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SATURDAY

Hosting a party can be hell. So many things can go wrong: too much food, too little food, too many guests, too few guests. And, sometimes, no matter how carefully you plan, a drag queen still mysteriously drowns in your Jacuzzi. So it goes for Tony Allegro in Thomas Filippi’s novel Dungeons and DragQueens, a cross-dressing whodunnit set in flamboyant South Beach. At the outset, Allegro, who is new to town, throws a housewarming soiree. But before the guacamole goes bad, Jade—five-time winner of the local drag-queen pageant—croaks in the hot tub. Allegro is arrested for murder, while the real killer sashays away undetected. The suspense builds to a falsetto-screeching peak at the sixth annual Miss Gay Royale Pageant. There, between the swimsuit competition and dancing en masse to E.U.’s “Da Butt,” a gaggle of drag queens try to clear Allegro’s name by catching the killer. Filippi reads at 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. at the Crystal City Marriott, 1999 Jefferson Davis Highway, Arlington. Free. (703) 413-5500. (Felix Gillette)