FAKED TO DEATH. By Dean James

A superb book, but I'd say that anyway, once an imaginative work focuses a lot on the world of writers, books, criticism, literary agents, etc. Yes I love the literary world and the advanced societies where one gets to see the qualitative variety and protagonists; never mind that the book is part of a Mystery series and contains some unsavoury characters.

Like the (lady) literary agent in this book. In my ignorance and naivety (I'm African through and through) I used to think that such agents would be staid, boring, scrupulous, and do everything by the book as it were. I thus winced to be confronted with such a character, elegant but ruthless - utterly without scruples. But on the whole, I enjoyed this book, the introduction to the major writers here, their work, reputation, special fields etc - male and female. I love the way our hero (sleuth) Simon Kirby-jones here applauds the work of the major figures, flattering their egos in the process beside them.

He can be a ruthless critic also, though - although in his own way he tries to be fair to them all, even to a lady "writer" Norah, whose "trashy" work seems endearing in its own way (a lady who sadly is the 2nd victim of the killer in this book). Literary criticism, hey ... here is what our hero thinks about Norah's work after deigning to read it "Norah's ... manuscript was without doubt the single worst piece of utter nothingness I had ever read in my life... if (she) had ever had an original thought in her life, it had died long ago for lack of companionship..." Pity. - Seyi Bakare