Michael Dion is an actor, not a detective, but when Amanda, an attractive young actress, asks him to help her find Kyle, her friend's rebellious son, how can he refuse? The gig turns out to be much more than Michael had bargained for. Kyle has fallen into the clutches of small-­time drug dealers. Egged on by Amanda, Michael bluffs and blusters his way to secure the boy's release. The thugs overreact, putting Michael's life at risk until his fellow actors and special effects artists come to his rescue. The theatre professionals understand better than anyone about how perception masks reality, and use their expertise, as well as the narcissism and conceit of their adversaries, to rescue each other and the boy, and then passively exact their revenge. "Stage Business" is the winner of the Whistler Independent Book Awards 2016 for Crime Fiction.