Just Another Dead Author is Katarina Bivald’s follow up to her charming Edgar winner, The Murders in Great Diddling. Set in Lyon in the French countryside, Chateau des Livres is the setting for a literary retreat featuring main character and author Berit Gardner. Berit is a very pragmatic, inquisitive, and creative individual. Her dear friend Emma Scott, literary enthusiast and former bookstore owner, has managed to convince her to agree to be a speaker at the literary retreat. While speaking to large crowds and mentoring other authors isn’t Berit’s idea of a party, she is determined to help her friend.
All the other guests are aspiring writers, eager for a chance to hear accomplished and published authors mentor them, and get the chance to write in a beautiful French setting. Berit isn’t thrilled with her role, but she swallows her own nerves and does her best to encourage the writers and support Emma. Not every lecturer does the same. The most famous author at the event has a sour attitude, for example, and he isn’t shy about telling the group that they might as well give up now, as they have no chance at all of being published, let alone famous. While this attitude isn’t a shock to those who know him, it is disheartening to Berit and Emma who desperately want the retreat to succeed. Weirdly enough, his fame and acclaim seem to give him a pass on his bad behavior. Plenty of guests flock to him for input or to just hear him speak, but as soon as they are out of his earshot, they feel free to mention how much they hate him.
Unfortunately, someone hates him enough to kill him right in the middle of Berit’s lecture. Local Police National, Beatrice Roche, is quick on the scene and is not pleased to learn she is walking into a retreat of writers, all of whom, while shocked and horrified at the murder, are also more than a little curious, and eager to keep their secrets and thoughts. Some are intending to use the gruesome situation in a novel of their own. Reluctantly, Beatrice figures out pretty quickly that she needs an in with the writers and is both wary and grateful that Berit has some investigative experience. Berit quickly realizes things are a lot more convoluted than expected, and becomes determined to solve the mystery to not only find the killer, but to protect her fellow authors and save her friend’s retreat.
I can genuinely say I was shocked by the reveal of who the killer was, as author Katarina Bivald had me ready to believe two other suspects were the real culprits. Readers will have a fun time trying to pin down who it may be, and, while I won’t spoil anything, I will say that there is no shortage of suspects. Just Another Dead Author is a must read for anyone who loves a mystery with plenty of twists and turns, or anyone who is thinking of giving writing a shot. Berit Gardner is a very engaging protagonist, not only because of her fascination and use of psychology with others, but also because of her descriptions on what it means to be a writer.
To write anything, to create something from nothing, is one of the most amazing feats anyone can accomplish – writing whole worlds, creating characters, giving a story life. Katarina Bivald, through Berit Gardner, captures this feat perfectly. She also taps into every self-conscious thought writers might have about themselves. Everyone at the retreat has their own demons to face, while Berit is also encouraging writers to just write, and not feel the pressure of writing something perfect and world changing right out of the gate, or at all. Just write. Just Another Dead Author is a must read for anyone looking for a complex mystery in a foreign setting, and perhaps those looking for a little bit of inspiration and encouragement to pick up a pen to try their own hand at weaving a story. – Carla Schantz
Editor’s note: while this book isn’t billed as a sequel, it is the second book featuring Berit Gardner.