Alan Conway, a terribly difficult author to work with but the star in the catalog for the small publishing house Susan Ryeland works for, just submitted the manuscript for his ninth Atticus Pünd novel. She adores the novels as much as she dislikes the author, and the author dislikes his character, so she is thrilled to spend her weekend reading the newest installment. But things don’t go as planned. Susan needs to turn her talents from editing mysteries to solving them if she plans on keeping her publishing house in business!
Sorry but I need to keep the plot of this one vague because I want you to be as surprised at the directions this book takes as I was when I read it. I can tell you that you’ll be getting two books for the price of one -- the Atticus Pünd manuscript set in a sleepy village in 1955 very reminiscent of Hercule Poirot and Susan Ryeland’s investigation in the present.
If you are an audiobook listener add this one to your list. Each “mystery” is read by a different reader. A man voices the manuscript while a woman voices the editor’s investigation. It really made the book within a book work even better than it could on the written page; which isn’t saying too much because this is a well plotted mystery in every way.
If the author ever wants to start a series he should turn to writing cozy mysteries like Agatha Christie and Dorothy Sayers because he has the style down perfectly. Mystery fans of any type of mystery will adore this book.
