Book Review: The Mystery Writer

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.

The Mystery Writer by Sulari Gentill will be published on March 19, 2024. Poisoned Pen Press provided an early galley for review.

I am instantly drawn to stories about writers. They are my kindred spirits.

I read a book by the author a few years ago - The Woman in the Library and liked it. Once more we are dealing with a story premise involving writers. The prologue and many chapters open with details and conversations that slowly start to form a bigger picture that is key to the plot. They are intriguing and mysterious. However, these do not overshadow the main narrative involving our writer-to-be Theo.

I enjoyed the relationship between Theo and Dan Murdoch, mostly for the insider glimpse into the world of writers. I appreciated the guidance Dan provided, and then I was surprised (though I shouldn't have been) by the turn the relationship took (in several ways). It certainly kept my attention focused and my curiosity piqued. I also found Theo's conversations with the publishing agent Veronica to be very revealing (the author here clearly writing about what she knows - interacting with the world of publishing).

But as the bodies start to stack up, my view of Theo shifted. I started to see her more as a victim and as an observer to larger events going on around her. She finds herself caught up in circumstances and with factions well beyond her control. When the final third of the book hits, the story has taken a completely unexpected turn that left me in even more of a confused state. If that was the reaction the author was trying to evoke in the reader, mission accomplished. Sulari does manage to bring it all around in the final chapters to explain everything.