A cruise ship full of mystery writers may sound like a fantasy for some, but for Matt Cobb, whose job consists of untangling serious knots for a large television network, it's anything but -- especially when it results in a real-life murder to solve. Cobb is snatched from his normal duties at the network and put on a boat to St. David, to act as minder for two winners of a radio contest. The winners happen to be attractive women, a small bonus, but Cobb can hardly enjoy his time with them before a macho writer takes an active dislike to him and a corpse appears. And when some kitchen knives go missing -- along with quarreling writer Lee Schaeffer -- and other killings and disappearances ensue, Cobb ends up looking to a visiting Mafia boss for clues. But to get to the truth, he will have to work his way through the theories of amateur sleuths and save his own neck.
William L. DeAndrea (1952-1996) was born in Port Chester, New York. While working at the Murder Ink bookstore in New York City, he met mystery writer Jane Haddam, who became his wife. His first book, Killed in the Ratings (1978), won an Edgar Award in the best first mystery novel category. That debut launched a series centered on Matt Cobb, an executive problem-solver for a TV network who unravels murders alongside corporate foul play. DeAndrea's other series included the Nero Wolfe -- inspired Niccolo Benedetti novels, the Clifford Driscoll espionage series, and the Lobo Blacke/Quinn Booker Old West mysteries. A devoted student of the mystery genre, he also wrote a popular column for the Armchair Detective newsletter. One of his last works, the Edgar award-winning Encyclopedia Mysteriosa (1994), is a thorough reference guide to sleuthing in books, film, radio, and TV.