Freelance writer Jaine Austen is back! This time around sheβs writing jokes for a female comic in order to make a buck. But when the comicβs male rival is found dead, strangled by a pair of pantyhose, and Jaineβs client is arrested, itβs once again up to her to figure out whodunitβ¦ Jaine Austen has never been able to resist the siren call of an Eskimo Pie, just like she canβt resist renewing her romance with Andrew, an old crush. With her bank account hitting new lows, sheβs also just agreed to write jokes for Dorcas, a stand-up comic who throws her pantyhose into the audience as a punch line.
Not only is Dorcasβs act a bomb, she is heckled by Vic, a gorgeous fellow comic who is equally good on stage and in the sack. Unfortunately Vic loves performing in both venues. He gets in bed with a sexy waitress, a pretty new lover, and a sweet girlfriend while professing his undying love for each. Worse, he is two-timing his aging agent. Pretty soon Vic has an enemyβs list a mile long, and when he needles Dorcas one time too many, she assaults him at a clubβs open-mike night.
Naturally when Vic is murdered with Dorcasβs pantyhose and that same Dorcas is standing over his dead body, the police arrest...Dorcas. They figure itβs an open-and-shut case although Jaine figures no killer can be that dumbβeven Dorcas. But when Jaine sets out to find the real culprit, she is distracted by one dating disaster after another with Andrewβand she may not see the dark side of comedy until she faces the business end of a gun and a cold, deadly grin...