Bullets for Macbeth

Hilary Quayle and her assistant, Gene, are asked to take on the publicity for an extravagant production of Macbeth to premiere at Madison Square Garden's Felt Forum. Hilary had known the director many years ago in summer stock. Events proceed as usual in the theatrical world -- a world fraught with the hectic, the impassioned, the absolute certainty that nothing will be ready by opening night, and the absolute drive to belie that certainty.

And on the night of the technical/dress rehearsal all efforts seem to be paying off with a rather splendid production -- until one of the corpses turns out not to be acting, and the gunshot during the blackout turns out to be no flamboyant anachronism.

Hilary suspects "the play's the thing" and studies the text and old sourcebooks, her trail finally taking her to the Folger Library in Washington, D.C. Gene, meanwhile, pursues the problem in more traditional fashion. His investigations leads through New York's glamorous and less than glamorous theatrical circles.

The conclusions and solutions they find will surprise everyone. Bullets for Macbeth is an exciting puzzle operating on several levels for the reader who enjoys good and intriguing mysteries.

Marvin Kaye (b. 1938) is the author of more than forty books. Born in Philadelphia, he attended college at the University of Pennsylvania, graduating with advanced degrees in theater and English literature. After reporting for the national newspaper Grit for several years, he moved to New York City and found work in publishing. He published his first nonfiction book, The Histrionic Holmes, in 1971, and followed it with the mystery novel A Lively Game of Death (1972), which introduced sleuthing public relations agent Hilary Quayle, Kaye’s most famous character. 

In addition to five Quayle novels, Kaye has written and edited dozens of works of fiction and nonfiction. He is also one of the founders of the Open Book, New York City’s oldest continuously operating reading theater. In 2010, the theater produced Kaye’s Mister Jack, a comedy about Don Juan. Before his retirement, Kaye taught creative writing at New York University, and regularly performed improvised comedy at the Jekyll & Hyde Club.