Having trouble choosing a favorite mystery author? Try thirteen at once! Give a skeleton plot to these terrific writers, and ask them to write sequential chapters in a collaborative effort. White hot clues and red herrings get sprinkled throughout, dead bodies pop up in every other chapter, and you’re delivered an amazing wrap-up by the last author in the final chapter to tell you who-dun-it.
I’m talking about Naked Came the 
Phoenix by award-winning novelists Nevada Barr, J.D. Robb, Lisa Scottoline and ten other superb women novelists. It’s a wild romp at an exclusive health spa where intrigue and backstabbing rue the day. The cast of characters includes a psychic, a congressman’s wife, and a scantily-clad Adonis, who come for a week of pampering but end up in mortal danger. Fans who know the authors well might detect slight nuances in the writing style of each chapter, yet this fast-paced novel is almost seamless in unveiling clues and keeping the reader in a tailspin wondering who the killer is.
If the idea of a collaboratively-written novel appeals to you, try Naked Came the Manatee, a story of suspense written by thirteen of Florida’s most talented writers including Dave Barry, Carl Hiaasen, and Elmore Leonard. Or check out Watchlist, a serial thriller crafted by twenty-two writers. Do you have a young reader in the family? Try Click, which includes stories within a story, written as separate chapters by ten juvenile authors including Linda Sue Park, Eoin Colfer, and Tim Wynne-Jones. It’s all about the adventurous life and legacy of Gee Keane, a photojournalist and world traveler. The list of serial novels is growing all the time, and if you can’t find anything that strikes your fancy just yet, it’s only a matter of time before the next one comes out, and it just might be your thing.
