Jocelyn O'Rourke

In the first book of the Jocelyn O'Roarke series, when a Broadway show’s lead actress is murdered, her understudy must race to find the killer before it’s too late. Struggling actress Jocelyn "Josh" O’Roarke just got a real offer. Well, something resembling a real offer. Her old friend Austin Frost has written a play for Broadway and cast the glamorous Harriet Weldon as the lead. Not wishing to leave his old friend Josh behind, he has invited her to be Harriet’s understudy.

In the second book of the Jocelyn O’Roarke series, New York’s most hated theater critic has been poisoned. Now the question is: Who isn't a suspect? A lot of people have good reason to despise Jason Saylin. He has earned a reputation as New York’s most scathing - and powerful - theater critic. After-parties at his penthouse apartment are the most exclusive in the city. But Jason has one weakness: an illness that he is desperate to hide. His illness is revealed in grandiose fashion when Jason staggers into a room during a party and falls dead on the floor.

It has been a tough road thus far for the audacious Jocelyn "Josh" O'Roarke. Every time she feels like she's moving up in the theater world, her life is derailed by a murder. Now, she is about to make her big move with her directorial debut Off-Broadway. Even better, it's a revival of Major Barbara - a surefire hit. It seems nothing could go wrong - until stage veteran Burton Evans collapses on stage during a preview, apparently from a heart attack.

In the fourth book of the Jocelyn O'Roarke series, where the eponymous stage actress and sometimes-detective goes, murder follows - even all the way across the country. New York City has dried up for Jocelyn "Josh" O'Roarke. Her career on the stage has stalled. Her relationship with NYPD lieutenant Phillip Gerrard is through. She needs a way out, and a supporting role in a Hollywood TV movie seems like just the thing.

Tessa Grant was one of Jocelyn "Josh" O'Roarke's greatest heroes. She was Josh's mentor in school and a continued inspiration throughout her career. When Tessa's death from an apparent heart attack leaves her production of A Winter's Tale at Josh's alma mater without a Queen Hermione, Josh jumps at the opportunity to help out, taking over the role. But when she arrives at the school, Josh finds a journal among Tessa's possessions with something major to say: Her death was no mere heart attack.

In theater, the actors who play Peter Pan are young, sprightly, and almost always female. So you can imagine the surprise of actress and sometimes-detective Jocelyn "Josh" O’Roarke when middle-aged director Rich Rafelson decides to step into the harness of the boy who never wanted to grow up for a regional production of Peter Pan. Even more surprising is Rich’s sudden death, caused by a fall from the stage during an ill-advised curtain call.