Theodosia "Theo" Benton abandons her career path as an attorney to become an author and shows up on her brother's doorstep, asking if she can live with him while she finishes the novel she is working on. Gus agrees, but tells her she will need to find somewhere to go during the day to work on her novel. She discovers a cafe/bar called Benders that is perfect for her, and it is there that she meets a highly successful author, who becomes her close friend and mentor. What Theo never expected was 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 he is found dead in his home by Theo, she becomes the prime suspect in his murder. Theo wants the killer to be found and justice to be served, and when the police continue to focus to Theo, her brother Gus, and Gus's best friend , Theo goes to extreme lengths to throw the police off of their tracks.

This book started out as a really slow burn, and I almost put it down, but I persevered, and I am so glad I did. Once I got past the initial slow part, the book really picked up the pace and from there on out it was a roller coaster ride. There were posts from conspiracy message boards throughout the book, because the conspiracy theorists believed that the person who was Theo's mentor was leaving them hidden messages with his novels. Gus's friend Mac;;s entire family - minus him - were all preppers and extremists, and one of his brothers was one of the posters on the message boards. All of that is very relevant for this time in the U.S. and it highlighted just how dangerous those conspiracy theory groups can be. This was a very timely novel, and it was a lot of fun. If you enjoy a good suspense novel, then I think you should check it out.

4.5 stars

The Mystery Writer by Sulari Gentill  is a psychological thriller about authors, the publishing world, and conspiracy theorists.

First, let me thank NetGalley, the publisher Poisoned Pen Press and of course the author, for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

 
My Synopsis:    (No major reveals, but if concerned, skip to My Opinions)
Theodosia Benton arrives at her brother's in Kansas. She has cast aside her studies to become an attorney, thereby abandoning her trust fund, and without telling their parents. Leaving Australia behind, she plans on writing a novel, and hopes her brother will support her.  Gus and his best-friend Mac both welcome her with open arms.  She even finds a comforting bar where she can write in peace.

But Theo meets best-selling author Dan Murdoch, and  is drawn into a literary world that wants to re-make their clients into the "ideal" author, where all their actions are presided over.   When Dan is murdered, police start looking into Theo's brother Gus, and she will do anything to protect him.  Even when it means she will have to leave.




 My Opinions:
Well, that was really good.  Yes, in places a little far-fetched, but come on, it's fiction!

The book was told from multiple points of view, including conspiracy theorist chat-rooms.  Between the conspiracy crazies, the doomsday preppers,  and the publishing crazies, it was actually a fun ride. I loved Mac's family!

I didn't really see any major surprises with the plot twists, as I was suspicious early on as to the identity of a number of the participants, but it was still an entertaining journey, and it was all really well explained at the end if you missed something.

I wasn't always a fan of Theo -- naivety in such a strong character seemed wrong, but I loved both Gus and Mac.

This was a highly imaginative, intriguing premise, and it did not disappoint.
i

I’ll be honest, I requested this title from NetGalley and either completely forgot the premise of the book or requested it without reading the synopsis.🤦‍♀️ I’m not sure how I missed that this was more on the thriller side versus mystery. This was not at all what I was expecting when I started reading but I really enjoyed it.

Throughout the book, I had different theories as to who was guilty but ultimately I didn’t see the ending coming. Halfway through two murders were committed and I didn’t have a clue who was responsible.

The book is mostly told from Theodosia’s POV but with the point of view from an Internet forum of conspiracy theorists.

At one point I found myself getting frustrated with Theo. While she was thrown into a mess of a situation, I wished she would have had more of a backbone and stood up to the gaslighting that seemed to be coming at her from every other character.

The plot really picks up as the story approaches its conclusion. This was my first novel by Sulari Gentill and I’ll have to dive more into other books by her. I enjoy thrillers if I can’t see myself being in a similar situation. Seeing that I'm not an expat from Australia trying to publish a book after dropping out of law school I felt fairly certain I wouldn't get too creeped out. This storyline was very intriguing and it wasn’t gory. As far as thrillers, this one is probably more on the docile side with more emphasis on the mystery elements.

Thank you, NetGalley, Poisoned Pen Press and Dreamscape Media for the ALC and ARC.

The Mystery Writer is a mystery more than a book about a mystery writer. Theo and her brother Gus move from Australia from Kansas, after a mysterious background which is somewhat explained over the course of the book. Theo wants to be an author, and meets a more established author who she falls for, and then finds his body and becomes a suspect - which is then followed by other mysterious deaths. There is a publishing company that appears to be involved and a private detective who comes from a family of doomsday preppers, so there is an interesting cast of characters. The book is entertaining and well written, but there are almost too many different things happening.

As in the author's previous book (The Woman in the Library), the protagonist is, again, an aspiring writer who quits law school in Australia and joins her lawyer brother Gus in Lawrence, Kansas, hoping to finish her novel. She becomes involved with a writer at a local cafe, who is part of a secret underground society, and a murder—inevitably, it seems—occurs.

Several plotlines are intensely interwoven—I particularly enjoyed the Midwest doomsday cult—and while they don't all work out quite without a hitch or two, Gentil's characters are as always substantial, real, and entertaining.

The mystery writer is the follow-up to a book I loved, the body in the library. This novel follows a lawyer turned author, Theo, who meets and becomes intertwined with an author who becomes a mentor to her, Dan. Dan is brutally murdered and theos brother, gus, becomes the main suspect, Knowing that Dan is innocent, Theo has his friend team up to clear his name, Theo gets drawn into an underground literary world that is more dangerous than anything they could have ever imagined.

As the body in the library, this is a clever novel that is well-written and full of twists and turns, at times, I did feel like it was almost too much-trying too hard to be clever or throw in twists. However, this is still a worthwhile read that any mystery lover will devour and enjoy!

Thanks to the publisher for providing this arc via NetGalley.

Thanks to NetGalley and Poison Pen for this read. I started this book so long ago as I wanted to save it after I started the book as I found it quite catching. I then started it again ad finished it finding it was quite good but not as good as her first book. I think how the authors books are book related. It was quite good and well paced.

This is your book if you're looking for a good mystery, an unusual storyline, a strong cast of well-developed characters, a little romance, and just enough threats and chills to keep you up at night. The idea at the start can be off-putting, but i'm glad i stuck with it. Sulari gentill has a reputation as a hard worker, as shown by this book. This isn't cookie-cutter, derivative stuff, and it certainly has my vote.

Not a fan of stories about conspiracy theories. But that is only a small, but significant and relevant portion of this book. The basic story is a good, classic murder mystery with interesting characters and a story hard to put down.Thanks to #NetGalley and #TheMysteryWriter for advanced digital copy.

Theo is a want to be writer who just moved to the United States to be near her brother after a few incidents caused her to want to leave Australia. Now in a new town, in a new country, Theo is trying to flex her creative fingers and explore the world of writing. As she sits down at a local cafe to try and churn out a few pages at a time, she becomes friends with one of the other locals who helps her hone her craft until one day he doesn’t show up and she goes looking for him at his home, finding a horrific scene and becoming a suspect in the process.

I enjoy a good thriller which can keep me on the edge of my seat and one thing I can say about this book is it has a lot going on. Perhaps a little too much at times, but overall it’s a pretty good story. It does take a few chapters for the energy to build, so it is a sort of slow roll and then a very quick chaotic tumble the rest of the way. We have mob like publishing companies, conspiracy theories, preppers, framing people for murders, and a host of other things I am sure I missed.

Nevertheless, I was entertained by this book and want to thank Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an audiobook as well as digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I thought the narration was well done and helped with the atmosphere of the story. I love when the narrator has the accent of the intended character. I hope I can read her other work “The Woman in the Library” soon. It seems to be up my alley as well.

This book took me longer to read than it should have. The premise sounded great……the execution gave me difficult read. The bouncing back and forth to the conspiracy threads with no context in the beginning really had my head spinning. Then once I got it, it just didn’t seem to flow well within the story. At around 40% I honestly almost marked it as DNF, but I hate to ever do that unless I am just overwhelmingly bored.
The characters didn’t seem to grab my attention in any way. They weren’t bad. Just that they weren’t super interesting. I began to say to myself over and over “why is Theo being so naive.” It honestly became troublesome.
All in all I think that this book could be great for someone who is looking for a read that doesn’t require you to be super invested. I may revisit it at a later date and see if it can spark my interest.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing this eARC.

The Mystery Writer follows Theodosia Benton whose mentor's untimely murder drives her toward a career change that tangles her in an inescapable labyrinth of murder and secrets.

I think Sulari Gentill is an immensely talented writer, and that has never been more clear to me than in this book. Ultimately, the plot of The Mystery Writer is almost entirely laid out in its summary, to the point that not a single twist of this mystery thriller felt truly twisty or surprising. Despite that, I found that I was generally enjoying my time with this book. I found the writing particularly engaging, and I do think many aspects of the plot really got me thinking and considering a lot about modern society. I'd even happily make the argument that, in dealing with the concept of conspiracy theories, and attempting to crack open even a fictional idea of their origin, this book is rich with themes absolutely begging to be explored further. While I don't believe this to be Gentill's strongest work, I think it was decent, and I do think it's the kind of thriller that will find its audience and spawn a million conversations. I know I will certainly continue to look forward to whatever else Gentill brings to the table next.

The Mystery Writer is definitely for those readers who enjoy books about conspiracy theories and also when conspiracies turn out to be true. This book also had a mixed media element so readers should be those who enjoy that type of format. I had recently read The Woman in the Library by the same author and had rated it 4 stars so I was hopeful for at least another 4 star read.
Theodosia Benton (Theo) leaves law school in Australia to come to the United States to live with her brother, a lawyer, and pursue writing. She meets another writer in a coffee shop who is subsequently murdered and her brother becomes the prime suspect. Theo takes steps to save her brother and try to solve the murder.
While this book was a quick read as the author has a style that flows well, I did not enjoy the story itself as much as The Woman in the Library, so this book ended up being 3 stars for me. If you enjoy mixed media and conspiracy theories, this book would definitely be for you. I will continue to read other books by this author.

Sulari Gentill takes her keen eye for meta-textual literary mysteries and applies them to the conspiracy theory in this, her latest compelling novel. If you, like me, haven’t much patience for real life conspiracy theories, that could make this book a bit of a challenge to enjoy, as the escapist fiction of its plot relies heavily on buying into, if not outright sympathizing with, various fictional conspiracies and their proponents. If, however, conspiracies are totally your jam, then I can’t recommend this novel highly enough!

Theo Browning has fled her law studies in Australia to crash with her brother Gus in Lawrence, Kansas, where he’s recently made partner in a respectable law firm. While the provisions of her late American grandfather’s trust would provide more than adequate funding for her to pursue a law degree in whichever country she chooses, what she really wants is to be a writer.

After several months of living with Gus and writing in cafes, she strikes up a friendship with successful author Dan Murdoch. He encourages her work, but is somewhat reluctant to introduce her to his own agent, Veronica Cole. Theo learns why firsthand when Veronica later explains some of her agency’s requirements, in this case pertaining to their clients’ romantic relationships:

QUOTE
“Day Delos and Associates is a holistic agency. We manage our clients’ careers, not just their books, and careers can be destroyed by an unwise assignation. So when a client wishes to form an association, he or she sends the particulars to the agency. The agency then runs general checks…criminal history, public platforms–nothing particularly intrusive.”

Theo wasn’t quite sure what to say.

“Day Delos’s greatest asset is the reputations and careers of our writers. Naturally, we wish to protect them, and without exception our writers are very grateful. You’ll find it’s standard practice among the better agencies.”

“Really,” Theo replied. “It seems extreme. Writers are entitled to private lives, surely.”
END QUOTE

Despite her hesitation at signing over her privacy in this way, Theo very much wants to be a published author. Her innocent dreams of achieving her ambitions are exploded, however, when she stumbles across Dan’s dead body. His death sets off an online firestorm, as it coincides with the disappearance of an underground leader known only as Primus, who had claimed to have privileged information regarding a terrible government plot to raise the dead. With both the police and Primus’ online followers zeroing in on Theo’s relationship with Dan and scrutinizing her every move, she soon begins to wonder if there isn’t some merit to Day Delos’ stringent contract requirements.

Things only get worse when another dead body turns up. The Lawrence police expand their net to investigate the few confidants Theo has in the area. Almost as bad is the intensity of the conspiracy theory weirdos’ attention, which is matched only by the media’s growing interest in the case. After being driven out of their home, Theo and Gus seek refuge in perhaps the least likely of places: the bosom of a doomsday prepper enclave. But when Gus’ life is put on the line, will Theo do the unthinkable in a desperate effort to save her beloved older brother?

The tangled plotlines of this novel certainly echo the labyrinthine motifs throughout, as naive young Theo is pulled hither and yon in the tides of forces far greater than even her imagination had ever dreamed. Despite my impatience with Theo’s eagerness to please, I appreciated how carefully Ms Gentill laid the foundation for our protagonist’s personality, even down to her accent (while making an important point about Australians in general):

QUOTE
“What I can’t work out is how he knew you were Australian,” Gus added scowling. “It’s an unusual nationality to guess out of the blue…and, generally speaking, the world doesn’t realize that Australians come in all colors.”

Theo’s brow furrowed. Gus was right. She had taken after their father and was much darker than her brother. People had, in the past, asked her if she was Egyptian, Greek, even Peruvian, but no stranger had guessed Australian before. “The accent, I suppose,” she offered half-heartedly.

“Most Yanks can’t tell the difference between an Australian and a British accent… and your accent is pretty weak.”
END QUOTE

Fast-paced and au courant with both political and literary trends, The Mystery Writer feels like an absorbing variation on Ms Gentill’s already terrific body of work. The fact that it isn’t my favorite book of hers says far more about me and my interests than the quality of this entertaining novel.

What??? Just….what??? The Mystery Writer has it all!!!!

Theo is an aspiring writer who feels like she may be going nowhere in life. She lives with her old brother Gus, an attorney, in Kansas. They grew up I Australia and must navigate moving to the US for Gus’ job.

Theo meets a handsome writer, Dan, and they begin to write with each other almost daily. They meet at their favorite spot, Benders, and spend hours writing and giving each other feedback.

Eventually the two begin a romantic relationship which Theo is thrilled about. Until Dan is brutally murdered. What unfolds are twists and turns that I couldn’t keep up with at times.

I will briefly mention that there were parts of this story that drug on a bit in the middle. Go through it because the end is worth it!

Thank you to Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

I've loved this authors previous books and was excited to get a chance to read this one. This book was a good thriller but different from what I expect from this author. 4 stars.

That was fun, thriller-y goodness!! Sure, the plot device is kind of outlandish, but it fits our times and doesn't take away from the enjoyment. I think most and many tin-foil hat wearing conspiracist wackadoodles will really enjoy this. Now where did I put my roll of aluminum foil?

I read The Woman in the Library by this author last year and really enjoyed it. In this new book, Gentill takes on conspiracy theories. Theodosia quits law school and flies from Australia to the U.S. to stay with her brother. She has decided to give up law and become a writer. She starts writing at a local coffee shop everyday and becomes friends with an older, famous writer. He becomes her mentor. Then he is brutally murdered. Theo does everything she can to find his murderer. I would avoid reading the synopsis for this one. I think it gives too much away.

This is described as a roller coaster ride of a thriller and it really is. There are conspiracy forums and doomsday preppers and it all extends a bit over what is actually believable for me. Still, it was a bit of a wild book and I found it very entertaining.

I wanted to love this book after falling in love with The Woman in the Library last year, but this just didn't do it for me.
Firstly, I think that the blurb did this book a disservice. It set expectations that were not met.
Theo was painfully naive as a protagonist and made so many just idiotic decisions that she didn't feel real. I didn't find myself rooting for her as she went from one mistake to the next.
The pacing was painfully slow until 70% through when there was a time jump and then the book began to get exciting. However this is a long time to wait for the book to get started
I kept thinking I should dnf this book but my love of the author's last book gave me hope that this would pick up. I was left feeling underwhelmed and disappointed
Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book. These opinions are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley and The Poisoned Pen Press for gifting me this ARC in exchange for my honest review!

2 Stars

Due to the low rating, I will not be posting my review onto my socials. There were multiple things that were wrong with this book for me. I had a very hard time trying to relate to Theo, the main character. She was incredibly naive and needed her hand held to make it through everything. I found this odd for someone who had been attending college to become an attorney. Also, I found a lot of stereotypes involved with the story. This was an immediate put off for me. Another issue I found was the amount of time jumps. It would've been okay had they been throughout the story, but they were solely in the ending of the book. It was whiplash for me as the reader. The amount of time jumps caused the ending to feel rushed and unrealistic. I loved The Woman in the Library, and I was so excited for this one. But it just wasn't up there for me.