The Honeymoon Trap

PETER SWANSON

Publication: The Mysterious Bookshop, 2022, New York

First edition. One of one hundred copies issued in cloth, numbered and signed by the author. As new, unread copy in dust jacket. The moment that he arrives on his honeymoon with new bride Alice, mystery reader Henry is struck by a keen sense of deja vu. The shelves of his New England lake house retreat are lined with vintage paperbacks of the crime fiction authors he grew up reading - John D. MacDonald, Patricia Highsmith, Rex Stout, and more - and the sight of them is enough to bring him back, momentarily, to the library of his grandfather's house where he first made their acquaintance. Nestled into a row of Henry's favorites, he discovers something completely unknown to him: a lurid-looking book called The Honeymoon Trap. And while nothing excites him more than revisiting the novels he loves, he is unable to resist the allure of the unfamiliar item. As he reads it, Henry's sense of the uncanny returns. Some details are different, but much of the plot seems to resemble his own situation, illuminating deadly possibilities that the groom had never considered before. How well does he truly know the woman with whom he now shares a bed, the woman who has acted strangely and suspiciously ever since they arrived? The truth becomes increasingly difficult to discern, but to Henry, one thing is certain: he's fallen into a trap, and the novel is his only means of escape.

Inventory Number: 49517