One of the reasons I dislike reviewing books, or even discussing them online, is that more often than not what I most want to say would spoil the story for anyone who hasn't read the book. So when I heard about Spoilerville I thought, what a great idea!

Jan Burke, author of the new Irene Kelly book Disturbance, says she created Spoilerville "to allow readers of books and short stories to make comments that might contain spoilers. It will allow those who have already read a book or story to talk about it openly."

So readers could talk about exactly why they found the clue concerning the poisoned umbrella to be unfair, or ask the author, straight out, how he or she ever figured it was a good idea to make the killer a psychopathic goldfish.

As Jan says, the site is an experiment, and it is just getting under way. There are already books from several authors, including all of the books Mary and I have written, and I'm sure the site will grow as word gets out.