it's not the same Chuck Zito you found on the TV program named OZ. This Chuck Zito is about as opposite from that one as you can get in personal life; the only thing they have in common (as far as I know) is the fact that both are actors. A Habit for Death is author Chuck Zito's first book – and the opening pages are witty and fun enough to keep you reading through to the conclusion, where his writing turns a little more serious – not much, mind you!

Nicky D'Amico, the young gay stage manager, accepted the summer job at St. Gilbert's Summer Music Theatre Festival because he thought that escaping the heat and humidity of New York City to a Catholic school in rural Pennsylvania would get him in touch with cooler nature. He finds instead that not only is it just as hot and humid, but that he has to stage manage an awful musical titled Convent of Fear – and the Artistic Director, Benny Singleton, plus his all-too-loyal twelve-year-old daughter Olivia – are probably demons from Hell itself.

Almost one week to the day of opening the show, Nicky gets a phone message that two of his best friends from New York, a couple named Roger and Paolo, are coming to visit him. Also during rehearsal that same day, one of the leads dies. It's assumed the death is accidental. Now it's up to Nicky to train another nun in that part. Gradually, all sorts of relationships come to light, along with a history of embezzlement, sudden disappearances, protestors against the performance, a bicyclist who runs down nuns, vandalism and Nicky's attraction to a handsome chorus boy - plus the appearance of Roger and Paolo – who are on the outs – volubly.

Then the other leading character dies – and this time there's no doubt that it's murder. Everything seems to point toward a reason for closing Convent of Fear itself, and the reader is given plenty of suspects – even one of Nicky's friends. With only one lead and that one attempting to learn the blocking, lines, and songs in less than a week, the show is shut down by the police with no hope of simply postponing the besieged musical even when the murderer is found.

A Habit for Death is a delightful novel, written with all the wit and repartee that the gay community has made famous, and this book is something to be enjoyed by any fan of either the theatre or murder-mystery field, whether they be gay or straight. Packed with humorous situations and characters all too believable, A Habit for Death manages to hammer home the idea that gay people are no different than the heterosexuals, having the same difficulty with relationships, circumstances, and attractions – and does it in a fun way. Author Zito's approach to this genre is most welcome.

Alan Paul Curtis

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