Book review: 'The Crime Writer'

• Title: "The Crime Writer"

• Author: Gregg Hurwitz

• Publisher: Viking

• Pages: 301

• Price: $24.95

• In a Nutshell: In a fresh approach, Hurwitz writes about a crime writer (like himself), who is arrested for murder. Drew Danner, his protagonist, faces almost overwhelming evidence that he killed his ex-fiancee — but he draws on his knowledge of crime fiction to sleuth his own case. Hurwitz is a more agile, funny and suspenseful writer than most of the current crop.