Excerpt: The Player

THE PLAYER

Player Piano Mysteries Book 1, a paranormal romantic mystery novel by JOE COSENTINO, published by Dreamspinner Press

When young music teacher Andre Beaufort discovers an antique player piano in the basement of his apartment building, he is visited by the ghost of the original owner: a dapper and charismatic playboy from the Roaring Twenties, Freddy Birtwistle.

Andre has never seen a ghost and Freddy has never been one, so they get off to a rocky start. But when Andre finds his neighbor murdered on his doorstep, he and Freddy join forces to narrow the pool of suspects.

Soon Andre and Freddy discover that opposites attract, even if one’s alive and the other dead. Together these amateur detectives make an enticing team, and it’s a good thing too, because the first murder they solve together won’t be their last. But the real mystery isn’t just whodunit—it’s how a romance between a man and a ghost can have a happily ever after ending.

The Player contains two stand-alone cozy murder mysteries, The City House and The Country House.

In his aunt’s apartment, Andre is questioned by a detective about their neighbor’s murder in this exclusive excerpt from The Player, Player Piano Mysteries Book 1, by Joe Cosentino, published by Dreamspinner Press.

The detective glanced from Aunt Nia to me. “Do either of you know anyone who would want Alexandria Sokolov dead?”

I spoke up—moving Shawnee’s suspicious eyes away from Aunt Nia. “Earlier today, in the hallway outside Alexandria’s apartment, I overheard her argue with her husband, and also with Hunter Buck from 2C.”

Shawnee asked, “What were they arguing about?”

“I couldn’t tell, but both arguments sounded pretty heavy duty.”

Shawnee wrote quickly.

Since Aunt Nia had inadvertently left her apartment door slightly ajar, my friend Victor burst in as if giving a command performance. “Alexandria’s dead! After what I said to her, I hope the cops don’t suspect me!”

Aunt Nia and I gasped. Victor stopped dead in his tracks. Glancing over at Shawnee, he asked, “And you are?”

Shawnee rose. “Detective Takoda Shawnee.”

Aunt Nia explained, “The detective recently moved into apartment 2B.”

Victor let out a long sigh of relief. “That’s good news. I thought you might be here investigating Alexandria’s murder.”

“I am.”

Victor’s face paled.

Aunt Nia led him onto the sofa next to her. “You don’t need to be afraid of the detective. Aunt Nia is here.”

I said, “You’re my aunt, not his.”

Victor shushed me. “Let her be whatever she wants.” Then he emoted to Shawnee, sounding like a character in a 1940s B movie, “Detective, I didn’t kill Alexandria. You have to believe me. I’m innocent!”

I explained to Shawnee, “Victor is an actor.”

He nodded in understanding. Then, readying his pad again, he asked, “What’s your full name?”

“Innocent.”

Aunt Nia placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. “You can answer the detective’s questions. He won’t bite—too much.”

Shawnee smirked. “Thank you, I think.”

He calmed down a bit. “I’m Victor Martinez.”

Aunt Nia added, “Victor has lived in 3C for a year now.”

“And before that?” Shawnee asked.

“I wasn’t in prison!”

I explained, “He lived in St. Petersburg, Florida, with his family.”

Shawnee asked him, “Can I speak privately with you in your apartment, Mr. Martinez?”

Aunt Nia would have none of it. “Victor stays right here.” She stared Shawnee down. “And so do Andre and I.”

Shawnee’s shoulders dropped. “All right, Mr. Martinez, where were you at eight thirty this evening?”

“In my apartment.”

“Alone?”

“Yes. But that doesn’t make me a killer!”

Shawnee sighed. “And after eight thirty?”

“At about eight forty, I left to visit Andre in his apartment.”

“Why?”

“He’s my best friend.”

Shawnee rubbed his temple. “What was the purpose of your visit?”

“Not to kill anyone!”

I interceded. “Victor, just answer his question.”

Victor replied like a witness on the stand in a television crime drama, “When I had seen Andre earlier today, he had behaved oddly. I was concerned about him.”

Shawnee perked up. “Oddly? How?”

“Andre told me to be quiet when I wasn’t talking. He seemed to be arguing with… himself. And he asked me if we were alone in the apartment, which we were.” Turning to me, he added, “Sorry, buddy. You said to tell the truth.”

I explained to Shawnee, “I was distracted.”

“Why?” he asked.

“I had been playing my new player piano.” I thought fast. “And I couldn’t get the tune out of my head.” I wasn’t going to tell him about Freddy.

Shawnee turned to Victor. “So, at eight forty you were on your way from apartment 3C to 3A?”

“That’s right.”

“Did you hear or see anything unusual in the hallway?”

“Did I ever!”

Shawnee readied his pen.

“Andre’s door was open. Yellow tape covered the doorway. Police were inside. EMT workers carried the still body of Alexandria Popov Sokolov down the stairs on a stretcher. I asked the coroner if it was murder. She told me her suspicions that Alexandria was strangled to death!”

Shawnee looked at him skeptically. “Why would she tell you that?”

“I may have said I was a member of the family.” Victor smiled sheepishly at him. “I assumed Andre was with his aunt, so I ran here to see if he was okay.”

Shawnee glared at him. “Mr. Martinez, were you and Mrs. Sokolov friends?”

“I tried, but she wasn’t interested.”

Aunt Nia took Victor’s hand. “Alexandria had promised Victor an audition for a role in an upcoming Broadway show she was coproducing. Then she backtracked on the offer.”

I wouldn’t want Aunt Nia as my defense attorney.

“This must have made you angry, Mr. Martinez.”

Oblivious, Victor replied to Shawnee, “Broadway show auditions are hard to come by. I wasn’t angry, I was enraged!”

I added quickly, “But Victor and Alexandria talked it out, and all was fine.”

Victor corrected me. “Actually, it was Alexander I spoke with, and he calmed me down.”

“That’s Alexander Popov in 1C,” Aunt Nia explained.

Shawnee seized on Victor’s comment. “Mr. Martinez, are you and Alexander Popov friends?”

“Not really. But he was concerned about me.” He sniffed. “Unlike his sister, Alexander seems to have a heart.”

I explained, “Victor ran into Alexander in the hallway, and Alexander was nice to him.”

Shawnee asked, “Was Alexander wearing his sister’s clothing?”

Victor answered cordially, “Not today. Alexander wore an expensive-looking gray suit. He looked really hot… handsome with his long blond hair and crystal blue eyes. We had a nice little chat, actually. Until his brother-in-law broke it up.”

“That’s Denis Sokolov in 1A,” Aunt Nia explained.

Victor added, “Denis leaned out from his apartment and asked Alexander to come inside so they could talk.”

“About what?”

Victor shrugged. “How should I know?”

Shawnee closed his pad and stood. “Thank you all for the information. Needless to say, nobody in the building should leave town. The front door of the building was locked this evening, with no forced entry there or through any window.”

“So you’re saying this was an inside job?”

Aunt Nia echoed my fears. “And therefore someone in the building killed Alexandria?”

“At this point, it seems that way.”

Author’s Bio:

Joe Cosentino was voted Favorite LGBT Mystery, Humorous, and Contemporary Author of the Year by the readers of Divine Magazine for Drama Queen. He also wrote the other novels in the Nicky and Noah mystery series: Drama Muscle, Drama Cruise, Drama Luau, Drama Detective, Drama Fraternity, Drama Castle, Drama Dance, Drama Faerie, Drama Runway, Drama Christmas; the Dreamspinner Press stories: In My Heart/An Infatuation & A Shooting Star, the Bobby and Paolo Holiday Stories: A Home for the Holidays/The Perfect Gift/The First Noel, The Naked Prince and Other Tales from Fairyland/Holiday Tales from Fairyland, Found At Last: Finding Giorgio/Finding Armando, The Player Piano Mysteries: The Player/The Player’s Encore; the Cozzi Cove series (NineStar Press): Cozzi Cove: Bouncing Back, Cozzi Cove: Moving Forward, Cozzi Cove: Stepping Out, Cozzi Cove: New Beginnings, Cozzi Cove: Happy Endings; and the Jana Lane mysteries: Paper Doll, Porcelain Doll, Satin Doll, China Doll, Rag Doll (The Wild Rose Press). He has appeared in principal acting roles in film, television, and theatre, opposite stars such as Bruce Willis, Rosie O’Donnell, Nathan Lane, Holland Taylor, and Jason Robards. Joe is currently Chair of the Department/Professor at a college in upstate New York, and he is happily married. Joe was voted 2^nd Place Favorite LGBT Author of the Year in Divine Magazine’s Readers’ Choice Awards, and his books have received numerous Favorite Book of the Month Awards and Rainbow Award Honorable Mentions.