Crossing the Lines

Fans of postmodern fiction will enjoy this departure from Gentill’s 1930s series (Miles Off Course, etc.). It’s an exploration, as one character puts it, of “an author’s relationship with her protagonist, an examination of the tenuous line between belief and reality, imagination and self, and what happens when that line is crossed.” Madeleine d’Leon, a former corporate lawyer who writes about a crime-solving housemaid, decides to try her hand at something different—a standalone crime novel featuring author Edward McGinnity, who writes “the kind of worthy incomprehensible stuff that wins awards.” In Maddie’s telling, Edward becomes a suspect in the murder of an obnoxious editor, who was found with a broken neck at the base of the fire stairs of a gallery exhibiting paintings by Edward’s married love interest. Gradually, Maddie and Edward become aware of each other and grow close emotionally. Those who favor conventional mysteries should be prepared for an ambiguous payoff. (Aug.)