Freelance writer Jaine Austen is back! This time around sheโs writing jokes for a female comic in order to make a buck. But when the comicโs male rival is found dead, strangled by a pair of pantyhose, and Jaineโs client is arrested, itโs once again up to her to figure out whodunitโฆ Jaine Austen has never been able to resist the siren call of an Eskimo Pie, just like she canโt resist renewing her romance with Andrew, an old crush. With her bank account hitting new lows, sheโs 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 Dorcasโs 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 enemyโs list a mile long, and when he needles Dorcas one time too many, she assaults him at a clubโs open-mike night.
Naturally when Vic is murdered with Dorcasโs pantyhose and that same Dorcas is standing over his dead body, the police arrest...Dorcas. They figure itโs an open-and-shut case although Jaine figures no killer can be that dumbโeven Dorcas. But when Jaine sets out to find the real culprit, she is distracted by one dating disaster after another with Andrewโand she may not see the dark side of comedy until she faces the business end of a gun and a cold, deadly grin...
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