The Case of the Imaginary Detective - Tapa blanda

Rima Lanisell has a habit of losing things - car keys, sunglasses, lovers, family members. Following the death of Rima's father, she goes to stay with her godmother Addison, a wildly successful, albeit eccentric, mystery writer. Addison's beach house seems the place to make sense of Rima's loss, yet she is soon caught up in a mystery of her own. Who stole a small and highly valuable object from Addison's kitchen? Why is Rima corresponding with an obsessive fan, using someone else's family name? Most importantly: what exactly was the relationship between Addison and Rima's father, and why did Addison name a murderer after him in one of her novels?

A funny, sad and wise literary mystery from the author of The Jane Austen Book Club.

'Fowler's light touch and sly wit are a delight' Sunday Times

A young woman's search for
the truth about her father's past . . .

When Rima Lanisell loses her father to cancer, her godmother Addison's Californian seaside mansion provides a strange and fascinating refuge. Not only is Addison's place littered with dolls' houses replicating the murder scenes from her world-famous mystery novels, but it is also home to one or two misfits. There's Tilda, the New Age former alcoholic; her ne'er-do-well son, Martin; Addison, herself, who was once close to Rima's father. And lurking somewhere in their midst is the imaginary detective - Maxwell Lane - who has a spellbinding appeal for his many, obsessive fans.

As Rima comes to terms with her grief and tries to understand the relationship between Addison and her father, so she and her new housemates become involved in a mystery of their own . . .

'Bravely sad and gravely funny' Daily Mail