Bad Things Happen, by Harry Dolan

This book was great fun.  Cleverly plotted, twisty, and a little bit mocking of the mystery staple of the amateur detective and the readers who suspend disbelief to read about him.  David Loogan, the main character, is an editor at Gray Streets, and Bad Things do indeed happen to him and those around him after he helps his friend and boss bury a man.  A police detective, Elizabeth Waishkey, is one of the few who doesn't consider Loogan a suspect, but she disapproves of his efforts to solve the mystery himself.  Multiple times throughout the book, David says "If this were a story in Gray Streets (a mystery magazine)..." and Elizabeth answers "Well, it's not."  And yet coincidences abound and romance blossoms.