Marty Gold Mystery

When an allergic reaction results in death, a pharmacist takes the heat Marty Gold has enough problems. Cockroaches, for one thing, and two parents who give him endless grief for moving away from home, for another. But at Spector's Drugs in Manhattan, he is a king. The prescriptions he fills save lives, and the milkshakes he prepares make those lives worth living. So as December approaches, Marty's biggest concern is surviving Thanksgiving dinner. He has no idea he's about to be accused of murder.   Of all the elderly women who frequent the pharmacy, Bernice Fenimore is the kindest. Marty has been refilling her Darvon prescription for so long that it's almost automatic. So when she drops dead of an allergic reaction, and the wrong pills turn up in the prescription bottle, the druggist is the chief suspect. To clear his name, Marty will have to scour the West Side in search of the real killer, and he'll find that investigating a murder is even trickier than making the perfect milkshake.

While on vacation in DC, Marty must outwit kidnappers at a magicians' convention. Marty Gold deserves a vacation. For years he has toiled behind the pharmacy counter at Spector's, a Manhattan institution whose classic soda fountain makes it a magnet for every overstuffed rear end on the West Side. Among his most devoted customers is Mase O'Dwyer, a chunky young magician who treats Marty as a captive audience for hour upon hour of poorly executed magic tricks. When Marty finally saves up enough money for a jaunt down to Washington, DC, Mase insists on tagging along to attend a magic convention. But as soon as he arrives, the hapless magician finally manages to make one trick work: He disappears. Mase has been kidnapped, and as much as he dislikes the kid, Marty feels obligated to rescue him. It will take magic to save the portly illusionist, but the druggist has a few of his own tricks up his sleeves.