Award-winning author John Copenhaver has proclaimed that Carol Goodman “is our generation’s Christie.” There are plenty of strong moments of homage to classic mysteries --- including Dame Agatha --- in OUR MARRIAGE IS MURDER to more than warrant that praise.

Goodman follows WRITERS AND LIARS with another clever novel centered on mystery writers. In this case, it’s Fred and Thea Morgan-Lane, authors of an immensely popular series starring Rick and Dora Charles --- an obvious tip of the hat to Dashiell Hammett’s THE THIN MAN featuring husband-and-wife sleuths Nick and Nora Charles.

"Carol Goodman is in full command of this fun and unpredictable novel, which highlights her intricate plotting and well-evidenced knowledge of mystery lore."

With their marriage secretly breaking down for years, Fred and Thea are planning the final installment in their Death Takes a Holiday series to coincide with a trip to MurderCon. The annual mystery writer’s convention is taking place in Italy at the Hotel Castellarosa, a former monastery where the couple met, fell in love, and began working on their first book, Death Takes the Castle.

Adding to the feel of a Christie-inspired murder mystery is a mix of dynamic and ultimately untrustworthy characters who play out perfectly against the idyllic backdrop. Since Thea has not relented on her desire to end the series, her agent and publisher inform her that they will be handing the reins over to a rival author, Nadine St. George. Thea strongly believes that Nadine is far from a worthy successor to a series that she has spent decades creating. Additionally, she suspects her soon-to-be ex-husband of potentially having an affair with Nadine, further fueling the idea of a conspiracy and setup. Fred was never on board with ending the series and made that abundantly clear to Thea.

The games officially begin when the first in a series of mystery-inspired team-building exercises ends in a completely unexpected death. International Murder Writers Executive Director Deb Andersen, a close friend of Thea, falls victim to what appears to be a poisoning --- straight out of Dame Agatha’s murder catalogue. To make matters worse, the glass that Deb last sipped out of was marked as belonging to Thea.

Deadly nightshade is identified as the poison found in the glass, and Thea immediately suspects Nadine. When paperwork is found claiming that if either Thea or Fred dies, the surviving partner would retain 100% of the financial proceeds of their series, Thea is convinced that she has been targeted for murder.

A very real detective is called in to investigate and quickly will have his hands full with a list of suspects who kill people for a living from a fictional perspective, making them the closest thing to experts at getting away with potential crimes that he has ever encountered before. More murders follow, and they seem to be happening in the same order as the killings in Death Takes the Castle, which does not bode well for Thea or Fred.

Carol Goodman is in full command of this fun and unpredictable novel, which highlights her intricate plotting and well-evidenced knowledge of mystery lore.