Five mysteries set in the cut-throat world of literary gatherings

Carol Goodman’s rich and prolific career includes novels such as The Widow’s House and The Night Visitor, winners of the 2018 and 2020 Mary Higgins Clark Award. Her books have been translated into sixteen languages. She lives in the Hudson Valley, NY.

Goodman’s new novel is Our Marriage Is Murder.

At CrimeReads the author tagged five mysteries set at literary events, conferences, and retreats. One title on the list:

Laura Zigman, The Author Weekend

Frenemies play a prominent role in Laura Zigman’s The Author Weekend, envy apparently being the besetting sin of writers in many of these books. Bestselling mystery writer Faye Wader is inspired to throw her own Author Weekend to compete with her nemesis Abby Schuss. Zigman captures that special rivalry that exists when two writers debut together and continue to chart their successes against each another.

Faye’s assistant Jade, an aspiring writer herself, stirs the pot (and the plot) by suggesting they also invite Abby to the weekend. Complications ensue when Faye’s Number One Fan discovers a discrepancy in Faye’s origin backstory and things go precipitously downhill from there. The meta-commentary on the publishing world is at times brutal. “Nobody loves anyone in this business!” Faye’s agent exclaims. “This is publishing!”

Read about another entry on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue