Buried Above Ground

The publishing world gets a savage skewering in this intricate meta-mystery from Ripley (Mr. Campion’s Christmas). For years, Roland Wilkes edited Duncan Torrens’s police procedurals for British publisher Boothby & Briggs. Then the vast conglomerate Pabulator acquired the firm, Roland was laid off, and he settled down as a librarian in the “satellite branch of a cash-strapped county library.” Nearly 20 years later, Roland is visited by crime fiction blogger Jacon Archer, who’s been retained by Pabulator to track down the pseudonymous Torrens. No one at the company knows the author’s real name or contact information, and they need him to sign off on e-book and audiobook editions of his Inspector Seeley series. Jason enlists Roland to help track down Torrens, but after they set out to find the elusive author, the reasons for their quest start to look sinister; then somebody dies. Ripley gleefully rotates between a chorus of five narrators—Roland, Duncan, Jacon, and a pair of Pabulator employees—each distinct and none reliable. Their sometimes-contradictory accounts culminate in an ingenious denouement that will make readers want to flip back to the first page and start over again. This is catnip for Anthony Horowitz fans. (Sept.)