Unsolicited: A Booklover's Mystery Mass market paperbound - 2000

Summary

From the rear cover

From bestseller to death-dealer
London's Plumtree Press has a world-class bestseller of a novel. And the sequel is earmarked to get this old family firm out of the red. But its anonymous author, known to Plumtree only as "Arthur," has apparently vanished, leaving the crucial last five chapters undelivered. Alex already knows they reveal the identity of the characters who smuggled British children to America during World War II. But, of course, this is fiction. So when a lead critic previews the book as a nonfiction expose, Alex is shocked. Even more so when the critic is murdered...and Alex finds himself the target of a ruthless hunt for the manuscript and bizarre attempts on his life. Ducking newshounds, government officials, and the sniping of jealous publishers, Alex knows only one thing: If he can't find Arthur and untangle the truth, his next season's list may be a posthumous one.

From the jacket flap

From bestseller to death-dealer
London's Plumtree Press has a world-class bestseller of a novel. And the sequel is earmarked to get this old family firm out of the red. But its anonymous author, known to Plumtree only as "Arthur," has apparently vanished, leaving the crucial last five chapters undelivered. Alex already knows they reveal the identity of the characters who smuggled British children to America during World War II. But, of course, this is fiction. So when a lead critic previews the book as a nonfiction expose, Alex is shocked. Even more so when the critic is murdered...and Alex finds himself the target of a ruthless hunt for the manuscript and bizarre attempts on his life. Ducking newshounds, government officials, and the sniping of jealous publishers, Alex knows only one thing: If he can't find Arthur and untangle the truth, his next season's list may be a posthumous one.

Media reviews

"A classical English mystery that, but for a few modern twists, could have been written in the days of Michael Innes or Nicholas Blake."
-- The Denver Post

"Publishing can get pretty deadly in England, as evidenced in Julie Kaewert's engaging and complex thriller."
-- San Francisco Chronicle

"Kaewert writes in the style of Dick Francis--part mystery, part thriller, good plotting, with characters we all care for."
-- Deadly Pleasures

Citations

• Library Journal, 09/01/2004, Page 207