The Author's Guide to Murder

 

The Author's Guide to Murder by Lauren Willig, Beatriz Williams, and Karen White, 404 pages.

Three famous authors in different genres go to a remote Scottish island to collaborate on a book. Allegedly. But while they are there the host of the retreat, famous author Brett Saffron Presley, is found dead under bizarre circumstances, and the three women's statements about how they knew the man don't seem to be adding up.

I enjoy a classic whodunit, and a book by three authors about three authors writing a book felt delightfully meta, so I was excited to check this one out! Unfortunately "literary satire" seems mostly in this case to mean "doesn't have to feel embarrassed about a whole lot of cliche." That being said, I did start having fun with this book a little later on, as the authors put down some of the tropes and started treating the characters as characters more than archetypes. Fairly enjoyable, but I don't know that I would recommend this one unless you're looking for something extremely cheesy.