The Mystery of the Crooked Man

Tom Spencer is an expat Londoner currently living and working in Montgomery Alabama. He has published creative work in various journals including a story nominated for a Pushcart Prize and another shortlisted for the Galley Beggar Press Prize. Under his real name Tom Perrin he has published an academic book on twentieth-century fiction as well as having written for the <i>New York Times</i> the <i>Times Literary Supplement</i> and elsewhere. <p>Cantankerous archivist Agatha Dorn is having a bad day. Overlooked for a promotion and barely making ends meet as it is Agatha gets her lucky break when she discovers a lost MS of Gladden Green the queen of Golden Age detective fiction. Agatha sets out to publish it with great fanfare and in doing so becomes a star - a literary mini-celebrity giving speeches signing autographs and speaking on podcasts.<br><br>But as is often the way with Agatha it soon unravels in spectacular fashion. Anachronisms in the MS point to it being a fake - Agatha is vilified and humiliated. To make matters worse her best friend is found dead with a scrap of the contentious MS in her hand. Only Agatha suspects foul play so she emulates the detective of the Green novels and embarks on her own investigation (this involves a fair bit of googling...).<br><br>Are the incidents linked? Cancelled ostracised and her own worst enemy acerbic Agatha must discover the truth connecting the murder and the fake MS and put a stop to the growing body count...</p>