Cue the Dead Guy is the second mystery featuring Polly Deacon, the underemployed puppet maker and born-again rural-dweller who lives in the fictional Ontario cottage country of Kuskawa. H. Mel Malton’s first Polly Deacon mystery, Down in the Dumps, was nominated for a 1999 Arthur Ellis Award.

This time, a local children’s theatre company hires Polly to redesign all the puppets for the new production of a popular operetta. She sorely needs the money and in that spirit reluctantly accepts a promotion to stage manager when the first manager disappears, leaving only his black leather equipment vest behind.

At first, only Polly suspects foul play. But then somebody begins playing a series of gruesome practical jokes on the cast and crew. She tries to sort out the underlying tensions among the cast members who include a beautiful neophyte (the missing stage manager’s fiancée), a handsome rising star with a shady past, a bitter children’s theatre veteran, and an aging has-been. At the same time, Polly must get the play ready to go on the road within a week. Travelling children’s productions are the ninth level of theatrical hell, Polly keeps reminding the reader. She also has to deal with the distracting presence of Mark Becker, a police officer with whom she had a torrid fling in Down in the Dumps.

Author Malton grew up in Muskoka and resettled there after 10 years on the touring theatre circuit, and Cue the Dead Guy showcases her knowledge of both worlds very well. The 30-ish Polly is a lively rural eccentric in a community full of the offbeat. She milks goats in lieu of paying rent on her cabin, and her best friend is a local antique dealer and recreational cross-dresser. Cue the Dead Guy may well have the Muskoka-bound looking at the locals with new interest.