Zito, Chuck

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Zito, Chuck

PERSONAL:

Born in Johnstown, PA. Education: Attended Pennsylvania State University for two years; Carnegie-Mellon University, B.F.A.

ADDRESSES:

Home—New York, NY. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Spectrum Stage Company, New York, NY, former artistic director; Divisionary Theater, San Diego, CA, former executive director.

WRITINGS:

A Habit for Death ("Nicky D'Amico" mystery series), Midnight Ink (Woodbury, MN), 2006.

Ice in His Veins ("Nicky D'Amico" mystery series), Midnight Ink (Woodbury, MN), 2007.

Wrote the column "A New York Minute" for America Online.

SIDELIGHTS:

Chuck Zito has years of experience in theater, an environment within which he has set his series starring Nicky D'Amico. Nicky makes his debut in A Habit for Death, in which the gay stage manager leaves New York to work on a production at a Catholic college run by nuns in rural Pennsylvania, Zito's home state. He thinks that being part of the St. Gilbert Summer Music Theatre Festival will be a welcome respite from the stress and heat of the New York summer, but that turns out not to be the case. Nicky is soon attracted to David, a member of the chorus, but the show, the plot of which revolves around a serial-killer nun, takes up most of his time. Violence against the actual nuns begins with Sister Sally dropping dead during rehearsal, followed by several others being run down by a man on a bicycle.

In a Booklist review, Jenny McLarin described this first outing as a "laugh-out-loud romp." "The panache of theater director Zito's debut augurs well for a lively series," attested a Kirkus Reviews contributor. "A Habit for Death is a delightful novel," concluded Alan Paul Curtis in a Who-Dunnit.com review, "written with all the wit and repartee that the gay community has made famous, and this book is something to be enjoyed by any fan of either the theatre or murder-mystery field, whether they be gay or straight."