Dead Crowd — Dan Barton

Stand-up comedian Biff Kincaid knows better than almost any other comic in Hollywood that the funny business is hardly all laughs. He knows that good material is difficult to come by and that gigs can be few and far between. Success is hard to find and easy to lose, not only for performers, but also for those on the business end as well. Flugelhorn's Comedy Cabaret, for example, was almost impossible for a comic to get booked into five years ago; now the owner begs for anyone to show up.

Biff has a gig at Flugelhorn's one night, with a reception he describes as a "funeral." Few people and even fewer laughs and no chance for a rebooking. Biff doesn't have a problem with the small crowd, but he does mind when Bernie Coleman, the club owner, tries to short him cash afterwards. Biff vows to return, but when he does he finds that Bernie Coleman is as dead as last Saturday night's crowd. The police consider Biff a prime suspect, so he turns detective once again to find out who killed Bernie and why.

It seems that Bernie was part of a get-rich-quick scheme involving amateur comedy contests staged at California prisons. The last one ended in a riot during which two convicts turned comics escaped. Bernie videotaped the breakout, but now the footage is missing.

Thus begins Biff Kincaid's latest adventure in the critically acclaimed mystery series by real-life comedian Dan Barton. In his quest to find Bernie's killer, Biff comes across a series of suspects in Bernie's foes and family until he finds himself face to face with an escaped murderer ready to kill for his dreams of comedy stardom.