Dana Barry is at the top of her game. As a glamorous daytime host on the Shopping Channel, she has been driving their once-sagging ratings to the ceiling. She prances about the set, cooing and fawning over jewelry, donning apparel and accessories that she’d be unlikely to wear herself, but the orders keep pouring in. Ivan Dennison, the new CEO, has other ideas. He sees these mundane items as frivolous and has put forward his plan to boost the bottom line. “Electronics are the future,” he declares.

This could cost Dana the best job she has ever had. She finally makes enough to move out of the tacky West Side digs she shares with Ari, the man she plans to marry. Ari is an NYPD homicide detective who is in line for a promotion, and between them they can easily swing it. In fact, she has just viewed the Upper East Side apartment of their dreams with her best friend, Megan. It has actual windows! And a view! Plus, she has just been promised the lead role in a play being produced by her community playhouse, a step toward her foremost goal of becoming an actress. On an adrenaline high, she goes ahead and signs the lease without talking to Ari about it. But she knows he will be just as happy as she is. Can it get any better?

"THE ROOFTOP PARTY is a wickedly entertaining rom-com/murder mystery from start to finish. It promises to be a contender for beach read of the year."

Back at work, Dana assures her worried boss that she can convince the CEO that by adding an exclusive new makeup to the program lineup, the Shopping Channel’s sales will shoot ratings off the charts. She learns that the annual rooftop party is coming up, and Ivan will be making a big announcement there. Ari must attend a police department function that night, and although she has heard that Ivan is a letch, she is confident that she can handle him on her own. Dana and Megan arrive as the party is in full swing. Dana looks for an opportunity to talk to Ivan over the band, so they move away from the crowd to a corner near the edge of the roof. They’ve barely discussed business when he makes a move on her, and that's when she heads for the dance floor. 

Dana begins to feel woozy and… that’s all she wrote. She regains consciousness in the dressing room with Megan hovering over her. That’s when she learns that Ivan is dead. Onlookers had noticed through the crowd of dancers that a scuffle took place by the wall, and then a man vanished. Dana doesn’t remember a thing.

From there, it's all downhill. The wall is too high for a man to simply topple over. Since Ivan’s death is clearly a homicide, Ari is assigned to investigate. Dana had been seen with Ivan near the ledge, but no one saw or heard a thing until he was discovered planted face down on the parking lot below. Dana’s subsequent blood test revealed Rohypnol, the infamous “roofie” date rape drug, in her system. Circumstances prevent Dana and Ari from seeing each other.

Ivan was not a popular man, and the suspects are numerous, including members of his own family, network bigwigs and fellow businessmen present at the party. Ari is still unhappy with Dana for jumping the gun and signing the lease, but that takes a backseat to his having to treat her as a murder suspect. To make matters even worse for Dana, her fellow actors, especially her rival at the playhouse, are not at all sad to see her sidelined.

THE ROOFTOP PARTY is a wickedly entertaining rom-com/murder mystery from start to finish. It promises to be a contender for beach read of the year.