Wit’s End (book review)

Karen Joy Fowler’s latest, “Wit’s End” (Putnam, 336 pp., $24.95) is a must-read for fans of “The Jane Austen Book Club” and any readers looking for a good, literary mystery. An engrossing read, crowded with odd subplots and quirky characters, it features Rima Lanisell, a rootless twentysomething who comes to stay with her godmother Addison Early, a mystery writer who hasn’t published in years. The greatest mysteries in Addison’s life aren’t between book covers. What are the real ties between Addison and Rima’s father? Why does an old woman from a defunct religious cult keep writing letters to Addison’s fictional detective? When a mystery writer names a murderer after a dear friend, does it hint at a darker secret? Fowler also raises contemporary questions about intellectual property on the web, fan fiction, blogging and Addison’s fascination with politics. These questions will keep Rima, and the reader, engrossed in finding answers until the very last page.