The Man Who Loved Women to Death

By David Handler

A killer with a novelist's touch wants Hoagy to be his editor.

The author calls himself the Answer Man. He introduces himself to Stewart Hoag -- onetime literary darling of the New York scene -- with a letter begging for help with his first novel. Hoagy usually ignores such requests, but the Answer Man's sample chapter grabs his attention. It is a chilling, first-person story about a man who picks up a girl in a pet shop, takes her home, and savagely murders her. The imagery is clear, the prose strong, and the storytelling as truthful as though the author had actually lived it. When he opens the next morning's paper, Hoagy realizes he was reading nonfiction.

A young pet shop employee has been bludgeoned to death, and the crime's details match those in the manuscript. As the Answer Man keeps killing, he continues writing letters asking Hoagy to collaborate with him. If Hoagy can't stop him soon, he may find himself starring in the book's next chapter.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Head of Zeus
• Release date: Jun 1, 2014
• ISBN: 9781784085193

David Handler

David Handler was born and raised in Los Angeles. He began his career in New York as a journalist, and has since written thirteen novels about the witty and dapper celebrity ghostwriter Stewart Hoag, including the Edgar and American Mystery Award-winning The Man Who Would Be F. Scott Fitzgerald and the newest entry The Man in the White Linen Suit. David's short stories have earned him a Derringer Award nomination and other honours. He was a member of the original writing staff that created the Emmy Award-winning sitcom Kate and Allie and has continued to write extensively for television and films. He lives in a 200-year-old carriage house in Old Lyme, Connecticut.