Laura Zigman pairs a delightfully wicked locked-room mystery with a searing satire of the publishing world in THE AUTHOR WEEKEND.

Ever since she burst onto the scene as a debut author, Faye Wader has earned comparisons to Kitty Howe, her “short-tempered, foul-mouthed, and unapologetically unlikeable” antiheroine protagonist, the star of her bestselling mystery series. Despite her primary career as a high school math teacher, Kitty moonlights as a part-time, accidental crime solver, delivering her signature catchphrase --- What are the chances? --- when she employs math and science to spot pesky holes in forensic files and inconsistencies in weather and water reports.

Like her creation, Faye has a background in swimming. Her tale of discovering her strength and power through long-form swims has made her an icon to female readers, especially those of a certain age. Along with her agent, Hal Tinder, and editor, Merry Golden, Faye has watched her rise to fame with shock and awe, as her series has made all three of them fabulously wealthy and esteemed.

"Laura Zigman pens a clever and crafty locked-room mystery that is surprisingly fun and devilish in its dark humor.... THE AUTHOR WEEKEND is a reader’s dream: a solid mystery with a curmudgeonly (and menopausal) antiheroine and a behind-the-scenes look at what makes a book a book."

But fame is not all that it’s cracked up to be. Faye's nemesis, Abby Schuss, is the author of a hit romantasy series. Although their genres do not align, Faye and Abby are often grouped together at events and on panels, as their careers have run parallel to each other since the start. But while Faye is somewhat grumpy and certainly not glamorous, Abby is a ready-made star: beautiful, polished and with a tear-jerking background of addiction that humanizes her to her many fans.

In recent years, Abby has outshined Faye at every opportunity, right down to the luxurious reader retreats she hosts in Aspen. But that is all about to change. Along with Hal, Merry and her assistant, Jade Smythe, Faye finally has planned her first-ever fan event, to be held at Misery Island just off the coast of Massachusetts. With 50 middle-aged women heading there, the Author Weekend has begun!

Far from it being the weekend of her dreams, Faye’s time is already off to a bad start. She recently delivered book 15 of her series to her agent, and the reply was…not good. While Hal admits that Faye’s latest is perhaps her strongest, best-written novel yet, it takes a far more personal look into Kitty’s life --- menopause, growing older and turning more introspective. It’s a hard sell not only for Hal and Merry, but also for Faye’s fans as a whole.

Zigman takes a deep dive here into the harsh realities of publishing. As budgets shrink, publishers are less willing to take risks, which means that Faye cannot deviate from the formula that already has brought her so much success. The problem is that she is notoriously sensitive, and Hal and Merry are not sure how to tell her that the book is unsalvageable.

But that’s not all! On the first day of the retreat, Faye's number-one fan, Peggy Mercer, arrives with her usual fastidious copy editor personality in full swing. For years, Peggy has been first in line at Faye’s book events, always wearing Kitty Howe–branded hats and T-shirts…and cropping up with minor errors she has found in her work. She is now noticing inconsistencies not just in Faye's books, but also in her stories about her personal life, including her famous long-distance swims. She is starting to believe that Faye may be a phony. Unfortunately for Peggy, her discovery proves fatal, and Faye’s career-saving weekend has become something much more like her books: a murder mystery.

With Hal, Merry and even Abby approaching the island, the scene turns into a pressure cooker of jealousy, desperation and sales figures, all of which point to the fact that Faye has begun to crack and her career is seriously on the line. As developments and bodies turn up, each character considers them not as real-life happenings, but as plot devices: the denouement, the motive, the climax, the conclusion.

All the while, Jade is considering that it may be time to part from her abusive employer and start her own career as a writer. She views this weekend --- and all its mayhem --- as fodder, telling her MFA cohort that she is doing it all “for the plot,” as the kids say. This clever, creative framing elevates this mystery into something sharp, biting and insightful, and there are plenty of tongue-in-cheek jabs at the publishing industry to propel the characters forward.

Springboarding from recent literary world satires such as THE OTHER BLACK GIRL and YELLOWFACE, Laura Zigman pens a clever and crafty locked-room mystery that is surprisingly fun and devilish in its dark humor. It’s hard to say that any of these characters are exactly likable, but that’s the point: we’re seeing them at the crossroads of their careers and personal relationships, juxtaposed with the very real economic crisis impacting the publishing world. Zigman dishes out plenty of gossipy insider baseball for publishing fans, but she also humanizes the very people who make the industry possible. Readers may see the ending coming, but it no doubt will satisfy and delight with its darkly comedic reframing.

Simply put, THE AUTHOR WEEKEND is a reader’s dream: a solid mystery with a curmudgeonly (and menopausal) antiheroine and a behind-the-scenes look at what makes a book a book.