The only words Amy Gallup has had published for as long as she can remember have been other people’s jacket blurbs. She is the writing teacher whose success at twenty-two is long behind her. This semester’s class is much like any other until a series of hoax phone calls, followed by threatening letters and then a murder. Years of rejection from literary magazines have apparently taken their toll on one enraged student – but which one? Amy decides that the only way to find out is to invite them all over to critique the killer’s letters.

The Writing Class is that rare treat: a literary, comic mystery novel. The scenes in the writing workshops are, like much good comedy, painfully realistic. ‘A depressing proportion of writing students didn’t actually read much fiction, but few would admit it. Instead, they’d usually profess a deep love of one or all of three writers: Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Updike.’ To which I’d add: and anything book-listed at school! Compulsory reading for anyone who has participated in or taught a writing class, or knows someone who has considered doing so – or perhaps just if you are acquainted with rejection or revenge!