Review by Booklist Review
Beatriz Williams, Lauren Willig, and Karen White have collaborated on historical fiction before (The Glass Ocean, 2018), and now they turn their talents to a lighthearted mystery set on a remote Scottish island. American writer Brett Saffron Presley was found in a compromising position with a stag's antler plunged into his back at Kinloch Castle, the estate he bought ostensibly to host writer retreats. Three best friends working on a book together--cozy mystery writer Cassie Parsons Pringle, historical fiction author Emma Endicott, and erotic urban fantasy scribe Kat de Noir--were at the castle when Presley was murdered. Except they're actually not best friends, and each has a secret connection to Presley. To prove their innocence, they'll have to work together to solve the crime. Told in two parts--the days leading up to the murder and the days following--the novel slowly reveals just how bad a man Presley was, and leaves clues that lead to an exciting conclusion involving a helicopter on a wind-swept cliff. The Author's Guide to Murder drops lots of fun publishing Easter eggs in a bookish, charming mystery.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Williams, Willig, and White, who most recently collaborated on The Lost Summers of Newport, fictionalize the origins of their partnership in this delightful send-up of the book industry. The faux-friendship between authors Cassie Parsons, who writes baking-centered cozy mysteries; Emma Endicott, whose historicals center the lives of underappreciated women; and Kat de Noir, whose work leans toward the racy and supernatural, has been arranged by their publicists so the three can apply together to a writers' residency at a Scottish castle. The residency is run by loutish local author Brett Saffron Presley, and when Presley is found stabbed to death by a stag's antler on the night of the town festival, the American women become the primary suspects. Though the plot is rather run-of-the-mill, its pieces fall into place gracefully, with surprise romances and knowingly silly deus ex machinae propelling the action. The characters are both sympathetic and hilarious, and there's an unapologetic glee in how much everyone hates the boorish victim. While the story's meta aspects are perhaps a touch self-indulgent, genre fans will eat it up. This is good fun.Agents: (for Williams and Willig) Alexandra Machinist, CAA; (for White) Amy Berkower, Writers House. (Nov.)
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Review by Library Journal Review
Three authors walk into a bar. That's how Cassie Pringle, a cozy mystery writer; Kat de Noir, writer of erotic romantic fantasy; and Emma Endicott, who writes historical portraits of forgotten women, end up at a writers' retreat on an isolated Scottish island. The besties are researching and writing a book called Fifty Shades of Plaid while staying at Kinloch Castle. Then, fellow author Brett Saffron Presley is murdered on the night of the village dance celebration. On an island where everyone is interrelated, it's natural for Detective Chief Inspector Euan Macintosh to eye the American writers with suspicion. Their stories don't add up, and each of them has a history with the dead man. Knowing that they're suspects, the three women decide to find the person who really killed the man they all hated. This novel by Williams, Lauren Willig, and Karen White is a fun send-up of the publishing industry in which mystery-writing, imbued with humor and mixed with tropes of the genre, is turned on its head. Women sexualize men, and there's even a dramatic helicopter rescue. VERDICT Three pros unite again (after The Lost Summers of Newport) for this fun, dramatic mystery with an exotic setting and delightful characters. Readers who recognize and like satire will enjoy.--Lesa Holstine
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
After the murder of a literary superstar at a writing conference in remote Scotland, three American authors join forces to clear their names and uncover a killer. It will be clear to readers from the very first pages that, despite claiming to be best friends, Cassie Pringle, Emma Endicott, and Kat de Noir do not get along. Cassie is a mother of six who writes cozy mysteries in her free time; Emma is a blue-blooded New Englander who specializes in historical fiction; and Kat writes erotic urban fantasy novels. Nonetheless, they manage to convince their agent to let them write a book together and foot the bill for them to travel to a conference at Kinloch Castle hosted by Brett Saffron Presley, the internationally bestselling author--and "spokesperson for the famous Presley How-to-Write-a-Novel software"--who owns the castle. When Brett is murdered and his body is found high in Kinloch's tower, it falls to Detective Chief Inspector Euan Macintosh to interrogate the castle's occupants, including Cassie, Emma, and Kat. While Euan can't stand the American novelists--or Americans in general--it becomes quickly evident that they might be his only chance at finding out who killed Brett and why. The problem is that none of their stories about what brought them to the castle seem to line up. While three authors collaborating on a book about three authors writing a book together feels fresh and charming at first, especially as each chapter changes point-of-view, the writing is uneven and the plot disjointed. The result feels less like satire and more like secondhand embarrassment as Cassie, Emma, and Kat bumble their way through the Scottish countryside. A murder mystery that tries to be tongue-in-cheek but can't quite pull it off. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
