Actor

Stanley Hastings never gave up his day job. Being private eye for an ambulance-chasing New Yor lawyer specializing in accident claims has become hi career. He carries a .35 (millimeter camera to photograph cracks in the sidewalk) instead of a .38. He has a wife named Alice at home instead of a blonde in the office, and his days as an actor have faded into misty colored memories. Then he gets The Call, a chance to play the lead in Shaw's Arms and the Man. It's only summer stock, and he's filling in for an actor who bowed out with a heart attack, but Stanley will b a star. Or a patsy. Before dress rehearsal ends, Stanley is being accused of murder. Not of the play. Of the dead man behind the scenery. And Captain Bob, the small town's police chief, has tagged Stanley as his best suspect. Yet it's not enough to prevent Stanley from leading his investigation to a knockout denouement that would make Mr. Shaw's beard curl--or elicit a standing ovation...

This is #8 in Stanley Hastings Mystery series.