★Williams, Beatriz & others. The Author’s Guide to Murder. Morrow. Nov. 2024. 416p. ISBN 9780063259867. $30. M

Three authors walk into a bar. That’s how Cassie Pringle, a cozy mystery writer; Kat de Noir, writer of erotic romantic fantasy; and Emma Endicott, who writes historical portraits of forgotten women, end up at a writers’ retreat on an isolated Scottish island. The besties are researching and writing a book called Fifty Shades of Plaid while staying at Kinloch Castle. Then, fellow author Brett Saffron Presley is murdered on the night of the village dance celebration. On an island where everyone is interrelated, it’s natural for Detective Chief Inspector Euan Macintosh to eye the American writers with suspicion. Their stories don’t add up, and each of them has a history with the dead man. Knowing that they’re suspects, the three women decide to find the person who really killed the man they all hated. This novel by Williams, Lauren Willig, and Karen White is a fun send-up of the publishing industry in which mystery-writing, imbued with humor and mixed with tropes of the genre, is turned on its head. Women sexualize men, and there’s even a dramatic helicopter rescue. VERDICT Three pros unite again (after The Lost Summers of Newport) for this fun, dramatic mystery with an exotic setting and delightful characters. Readers who recognize and like satire will enjoy.