This was an enjoyable, quick read about Olivia, a writer who signs an NDA and is hired to help an enigmatic billionaire with a book about his grandmother. She flies to Malibu and starts researching, but there are lots of twists and turns, including his dead wife and his grandmother's unlikely story, which just happens to be similar to Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier,

The Fiction Writer would be a great summer beach read! Thanks so much to NetGalley for the ARC.

This novel was quick, easy to read, and was a fun take on ghostwriting/writing for hire, with a fun tie-in to DuMaurier's Rebecca. "Last night I dreamt I went to Malibu again…" had me smiling from the start. While I enjoyed the plot, I wanted a little more oomph from the whole thing. More conflict, more intrigue, more terror. It gave me an easygoing journey when what I was craving was spooky gothic drama. This is entirely to do with my own expectations, and not a fault of the book.

It’s been tried, but no one has ever succeeded, as Olivia Fitzgerald learns when she tries to rewrite Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca. The book is a giant dud, and Olivia, once the darling of the literary world, finds herself in desperate straits. When she gets an opportunity to be a ghostwriter for a reclusive billionaire, she jumps at the chance. It turns out the billionaire wants Olivia to ghostwrite his book about his grandmother, and the relationship she had with du Maurier. Cantor ventures into the glittering world of du Maurier and her alleged romantic affairs with women in this gothic mystery that’s a must for fans of Rebecca.