Mocking of Alistair MacLean's third novel (9)
I believe the answer is:
satirical
'mocking' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'alistair maclean's third novel' is the wordplay.
'maclean's third' becomes 'c' (third letter).
'novel' is an anagram indicator.
'alistair'+'c'='alistairc'
'alistairc' anagrammed gives 'SATIRICAL'.
'of' is the link.
(Other definitions for satirical that I've seen before include "Ironic - sarcastic" , "scornful" , "Mocking" , "Exposing human folly to ridicule" , "Humorously critical" .)