The Writing Class by Jincy Willett is a murder mystery.

But mostly, its a painful peek into the personalities of those who attend fictional writing classes, and the dangers of withdrawing from society.

Each member of the writing group former novelist Amy Gallup teaches thought the local university's extension program, has their own personality type that one may sometimes find in the real world with amateur writers.

Of course I looked for myself in her class, but thankfully (or erroneously) I could not find myself there.

Anyway, besides being a murder mystery (where someone in the class is the culprit) its also quite a moving tale of Amy's return to society (dragged kicking and screaming, as it were) through the graces of her class of misfits and lost souls.

Recommended. Especially for my mother and stepmother.