AMIABLE crime novelist David Slavitt seems to be losing the plot.

The pressure is mounting, as he battles writer's block, plummeting book sales and a publisher who refuses to take his calls.

His domineering agent is threatening to drop him, unless he starts injecting more blood, sex and violence into his work to compete with his chart-topping, Twitter-savvy rivals.

Meanwhile, things in his personal life aren't much better, as he is begins to suspect his university lecturer wife Maggie may be having an affair with one of her colleagues.

Suddenly, inspiration strikes and he finds himself penning a gripping and gruesome murder story that could reverse his fortunes, but how much of it is fiction and how much is real?

This is a deliciously funny, sideways swipe at the world of publishing, agents and crime fiction, which intertwines the primary plot with the Raymond Chandler-style mystery our fictional author is becoming increasingly obsessed with.

Packed with hilarious and genuine insights into the world of the insecure writer, Henry Sutton's economical style and black humour add up to a wonderfully light and entertaining read.

9/10
Review by Gill Oliver