The Way of All Fish: A Novel

An “absurdly amusing” (The New York Times Book Review) sequel to Martha Grimes’s bestselling novel, Foul Matter, this wicked satire of the publishing industry is “comic, caustic, and relentlessly readable” (Booklist).

Writer Cindy Sella is having trouble with her new novel. Aside from her paralyzing writer’s block, she’s faced with a lawsuit from her ex-agent, L. Bass Hess. Hess will stop at nothing to collect a commission from Cindy on her previous novel, which he did not represent since she had fired him long before it was published.

Hitmen Candy and Karl—first introduced in Foul Matter—are asked to “get rid” of L. Bass Hess. They join forces with a publishing mogul, a bestselling author, an out-of-work Vegas magician, an alligator wrangler, a glamorous Malaysian con lady, and Hess’s aunt in the Everglades who has undergone a wildly successful sex change, and concoct a plan to save Cindy Sella from the odious machinations of Hess by driving him (slowly, hilariously) crazy.

Grimes’s fans will delight in the return of several colorful characters from Foul Matter, including Senior Editor Clive Esterhaus, unprincipled publisher Bobby Mackenzie, and ex-mobster and author Danny Zito, currently under the witness protection program. New readers will find that these characters and their escapades shed an amusing light on the New York publishing scene. Informed and influenced by the author’s own publishing adventures, “The Way of All Fish is a goofily offbeat delight” (The Washington Post).