The Poet's Funeral

By John M Daniel

At the annual convention of the American Booksellers Association, everything goes wrong. Julia Child’s cooking demonstration in the Random House aisle catches fire. A top New York editor catches a pie in the face. Invitations to the most exclusive publisher’s party are stolen, and all the wrong people show up. Worse, Heidi Yamada, the world-famous poet, is found dead, spread over the late Elvis Presley’s king-sized bed. It’s all caught on film by a busy photographer from Publishers Weekly, a woman soon kidnapped. When the Las Vegas police shrug their shoulders, Guy Mallon, Heidi’s first publisher (and a discarded lover) wonders what to do.
Poor Guy. He’s a book man from Santa Barbara who, despite fellow residents Ross Macdonald and Sue Grafton, never felt inspired to be a sleuth, but he feels he owes it to Heidi. Besides, catching her killer may be his only chance to leave Las Vegas alive....

• Language: English
• Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press
• Release date: May 27, 2010
• ISBN: 9781615950331

John M Daniel

John M. Daniel lived in Santa Barbara, California for twenty years, where he and his wife, Susan, owned (and were owned by) a small-press publishing company. In 2003 they relocated McKinleyville, California, where they continue to publish books while John also does free-lance editing and teaches writing through adult education. He has taught fiction writing at UCLA Extension and Santa Barbara Adult Education and is on the faculty of the Santa Barbara Writers Conference. His stories have appeared in dozens of literary magazines, and he is the author of several books, including two mystery novels: Play Melancholy Baby and (most recently) The Poet’s Funeral.