Final edit

Nicholas Barlow is the erudite, urbane, and flamboyant CEO of a small New York publishing company. But the corpse he finds in his Manhattan office is definitely nonfiction. The victim is Parker Foxcroft, editor extraordinaire, or should one say diabolique. So many authors has he cut to the quick, so many co-workers has he offended, and so many coveted prizes has he won, that Foxcroft could have earned a Lifetime Achievement Award for Most Enemies. Nick wants to just close the book on the case. Instead, he leads the cops' list of suspects. After all, didn't he have a public shouting match with the victim at the annual booksellers convention? Didn't he arrange to meet the victim at the office after hours? And isn't he now being seen about town with Susan Markham, the drop-dead gorgeous young editor who was Parker Foxcroft's lover? Nick stands, in his Savile Row suit, guilty as charged of everything except the crime. To move the plot along, he introduces another character: his brilliant though bedridden brother, Timothy. He also feels the need to start grilling suspects, including sweet Susan, which he proceeds to do at the Rainbow Room, Players Club, King Cole Room, and other favorit