3.75 stars rounded up.

What a unique premise and fun plot to follow. I thoroughly enjoyed Theo the FMC and her brother being Aussie badasses. I can't say much because I don't want to give anything away but this book was a joy to read. The last 15% of the book really ramps up and the author throws a lot at you. But, I may have found the beginning even more enjoyable, with Theo writing her book and her relationship with Dan. This book has some great characters an intriguing sub-mystery with conspiracy theorists sprinkled in.

Sulari Gentill has quickly become an auto-buy/read author for me after "The Woman in the Library" (2022) and this next book did not disappoint. This book is about an aspiring writer, who quits becoming a lawyer and moves in with her brother to follow her dream as a writer. While she starts working on her manuscript she ends up meeting a fellow writer and ends up falling in love and realizes that he's one of her idols. They end up having one night together and she asks him if he could pass off her manuscript to his publisher, the top publisher in the world. He ends up telling her that his publisher wouldn't be a fit for her and she takes it as a hit against her writing. Although that all begins to change when the next day she finds him murdered in his home.

This relationship leads to Theo becoming a suspect in the murder of her mentor especially when people begin to die around her. After two more people die, Theo's brother Gus becomes prime suspect and eventually he ends up being shot by the police. Through all the chaos Theo disappears and no one is able to figure out what happened to her. She confesses to murdering people and the police suspect that she committed suicide in order to save her brother.

They spend years trying to find out what happened to Theo and why she would just disappear without a word... this leads to a path being found to his sister and the dangerous scenerio that will find Theo and why she just disappeared without a word.

Sulari Gentill's book was easily devoured by me and had me curious about what was going to happen next. She knows how to keep a reader on their toes by adding interesting elements to her stories. I recommend for readers who like mysteries especially related to books and when the story almost has an action book feel to it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the e-ARC for an honest review.

The Mystery Writer by Sulari Gentill starts out a little slow then progressively gets more intriguing. Theo drops out of school, runs off to the States to live with her brother so she could become a writer, and falls in love with a stranger. This man is also a writer but when Theo literally stumbles on his dead body, she also stumbles into a giant conspiracy that endangers her brother and her.
I loved the characters of Mac, Gus, and Horse. A story about the three of them would have made me ecstatic. I was not a fan of Theo. She was so incredibly naive and dare I say, idle headed, for someone who was supposedly bright enough to go to law school and then become a writer. She kept making stupid mistakes and ridiculous decisions over and over again. Her emotional state over a man she barely knew that she quickly fell in love with was a little over the top as well and although she was mourning his death, she fell in love with someone else incredibly quickly as well. I though she was too much of a stereotypical damsel in distress character for a mystery story.
The plot was intriguing at first but I quickly figured out the who-dun-it and the why. The conspiratorial aspects of the story were clearly influenced by the social media events of fake news and QANON in the recent years, which makes it seem to be an eerily plausible story.
All in all, it was a good mystery story. I did enjoy reading it and would enjoy reading more about Gus and Mac.
Thanks to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the advanced copy of the book. The opinions are my own.

One thing that I love about Sulari Gentill is that she never seems to rest on her laurels. I very much enjoyed her novels about Rowly Sinclair and his group of friends. These are historical mysteries, set in the 1930s, in a series that began with A Few Right Thinking Men. There are good characters who are good friends and good stories in each of the entries.

Ms. Gentill then began to write some standalone novels and stories set outside of Australia. These include After She Wrote Him, The Woman in the Library, and now, The Mystery Writer. Each has an intriguing and, perhaps quirky, story.

In this new book, Theo (Theodosia) has decided to leave law behind. She wants to be a novelist. When her mentor is killed and her brother becomes a suspect, the scene is set.

A few things to ponder…who was the murderer, where is Theo’s manuscript, and what secret things are happening? Get ready for the unraveling.

It is easy to recommend this one.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for this title. All opinions are my own.

Pub date: 19 March 2024

First off thank you NetGalley and Poison Pen Press for this ARC!

I did struggle to get involved with the characters in the beginning. The conspiracy theorist though was my favorite. Overall, I think the story was interesting and kept you guessing until the end!

Strong first half with lots of intrigue and compelling characters, but falls apart a bit at the end.

This novel is intricately crafted, so many twists and turns, but things become increasingly outlandish as it goes. It’s possible that it could have landed better and still been ok, but the entire tone changes and just doesn’t work. You’ll still enjoy the ride so long as you’re prepared for it to get bumpy.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy. These opinions are my own.

I like a good mystery and this one kept me guessing and turning the pages. Theo shows up on her brother's steps after quitting college and wants to be a writer. She begins this journey and before long has a murder and a real mystery on her hands. The manner of death brings suspicion to herself and her brother Gus. Mixed into all of this is a backstory of a cult, doomsday conspiracy theorists and a possible love interest. This story had unique themes which made it interesting to me. I overall enjoyed but do wish there was a bit more character development. Thank you Netgalley for being able to review this book.

Thank you Poisoned Pen Press for allowing me to read and review The Mystery Writer on NetGalley.

Published: 03/19/24

Stars: 2.5

Disappointing is an understatement. The cover did its job starting the process; from there a skim of the synopsis to the far too often what do I have to lose attitude with a request to read. Argh me.

The main character is a law school dropout with the maturity and personality of a young female teenager. Her brother has a shady past, finished law school and was a partner; of course background checks were not supposed to enter my mind as his character moved along in this tale. Seriously, it was one mishap after another.

This felt like a high school assignment with extra credit given for clicking the suggested tropes.

The overall pitch was original to me and it frustrated me more that it was original and an amazing opportunity for a great story was wasted.

The cover was likable.

The Mystery Writer is my second book by Sulari Gentill and I have to say that I like it even more! This book is about writers, murder, private eyes, conspiracy theories, doomsday preppers, and more. I love that it has some Australian characters and was set in Kansas. The book was well-paced and kept me engaged all the way through it. I highly recommend it!

Thanks to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the advanced digital copy of the book for my honest opinion.

When Theo shows up on her big brother’s doorstep with an abandoned life plan and an unfinished novel in hand, she never expects to be drawn into a hidden literary world. One in which identity is something that can be obscured and remade for the sake of a reader. Or stolen might be a better way to put it.

Deciding to dive headlong into her dream of becoming a novelist, Theo befriends Dan, a published author who she turns to for advice and friendship. Even sharing her unpublished novel with him. When he calls her over to his place to chat about it, she finds him dead and her whole world is thrown off its axis.

A few weeks later, when Dan’s publisher reaches out with an offer for her book, she is excited to discover he must have liked it enough to share it with them. That is until she discovers that the agency has certain…rules. The most imperative one being no relationships of any kind without preapproval. After all, it wouldn’t look good for a client to have an imprudent assignation.

I loved the portrayal of writing and publishing as something murky and even murderous in its path to success. I always thought of this circle as a quiet bunch with great restraint, but maybe they are relentless in their ambition to get to the top. Never hesitant to crush the competition by whatever means necessary.

What blood thirsty fun!

Theodosia “Theo” Benton is a twenty-two year old who was attending the University of Canberra Law School. She finally realizes that this was not the career path that she wanted and decides to quit and move to Lawrence, Kansas where her brother, Gus lives and works as a partner in a law firm.
Theo wants to pursue a writing career. Gus is delighted to see his little sister and has her live with him and his dog named horse.

Theo settles into her daily writing sessions at a nearby coffee shop, where other writers do the same. Theo meets a well-known writer, Dan Murdoch. He comes her mentor and eventually they start a relationship. Theo invites Dan over for dinner to meet Gus, when she arrives at Dan’s she stumbles upon Dan’s murder. Now Theo is the number one suspect. With Gus and his coworkers fighting for Theo's innocence, and then all of a sudden Theo goes missing. Is she on the run or has something more sinister happened to her?

The book still kept me entertained and even though I had an idea what had happened, it still made me question myself if I was mistaken.

My thanks to Poisoned Pen Press, The Author, Sulari Gentill as well as NetGalley, for the opportunity to read and review an early copy of The Mystery Writer.

I actually ended up liking this more than I thought I would. The premise is absolutely absurd and the ending felt very rushed. There is a huge timeline jump that comes out of nowhere in order to push the plot ahead and that really messed up the pace of the book.

I liked Gus and Mac, the two male leads. I think that’s Theo (our female lead) unfortunately comes off as very, very naive and immature. She makes a lot of highly questionable decisions. She does come from a sheltered background which could possibly explain some of it.

I usually am terrible at guessing the end of murder mysteries and I definitely was surprised by the ending but I also predicted a few things very easily which means that they were obvious.

Mystery isn’t my usual genre but I have enjoyed this author’s past works and I liked this. Someone who reads this genre more frequently may find that this is an extremely enjoyable read.

I really liked the setting. You don’t find a lot of books with Australian protagonists set in Kansas. There were a few things (such as the preponderance of guns) that I were exaggerated but, overall, I felt the author did justice to a midwestern small town.

I love this authors writing style. The story is convoluted, both twisty and unpredictable I also enjoyed the literary aspect of this thriller.

t was a twisty, suspenseful mystery that didn't go where I expected, which was good. I enjoyed the layers and all that was going on in this story. It really kept the pages turning. The characters were complicated and interesting

This was a first for me by this author. I was intrigued by it and felt she did a pretty good job of making a thriller/mystery. While it did have just a bit about conspiracy theories in the beginning of some chapters it did by no means take away from the story. They are among us whether we like it or not. They will remain so and we might as well get use to listening to the crazy things they say and believe. Yes there are families in this story who have bunkers and stockpile food and weapons but it's only addressed with one guy's family and not in a way as to take over the story. I kind of feel bad for people who live this way. Scared at every turn. Even though they will never admit to being afraid of anything. It is what it is...

This book is about a brother and sister. Theo and Gus Benton. They are from Australia and were raised in a commune. Their parents were living a free and uninhibited life and raising their two children this way. Until something happened and Gus was sent to live with his grandfather and Theo was sent to a boarding school.

Gus is a lawyer and part of a law firm that he started. Theo shows up at his home out of the blue after leaving college. She was going to be a lawyer but lost interest and truly wanted to be a writer. Thus her lack of knowledge in the laws.... For anyone interested.

Gus has a friend, Mac, who helps him out at times when he needs to find someone or something. Mac is a huge part of this story also. He's one of the most likable. His family are the ones living on a compound and believing in conspiracy theories. Mac does not believe in all of it and lives in his own place and works hard.

When a man that Theo started liking and who is an author is found murdered the action starts strong. Theo found him and called her brother immediately. They call the police and go through a lot of interrogation. This is where you will start reading a little bit at the start of some chapters from things people are saying and believing about the author's murder and his not yet released book.

A lot is going on in this book and I can see where many will be confused reading it. It's truly a good one though. I loved how the author took me to the depths of these people's lives. Let us see what they were going through and how they related to the murders and yes there are a few murders. You get to know the three main characters intensely. And you find out what one publication company does to help people publish their books. Thank goodness it is not reality.

While I didn't love this book I did enjoy it a lot. I found it to be an easy read and filled with a lot of actions and feelings. There is a couple of things about child sexual molestation that need to be tagged. Not explicit but it's there.

A budding writer shows up on her brother's doorstep, determined to leave behind her troubles in Tassie and make a new life in Lawrence, Kansas. She wants to be a writer, so she develops writerly habits. One of which introduces her to a successful writer at a coffee shop, which propels her into the world of Kansas writers, publishing, and conspiracy theories (though she doesn't know this yet). I enjoyed the mash-up between a writer, publishing, and conspiracy theories. I didn't enjoy the abrupt jumps in the plot that the author had to use to move the story forward without adding to the page count. Still, a propelling read if you can handle the jumps.

This book has got it all. A young woman moves from Australia to the US to join with her brother. She has quit law school and she's decided to become a writer. She begins her novel in a bar and notices another writer there. He's a man, quite a few years older than she is. They strike up a nodding relationship, then they chat, then they become friends. And it's her entry into a hellish existence with people being murdered, crazies filling the streets of her town, and all sorts of other people like conspiracy theorists, survivalists, people with evil intentions...

The police suspect Theo, the young woman. Then they think perhaps her brother and his best friend are involved. But the truth is so much deeper, twisted, and crazy.

This book will keep you guessing.

Sulari Gentill has provided us with a fun and entertaining who done it type story, and I didn't find any of it predictable, so that made it that much better!

I thoroughly enjoyed this read from beginning to end, and definitely recommend it to anyone who loves a good 'whodunit' or mystery where you'll be on your toes guessing the entire time!

Thank you to NetGalley for providing an arc for this fantastic read in exchange for an honest review! Highly, highly recommend!!

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.
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