Book in accident, cover ripped off (4)
I believe the answer is:
luke
'book' is the definition.
(I know that Luke is a book)
'accident cover ripped off' is the wordplay.
'accident' becomes 'fluke' (a fluke is something unintentional).
'cover ripped off' means to remove the first letter.
'fluke' with its first letter taken off is 'LUKE'.
'in' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for luke that I've seen before include "Matthew, Mark, - - and John" , "Gospel writer" , "One of the four Evangelists" , "One of the Gospels" , "Physician gospeller" .)