The tale of the two accountants.

Looking for a little stocking stuffer this Christmas? Metis Group, the New York accounting firm, likely would suggest one of the mystery novels its partners have published this year.

Having two writers among the firm's nine partners is pure coincidence, says Jerry Eitel--the result of a merger that brought him and fellow CPA-cum-novelist Jim Weikert together. His recently published Trail of Light tells the tale of a crooked college adviser who makes a shady living promising rich parents to get their academically challenged teenagers into top universities--until he meets his match in a mobster who demands real results.

Eitel earned a degree in creative writing before deciding on a career in accounting, and still finds fiction a fine way to unwind during tax season. He scribbles his tales of mobsters and murders in tony towns--like the one he's headed home to--on the back of financial statements during his hour-long commute. Then he types them up and edits them from 6:00 to 7:00 every morning without rail before catching the 7:23 to Penn Station.

Despite the light touch, Eitel's writing echoes the moral foundation of his professional work. "I'm trying to be a serious novelist, kind of in the style of Elmore Leonard," he says. "The book definitely has a moral. It's entertainment that's trying to say something."