From award-winning author VJ Black comes the story of Riley Alexander, a frustrated novelist turned day laborer who decides to write-and star in-his own revenge script, one with a decidedly literary twist.

A haunted book tour unravels, and a bookish mystery unfolds...

The girl on the bridge seemed to appear out of nowhere. Her eyewitness account of the tragic last moments of one Riley Alexander was plausible enough. But Detective Simone Verot isn't quite buying it. Even when a body turns up outside of town, her instincts tell her that this case is far from closed.

Then, as suddenly as she came, the girl disappears into the Florida mist, and Simone can find no evidence that she ever existed at all.

Meanwhile, Alexander's exotic ex-wife, new bestselling author Alicia Cardenal, embarks on a book tour. But a series of literary warnings and strange occurrences mar the scheduled events, driving Alicia to the verge of emotional collapse. Simone is convinced that there's more to the story, and that someone other than Alicia is doing the plotting. As she tries to connect the clues, the stubborn detective can't help thinking she's on the trail of a ghost.

But, which one?

Better Off Dead is a novel for the revenger in each of us-and a reminder that our worst enemy often hides within ourselves.