The Mystery Writer by Sulari Gentill
Publication Date: March 19, 2024
Summary from NetGalley:
There’s nothing easier to dismiss than a conspiracy theory—until it turns out to be true
When Theodosia Benton abandons her career path as an attorney and shows up on her brother’s doorstep with two suitcases and an unfinished novel, she expects to face a few challenges. Will her brother support her ambition or send her back to finish her degree? What will her parents say when they learn of her decision? Does she even have what it takes to be a successful writer?
What Theo never expects is to be drawn into a hidden literary world in which identity is something that can be lost and remade for the sake of an audience. When her mentor, a highly successful author, is brutally murdered, Theo wants the killer to be found and justice to be served. Then the police begin looking at her brother, Gus, as their prime suspect, and Theo does the unthinkable in order to protect him. But the writer has left a trail, a thread out of the labyrinth in the form of a story. Gus finds that thread and follows it, and in his attempt to save his sister he inadvertently threatens the foundations of the labyrinth itself. To protect the carefully constructed narrative, Theo Benton, and everyone looking for her, will have to die.
USA Today bestselling author Sulari Gentill takes readers on a rollercoaster ride in The Mystery Writer, a literary thriller that turns the world of books and authors upside down and where a writer’s voice is a thing to be controlled and weaponized, to the peril of everyone who loves a good story.
ARC provided by Poison Pen Press via Netgalley for an honest review.
Confession:
Once again, Ms. Gentill has written a very intriguing mystery. Even when you think you know what is happening, there are twists that will take you off on another tangent and will leave you guessing until the end.
Theo is the main narrator for most of the story. She is young woman who is a bit lost in the world, and at times it felt like she was a damsel always in distress and needing someone to save her. But by the end of her story she does begin to show some determination and grit in the way she chooses to save her brother. The author has given her quite a harrowing backstory, and some parents who are pretty out there, which makes her a well written and sympathetic character. There are many times in the story where she doubts herself and what she saw or experienced, so it makes her a little bit unreliable, but that just makes the story that much better.
Her brother Gus and his friend Mac are also well written characters with interesting back stories. I really liked Gus, he is an older overprotective brother, but he does at least try to give Theo her space. But he has a good sense of humor and I loved his dog, Horse. Mac comes from a family of preppers, who are a bit crazy but a tight knit group. Mac is probably the only sane one. I did love the banter between him and his family though. Both of these men go through a lot to help Theo.
The story is fairly complex, with conspiracy theories and the literary world coming together in very interesting ways. I really liked the aspect of a fish out of water in how Theo saw and related to Americans. I know some people will take issue with the depiction of everyone always having a gun or other weapons on them, and the generalization that all Americans are violent. But from the perspective of an Australian living in Kansas it can certainly seem that way. It sometimes seems that way to me too. Mac’s family was a bit over the top, but I found that somewhat funny, as I share that perspective of preppers. I don’t want to say much more about the plot, as too much is already given away in the summary, but it is fast paced, well written and hard to put down.
If you enjoyed previous works by this author, than I think you will enjoy this one too. This story is gripping and it will make you think about the literary world and how much books and stories can influence the way we think.
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