Rima Lansill is reeling from the deaths of her father and brother and needs some space to recover.
She decides to go and stay with her godmother, Addison Early, to find direction in life without her
loved ones. Addison is a bestselling mystery author who has written many a book about Detective
Maxwell Lane. Enough readers believe Detective Lane is flesh and blood that he regularly gets not
only fan mail, but even credit card applications. Author Karen Joy Fowler thus establishes just how
fuzzy the lines will be in this novel between fiction and non-fiction.
As Addison struggles to write a new book, she holes up in her studio leaving Rima to explore on her
own, and to deal with the most unusual household members. The cook is a recovering alcoholic who
attends her twelve step meetings at the Land of Medicine Buddha, the two dachshunds are not only
miniatures, they even have their own dog walkers to take them to the beach, and perhaps the most
unusual household "members" are the multitude of doll houses. It seems that each mystery Addision
has written over the years has found its roots in a murder scenario set in a dollhouse.
Rima finds the setting of Santa Cruz odd in itself, but staying at her godmother's house, a former
bed and breakfast now named "Wit's End" is beyond the pale. As she learns more about her godmother,
the purpose behind her late father portraying a murderer in Addison's novels, and about her own
emotional puzzles the story turns stranger and stranger. Yet it is so compelling and so unique are
the secrets within, that even shared as they are with enough humor and style, it may still take you
a while to to fully appreciate the wit of Wit's End.
Mystery lovers and those who enjoy a well written novel full of compelling and unusual characters,
settings, and events should all find themselves totally immersed in this book. Highly recommended.