The Cardinal Rules of Crime

Author/Contributor(s): McMahon, Jackie Publisher: Berkley Date: 7/20/2027 Binding: Hardcover Condition: NEW Bad writing leads to actual murder when an elite group of mystery writers publish a list of unforgivable sins in detective fiction… Inspired by Agatha Christie’s real-life Detection Club! June, 1931. Frank and Lucy Murray have become the most famous married couple in the crime writing world. With the media’s interest in their relationship bordering on intrusive, all eyes are on the Murrays and their colleagues in the Cloak and Dagger Club, the group of Britain’s finest mystery authors. The Club has recently published their tongue-in-cheek set of rules for crime writing: “The Cardinal Rules of Crime.” Inspired by plot sins they’ve identified in the works of other popular writers, the rules lay out the blueprint for the “fair play” mystery—first and foremost, all clues must be present for the reader to be able to solve the crime themselves. The rules have generated both praise and backlash, and the Club’s author peers, who are guilty of breaking many of the rules, are furious at the hits to their reputations. Then two murders occur, each corresponding in a macabre way with the first two of rules, and Frank, Lucy, and their creative colleagues must catch a killer amongst a group of maligned, mediocre mystery writers, all of whom know of many, many ways to commit a murder.