Plot

As a favor to his longtime lover Dr. Susan Silverman, Spenser agrees to investigate the stalking of a theater company director, pro bono. But before he can get started, an actor is killed by an arrow in the middle of a play. Now that there's a real-life murder to investigate, Spenser and Hawk, get to do what they do best--even if it means death threats from the Chinese underworld, being ordered out of town by the tough local police chief, and dodging bullets and crossbows at every turn. By the time they leave the quaint ocean front community, the population has decreased by three, and live theater will never be the same.—A&E

Spenser attends a play at his girlfriend's insistence to meet a director who is allegedly being stalked. During the performance, the lead actor in a hale of fake arrows is suddenly killed by a real arrow from a crossbow. This launches Spencer into an investigation of everyone involved with the theatrical company and leads him up against a Chinese mobster, who warns Spencer to quit questioning his wife, one of the theater's patrons. However, everything changes when the mobster is found beaten to death.—John Sacksteder <jsackste@bellsouth.net>

Actor Craig Sampson takes a crossbow arrow right in the chest during a performance of the Port City Theater's latest nonsensical play. Since Susan is on the Theater's board and the Port City Police can't really be trusted, she brings in Spenser to investigate, and he gets caught up in a world of marital infidelity, mistargeted affections, police corruption, and the veritable enslavement of illegal immigrants at the hands of the local Triads.—Jeff Cross <blackjac_1998@yahoo.com>