Ok, I read this authors last book and had mixed feelings about it. I saw her speak at an event and found her very charming and funny so I gave this book a try. DNF unfortunately. Something about her writing style is just really not for me. Lovely woman though!

The Mystery Writer by Sulari Gentill sounded so promising! Alas...I did not finish it for several reasons. Theo, the main character, is extremely juvenile and irritating. I do not appreciate the abundance of F bombs which never advance a story. Plus much of what I read was simply unfeasible. My imagination is vivid but this was really a stretch. I was not engaged enough to muddle through, sad to say.

Theodosia (Theo) Benton is not wanting to finishing her degree in college but wants to become a writer. So she heads to Lawrence, Kansas from Sydney, Australia to live with her brother Gus until she can get established. Then she meets a well known writer and they become fast friends. Then suddenly he ghost her so she heads to his place to see what is going on and that is when the troubles starts for Theo and her brother Gus.
This is the first book I have read from this writer and I did enjoy but I felt like it was rushed at the end.

I received an ARC from Netgalley for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

The Mystery Writer by Sulari Gentill

Twenty-two year old Theodosia Benton leaves Australia to live with her brother Gus in Lawrence Kansas. Law school is not for her. The duo get caught up in murder charges which create tension in the story, especially toward the end.

Overall, I feel this is a book for a YA reader with a caveat for a lot of “F bombs “ in the second half. There is also a sub-story which involves an internet conspiracy group which I found interrupting and unnecessary.

Due to the author’s details about meals and other minutiae which didn’t advance the plot, I found myself skimming a lot of the book to get to the meat of the story. With that in mind, I’ll give this book, published by Poison Pen Press, a three star review and hope it finds its audience.

Thank you NetGalley and Sulari for this book! I found the story line to be interesting and different as it tied in family drama, mystery (who-dunnit) and conspiracy theories into one book. I didn't like the female main character and found her to be a little dramatic and needy. I also didn't enjoy how the book jumped many times to different months - I felt there could've been more context and story added between time periods. I overall enjoyed this mystery; I just wish there was some more substance in certain areas.

3.5 stars - I enjoyed the author Gentill's, "The Woman in the Library" quite a bit & was happy to get an advance copy of her latest, "The Mystery Writer". This one finds our MC, Theo, leaving law school in Oz & going to her brother's place in Lawerence, Kansas (Go Jayhawks!) to write a novel. (I think this has a slight auto-biographical touch). Brother Dan is also a writer & researching conspiracy theories for his own book. Suffice to say that murder follows. I loved the fast pace & well-plotted mystery of this one! And the sweet doggo named Horse🐶!! Really enjoyed all the twists & turns and the MidWest setting (I have been there). But that said, it was maybe a touch too OTT on the conspiracy theorists & tin-foil hat brigade. My sincere thanks to the publisher & NetGalley for the complimentary DRC, my pleasure to review it.

𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙼𝚢𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚆𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚋𝚢 𝚂𝚞𝚕𝚊𝚛𝚒 𝙶𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕

I was pretty excited to start this book, the blurb sounded really suspenseful and exciting!

The book is about Theo, who leaves law school and shows up on her brother’s front porch saying she wants to become a writer. As she begins writing her story, she befriends a local writer. When the writer is brutally murdered, the mystery surrounding his death and weird things continue to center around Theo.

Overall I enjoyed this book. I wish the plot was a bit more focused. I felt like it jumped around a bit and there were also shifting POVs that it took a bit to understand whose perspective it was. The conspiracies theorist creeped me out, as they should!

When the big plot twist was revealed I was both shocked and confused. I did not see that coming.

TRUST NO ONE.

If you enjoy mysteries with a large side of conspiracies, this book is for you!

𝚃𝚛𝚘𝚙𝚎𝚜:
👻 𝙼𝚢𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚢
😱 𝚃𝚑𝚛𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚛
🫣 𝚂𝚞𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚎
📚 𝙱𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚜 𝙰𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝙱𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚜

⭐️ Release Date: March 19th

🌻 Thank you NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for my early copy!

I really enjoyed this book, it kept me engaged and I flew through it fairly quickly. A new take on a classic mystery, some twists surprised me and others felt a bit predictable. My biggest critics were that the main character wasn’t overly likable and the second half of the book didn’t flow as nicely as the first. Would definitely recommend to fans of this author and the mystery genre.

In The Mystery Writer, Theo decides to pursue her dream of being a writer and uproots her life to move to Lawrence, Kansas where her brother has relocated. When she decides to use the local bar, Benders, as her home base to write her novel, she befriends Dan Murdoch. Dan is a mysterious man who has his own successfully published mystery books who reveals he is reading conspiracy sites for inspiration. Soon, the stuff of fiction starts to happen to Theo and those around her. Why are dead bodies piling up? Why are there so many conspiracy theories running rampant? What is happening and who is responsible? It’s a twisty layered story that is fast paced and action packed from the first page to the last.

I was thoroughly immersed into the world of The Mystery Writer and it takes over the top spot, IMHO, of Gentill’s books. For me, the book took on an unexpected route, and I always appreciate it when an author displays such creativity.

#themysterywriter #sularigentill #poisonedpenpress #mystery #mysterybook #mysterynovel #booksbooksbooks

This was a great slow burn mystery with great character growth! I loved that it wasn’t just about the mystery, but it was about Theo and who she was. That was such an integral part of the story. This story held my attention, great character development, and it had a great conspiracy theory.

I recommend this to fans of all thriller lovers and those that love character driven mysteries!

I’m always trying to grab a Sulari Gentill read. She puts disparate characters together in the most cohesive way possible.

We have Theo running away from her university studies in Australia. She has decided law is not for her and gone back to the refuge of her brothers home. Gus her brother is a hot shot lawyer and understanding and protective, even if he is skeptical of her choices. Then there is Dan an older man who befriends Theo. The mentor relationship develops and her one days sexual encounter with him, ends with his brutal murder and the story starts from there.

Seemingly disconnected, no obvious clues as to who, why or where, Gus’s friend Mac a private eye and more gets involved to find out why the death of Dan who was a popular river, has turned people’s venom against Theo, indirectly Gus and Mac.

Doomsday prophecies, cults, a behind the scenes controlling book agents add to the drama, murders, mayhem and attacks and then the complete disappearance of Theo for three years, till she surfaces again.

Very much edge of the seat reading, this was a page turner which I finished in a day.

What a whirlwind this book was! The first time I started it, I had trouble connecting with the characters - but that must have just been my mood because I picked it up over the weekend and didn't put it down until I finished. At times, the narration confused me and I had to go back and re-read paragraphs. But - totally worth it.

When Theodosia shows up at her brother Gus's house after dropping out of law school, he encourages her to pursue her writing interest. She meets a highly successful author in a local bar and after months of working at the same table, their friendship blossoms into something more. When he is brutally murdered, Gus and Theo become the main suspects. As they work to prove their freedom - an online network of conspiracy theorists try to prove their guilt. This fast-paced story explores a secret world where being a famous author is not always solely based on talent.

I

The Mystery Writer, by Sulari Gentill, is a clever cozy mystery by this masterful writer. In this new novel the protagonist is, again, an aspiring writer—Theodosia Benton—who quits law school in Australia and joins her lawyer brother Gus in Lawrence, Kansas, USA. She’s hoping to finish her novel, and looking for the encouragement of her beloved brother.
Theo becomes involved with a writer at a local cafe, who also is involved in some secret underground society. A murder occurs, and Theo plunges into solving the case with Gus and his friend Mac assisting.
There is a lot going on here in the storyline, with side plots involving the actions of a quasi-legitimate publishing house and the antics of doomsday preppers in the Midwest. The locale rings true, as I’ve been in Lawrence and visited the university there.
Despite the uneven plotting, the characters drive this story. Theo and Gus are attractive characters, and exhibit a warm sibling dynamic. They engage in clever repartee, like real adult siblings, and are warmly supportive of each other.
I appreciate the intelligent prose in this novel, and warmly recommend it to readers who enjoy a little fun amongst the characters and an intriguing mystery to unravel!

Thank you to Poisoned Pen Press/Sourcebooks and NetGalley for the ARC. This is my honest review.

Interesting read, when Theo Benton leaves school to pursue a career as a writer, she ends up going to her brother, Gus. Gus is worried about the trust that she will lose if she quits school. Theo goes to this little cafe called Benders as it is also a bar to work on her unfinished novel and this is where it starts to get interesting when she meets Dan Murdoch and she ends up falling down the rabbit hole so to speak.

When there is a murder, Gus and Theo are in deep.

This is a whirlwind of a story one that has several layers that leaves you on the edge of your seat anxiously awaiting to find out what's next.

I highly recommend this read to those that love a good mystery.

Thank you NetGalley for the advanced digital copy in exchange for my honest review.

As a whole, this book took me for a ride - but I'm not sure I enjoyed ALL of the twists and turns. I struggled to connect to our main character, Theodosia Benton, and in turn found myself less invested in the risks that were presented to her throughout the story. I was more invested in her brother, Gus, who seemed even more fleshed out...perhaps intentionally? Theo's relationships seemed very surface level, I was left grasping for an understanding of her connection with many of the people in the book, Dan Murdoch and Mac, mostly. But with so much "suspense" riding on the back of Theodosia, and my lack of emphasis on fight or flight for our main character, the story fell a bit flat. I'll contradict that with the following statement: the myriad of layers weaved into the plot lends to its fast paced nature that kept me turning the page. I then continually kept asking myself if the layers were well written, or if they were too convenient and led to cop outs? Overall, I think I would say the complexity of layers was to the book's benefit. I love how the book touches on social issues of our current reality - corruption and conspiracy as my top two standouts. The reader's guide at the end was also nice to see. This story makes you think. I can't say that my read of this was life-changing, but it was a good time and I think would lend itself well to people who write.

Perhaps this was just…not the book for me. I’m sure others will love it, and there are some 5 star ratings, but I struggled to connect to it and it honestly felt like a chore to read at times.

It was difficult for me to connect to Theo, and I felt like she was incredibly oblivious and naive for someone who was being educated to be a lawyer. I also feel like the “preppers” side stories and overall theme was superfluous; it felt like the author was trying to accomplish too much, and it resulted in a disjointed and crowded feel. I did, however, love Mac, Jac, and Horse.

The books started out slow, had better pacing and more mystery in the second third, then the final third of the book became unbelievable and rushed. Overall I think the story could have been shorter and cleaned up a bit. I do give the author credit for the intricacies of the ideas; it was a good premise, just fell flat on delivery (at least for me).

⭐️⭐️⭐️ (2.75 rounded up)

Thank you Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

When Theo decides to leave Australia and join her brother Gus in Kansas, she plans to write fiction, not become embroiled in a life that feels like a thriller novel. Nonetheless, she is caught in the middle of seemingly random murders, unwanted publicity, and extreme danger to herself and her loved ones. This thriller is full of twists and turns and edge of your seat moments, and it is quite engrossing (I finished it in a day). The various topics addressed (writing, murder investigation, publishing, “preppers”) work well together in the story Gentill has developed. The pacing, however, is off for me. Time seems irrelevant in the first third of the book, then the second third seems to be just a few days, then suddenly we are in the midst of weeks, months, and then years passing anywhere from a few pages to just a paragraph. This odd pacing made me feel more disconnected to the outcome of the story. It almost felt like the author ran out of time, and I was reading the outline instead of the story at the end. I don’t regret finishing the book, but given this issue and that I’d figured out the ultimate twist very early, it was a disappointing conclusion (resulting in 4 instead of 5 stars for me).

Thank you to Poisoned Pen Press, Netgalley, and the author for early access to this unique work.

Thank you to Poisoned Pen Press and Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Unfortunately this really didn’t work for me, which was a bummer. I really enjoyed her first book, but I couldn’t get into this. I ended up DNFing after a few chapters because the writing style didn’t hook me. Maybe I’ll someday pick this back up, but for now, it’s not working.

*3.5 Stars On My Instagram Account*

"Becoming a writer is one thing, staying one is entirely another beast."

"Poets are apparently excellent assassins."

In the often make your head spin The Mystery Writer, by truly intriguing mystery author Sulari Gentill, it often felt like two different mysteries that converge at the end.

I really enjoyed the set up of this murder mystery. Theodosia (Theo) Benton is a 22 year old law school drop out who, rather than go home to her parents in Tasmania, heads to Lawrence, Kansas to hide out with her older brother, and successful lawyer, Gus and his faithful dog, Horse. She decides to pursue her dream of being a writer.

Writing at a local cafe she meets a known older author who becomes her mentor then lover. She finds him brutally murdered in his home and is a suspect. Gus and his firm's P.I., Mac, are trying to help her but when two more murders connected to the author occur, not only is Theo arrested, so are Gus and Mac.

Somewhere in the middle of all this killing, conspiracy theorists believe the dead author was killed because of the "truths" he knew and Theo becomes public enemy number one. I have to give credit to voice actress Katherine Littrell for balancing Theo's anxiety and naivety as her world implodes and she believes the only way to save Gus and Mac is to "die."

Though I knew from the start who was responsible for the murders, I enjoyed the journey. I appreciate the themes of how misuse of social media, false narratives, and outrageous conspiracies can lead to destroyed lives. That theme just became a bit overwhelming and rushed near the end. Money and power can corrupt but it may be the (mystery) writers with a conscience that saves us from ourselves.

I received a free copy of this book/audiobook from the publishers via #NetGalley for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.

Sulari Gentili cannot write anything boring or uninteresting in my book and this novel confirmed my idea. It's twisty, gripping and it brings you into a rabbit hole where mystery, conspiracies, and red herring mixes.
It's a page turner you cannot put down and it will keep you reading till late.
I miss her historical mysteries but this one is excellent
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine