I've been reading this series in order and while I've liked them all, this is my favorite to date. The lovely watercolor painting on the cover of the copy I have belies the pandemonium and adventure of the story. Our Oxford author embarks on a book signing tour of the hinterlands where she is paired with a novelist billed as "The Man Who Understands a Woman's Heart." That is, if a lecherous, alcoholic, compulsive gambling father-of-five could be seen as that. Oh, and, of course, there's a murder. Stallwood's entire Kate Ivory series in set in and around Oxford. The lack of gore pushes it almost into the cozy category, but the characters are complex and the situations often unexpected. A Daily Telegraph reviewer noted, "Stallwood is funny, bitchy, and sly about life in the literary second division."

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