Two for the Show
(2026)(The ninth book in the O'Malley Investigations Mystery series)
A Story by Daniel Pelfrey
Chicago, 1925. The applause has barely faded when a comedian falls dead at the Majestic Theater. The official verdict: a tragic accident. The truth is something far more dangerous.
When vaudeville star Frankie DeLuca is killed by a rigged counterweight system during a Saturday matinee, his comedy partner Eddie Webb and acrobat Marta Kowalczyk turn to O'Malley Investigations for answers the police won't provide. The theater district belongs to Detective Ray Walsh, and Walsh has every reason to keep this case closed.
Kit Ashworth knows a staged accident when she sees one. The cleaned metal around a loosened brake tells her everything she needs to know about the killer's intentions and almost everything about his limitations. What Frankie discovered before he died points to something larger than a single murder: a three-year scheme siphoning money from two rival criminal organizations, each one convinced the other is to blame.
As Kit traces the financial trail through bank ledgers and backstage account books, and Paddy O'Malley works his contacts from union halls to speakeasies, the investigation draws them into a web of coerced witnesses, planted evidence, and a theater manager whose first concern after a man's death was whether the evening show would go on.
With a corrupt detective watching their every move and two criminal factions one revelation away from war, Kit and Paddy must find a way to deliver justice without a courtroom, expose a killer who hides behind columns of numbers, and walk away clean from a case where every official door leads straight to the men who want them silenced.
Some acts are built for two. So is the truth.
Two for the Show is the fourth book in the O'Malley Investigations series, a Prohibition-era mystery set in the smoky theaters and corrupt precincts of 1920s Chicago. Each book can be enjoyed on its own, but the series is best read in order.
Fans of Jacqueline Winspear, Kerry Greenwood, and Rhys Bowen will love this Jazz Age mystery series featuring a fallen socialite and a disgraced ex-cop solving the cases Chicago's finest won't touch.
Genre: Historical Mystery
When vaudeville star Frankie DeLuca is killed by a rigged counterweight system during a Saturday matinee, his comedy partner Eddie Webb and acrobat Marta Kowalczyk turn to O'Malley Investigations for answers the police won't provide. The theater district belongs to Detective Ray Walsh, and Walsh has every reason to keep this case closed.
Kit Ashworth knows a staged accident when she sees one. The cleaned metal around a loosened brake tells her everything she needs to know about the killer's intentions and almost everything about his limitations. What Frankie discovered before he died points to something larger than a single murder: a three-year scheme siphoning money from two rival criminal organizations, each one convinced the other is to blame.
As Kit traces the financial trail through bank ledgers and backstage account books, and Paddy O'Malley works his contacts from union halls to speakeasies, the investigation draws them into a web of coerced witnesses, planted evidence, and a theater manager whose first concern after a man's death was whether the evening show would go on.
With a corrupt detective watching their every move and two criminal factions one revelation away from war, Kit and Paddy must find a way to deliver justice without a courtroom, expose a killer who hides behind columns of numbers, and walk away clean from a case where every official door leads straight to the men who want them silenced.
Some acts are built for two. So is the truth.
Two for the Show is the fourth book in the O'Malley Investigations series, a Prohibition-era mystery set in the smoky theaters and corrupt precincts of 1920s Chicago. Each book can be enjoyed on its own, but the series is best read in order.
Fans of Jacqueline Winspear, Kerry Greenwood, and Rhys Bowen will love this Jazz Age mystery series featuring a fallen socialite and a disgraced ex-cop solving the cases Chicago's finest won't touch.
Genre: Historical Mystery
Used availability for Daniel Pelfrey's Two for the Show