There’s been a sensational murder at historic Castle Kinloch, a gothic fantasy of grey granite on a remote island in the Highlands of Scotland. Literary superstar Brett Saffron Presley has been found dead—under bizarre circumstances—in the castle tower’s book-lined study. Years ago, Presley purchased the castle as a showpiece for his brand and to lure paying guests with a taste for writerly glamour. Now it seems, the castle has done him in…or, possibly, one of the castle’s guests has. Detective Chief Inspector Euan McIntosh, a local with no love for this literary American show-off (or Americans in general), finds himself with the unenviable task of extracting statements from three American lady novelists.
The prime suspects are Kat de Noir, a slinky, sexy erotica writer; Cassie Pringle, a Southern mom of six juggling multiple cozy mystery series; and Emma Endicott, a New England blue blood and author of critically acclaimed historical fiction. The women claim to be best friends writing a book a historical novel about the castle’s lurid past and its debauched laird, who himself ended up creatively murdered. But the authors’ stories about how they know Brett Saffron Presley don’t quite line up, and the detective is getting increasingly suspicious.
Why did the authors really come to Castle Kinloch? Is the murder of the long-ago laird somehow connected with the playboy author’s unfortunate demise? And what really happened the night of the great Kinloch ceilidh, when Brett Saffron Presley skipped the folk dancing for a rendezvous with death?
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This was not the first novel I'd read by the three authors. I enjoyed their earlier books, The Glass Ocean and All the Ways We Say Goodbye, which they co-wrote. I have read the author's individual works as well. Lauren Willig, Karen White, and Beatriz Williams are the authors I look out for, especially in historical fiction. I was thrilled to find out that they were writing another book together. With a title like The Author's Guide To Murder , it's hard not to be drawn in. It also included three writers working on a book together. I enjoyed the book, but not in the way I expected when I initially heard about it.
Sadly, around half of the plot was flat, unlike the other books they wrote together. It took me a few chapters to get into the plot, and I thought that nothing seemed to be occurring and that some of the information in the book was dull. I am pleased I gave a book a try because I couldn't put it down once the story started. I couldn't help but wonder whether any of them were responsible for the murder; everyone had a reason for doing so. I enjoyed reading the interviews with the three of them at the beginning of the book; they were all so different that it was difficult to believe they were friends. The mystery element of the book was my favorite part of it.
I enjoyed that it was set in Scotland, where I wanted to travel after reading the novel. The book was a little too long and an epilogue was unnecessary. Overall, I enjoyed the story, particularly the mystery component. I am curious to see what the authors have in store for us next
