From Booker Prize nominee Michael Collins comes "a wonderfully creepy murder mystery" ("People"), about a novelist whose last hope for fame may be the deepest secret in his past.

For E. Robert Pendleton, a professor clinging to tenure and living in the shambles of his once-bright literary career, death seems to be the only remaining option. But his suicide attempt fails, and during his long convalescence, a novel is discovered hidden in his basement: a brilliant, semi-autobiographical story with a gruesome child murder at its core.

The publication of "Scream" causes a storm of publicity and raises questions about its content in particular, about the uncanny resemblance between Pendleton's fictional crime and a real-life, unresolved local murder. How did Pendleton know the case so well? And why did he bury "Scream" in his basement? A rare blend of suspense, humor and insight, "Death of a Writer" is "dark, disturbing and damnably good." ("Baltimore"" Sun").

"A stunning tour de force that does a masterful dance through many genres."--Seattle Post Intelligencer
"Michael Collins tears into literary academe with great comic gusto."--New York Times Book Review
"Death of a Writer is as caustic as it is brilliant."--Washington Post Book World