“A Prize Plot.” -San Francisco Examiner “A bright, light, cleverly written tale.” -Cincinnati Post Things were going lousy for ex-reporter Paul Mcdonald: No money, no girl friend, no bright new career as a mystery novelist … and then along came PI Jack Birnbaum with an offer. He’d detect, and Paul would write the client reports. It wasn’t much, but it would keep Spot the cat in Kitty Queen tidbits. And then this: “That stuff’ll kill you.” “What? Your coffee?” Jack was just doctoring his second cup. “No. All that sweetener. You’re poisoning yourself.” “We’ve all gotta go sometime.” Jack went right about then. His eyes rolled back and he let go of the cup. Coffee sloshed all over my rug. His big body fell forward in the chair. A day that begins with a body in your living room really ought to get better, but next comes burglary and after that, assault-by-cop. And Paul’s got a feeling that’s just the beginning. There must have been something someone didn't want him to know in one of those client reports. But what? These were the facts: I was thirty-eight. I’d spent fifteen years on one major metropolitan daily or another. I’d written six unpublished detective novels. Unpublished in spite of my name. John D. MacDonald did it daily. Ross Macdonald did it deeper. Gregory Mcdonald did it with dash. Wrote thrillers and got them published. But not Paul Mcdonald. I just wrote them, supporting my habit with clients like Jack. I had about two hundred bucks to last me the rest of my life. My only client was dead. The market for mysteries was terrible. I didn’t get out enough. The only thing I’d ever done successfully was write newspaper stories. And I was sitting on a great story. A story he can sell, if he can catch the murderer before the murderer catches him. Birnbaum's last report concerned a kidnapped child, so Paul begins there. The trail leads him to the laboratory of a Nobel laureate geneticist, and then to City Hall, where an extremely nasty surprise awaits. But there’s an upside—lovely witness Sardis Kincannon. Nothing like falling in love while you’re running for your life! “One more blithe San Fran outing with a likeable journalist-sleuth by the name of Paul Mcdonald … Smith improves with each story and this is her best to date.” -Kirkus Reviews The San Francisco Bay Area shines here, as does the author's wit and humor. Fans of CASTLE, MURDER SHE WROTE, even ELLERY QUEEN will enjoy this fast-paced and funny take on the mystery-writer-as-detective.

“A deftly plotted mystery…a delightful book.” —San Antonio Express News “A literary romp…a bright, light, cleverly written tale.” —Cincinnati Post A RISIBLE TREAT FOR THE RIGOROUS BIBLIOPHILE (AND ANYONE ELSE WHO LOVES A GOOD PUZZLE) … TREAT FOR BIBLIOPHILES... The most priceless American manuscript in existence has unceremoniously dropped into Paul Mcdonald's hands—now what? In between much-needed therapy sessions, Paul's neurotic friend Booker the burglar stole it from his dad’s girl friend’s roommate Beverly, and now wants sometime-sleuth Paul to find its rightful owner. Because he’s pretty sure Beverly’s not it. Paul is so awed he can hardly bring himself to touch it. It’s none other than the missing holograph of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. And Beverly’s no librarian, she’s a flight attendant, so Booker suspects chicanery. He’s only too right: Beverly, it turns out, is dead. Murdered for the manuscript, if Paul’s guess is right. He finds out it’s in high demand from a zany collection of collectors, Huckleberry Fiends of all stripes of crazy, every single one of them capable of murder. Suddenly he’s the protagonist of A Literary Nightmare, surrounded by Mysterious Strangers, playing out A Double-Barrelled Detective Story involving A Stolen White Elephant and pretty much Roughing It with the bullying Homicide Inspector Howard Blick. It’s truly, A Murder, a Mystery, and a Marriage….no, not a marriage, a manuscript! But Paul does have his eye on tough and savvy Sardis Kincannon… The liberally-sprinkled Mark Twain quotes and references make this witty yarn a treat for the literary-minded, and better yet, the twisty plot will satisfy the pickiest mystery fiend.