GREAT READS

Heads You Lose

Lisa Lutz and David Hayward.

Who doesn't like a bargain? And a bargain is what you'll get with "Heads You Lose," a collaboration from ex-couple Lisa Lutz, author of the Spellman comedy-mystery series, and David Hayward. You get two novels for the price of one, a book within a book! Lutz enlists her ex to co-write a mystery. She will write a chapter, and he will pick up where she leaves off and then back to her and so on. Each will have to adapt to whatever twists the other creates.

Here's the bargain. "Heads You Lose" is presented as a work in progress where each of the authors makes footnote comments on the other's chapters. The duo exchange notes at the end of each chapter that reveal as much about the authors as they do about the "creative process" of a collaborative novel. This is an epic battle of wits and as the body count rises, the authors trade jibes and retaliate by creating problems for the other to overcome in the following chapters.

This is a laugh-out-loud thriller that features a headless corpse and a brother and sister team of amateur detectives who bring new meaning to the term sibling rivalry. You can't lose with "Heads You Lose."

Recommended by Carol Brannock