Dozens die each year for the sake of the annual Mystery Writers of America banquet. Heiresses are poisoned, captains of industry are stabbed, and private detectives are gunned down in the street. To mystery authors, these fictional murders are nothing but good fun. But at the annual presentation of the MWA’s prestigious Edgar and Raven awards, real-life death is about to intrude.

Ross Craigthorn’s nightly news program has made him one of the most well-respected men in the country, but deep in his past lies a terrible secret—one he shares with only a few others. They have done their best to forget their long-ago crime, but when Craigthorn decides to come clean, his old accomplice knows that the time has come for murder. When a room full of mystery authors witnesses a killing, which of them will have the nerve to play detective?