I enjoyed reading Gentill’s The Woman In The Library, and I was looking forward to reading The Mystery Writer. However, it was a disappointing read for me.
Overall, the pacing of the book was uneven. The first half/two-thirds of the book was slow, but the ending was rushed, confusing, and disappointing after the buildup in the earlier chapters.
Characters
I didn’t really connect with any of them—so many of them. The main character is Theodosia (Theo) Benton, a former Australian law student who has dropped out of school without telling her parents (there is a backstory here that is quite different). She shows up on her brother Gus’s doorstep in Lawrence, Kansas, with a story she wants to write. Gus is her older brother with a protective streak when it comes to Theo. Mac, of dubious ethics, works for Gus, and comes from a family of hardcore (and wealthy) preppers/conspiracy theorists.
Thoughts
I’m still not sure what to make of this book. I think it tried to accomplish too much. I loved the premise: 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. But the book doesn’t fulfil this until the end, and then it happens so fast it was a bit confusing.
I wasn’t a fan of the conspiracy theorists. That was too close to reality for me.
Overall, this wasn’t the book for me, but it may be for you.

I received a complimentary ARC copy of The Mystery Writer by Sulari Gentill from Net Galley and Poisoned Pen Press in order to read and give an honest review.

…An action packed, cleverly crafted, unique, and unexpectedly twisted whodunit filled with brilliantly quirky characters that keeps the reader flipping pages…

I loved author, Sulari Gentill’s previous book The Woman in The Library and was thrilled to recieve and opportunity to read and review her current book, The Mystery Writer and I certainley wasn’t disappointed.

In the Mystery Writer we meet twenty-something Theo Benton who quits law school in Australia, and relocates to the US, Lawrence, Kansas to be exact to pursue her dream of becoming a mystery author. Showing up on her older lawyer brother Gus’s doorstep, she is determined to make her dream come true and writes daily at a local coffee shop. At the coffee shop she befriends a local mystery author and her newly found mentor Dan Murdoch. Dan, who although famous, keeps a low profile due to having problems with overzealous fans whose paths he crossed researching conspiracy theories for his books. Theo and Dan spend months working together and Theo becomes more than friends with the much older author. Theo finally finishes her novel and is so proud, she instantly gives it to Dan to see if he will give it to his publisher. When Dan is reluctant, Theo is devastated, hurt and furious that for all his praise he didn’t believe in her work. When Dan doesn’t show up at the coffee shop the next day and she is unable to reach him she decides to pay a visit to his home. As she arrives at his house, she sees a gentleman quickly exiting and leaving the door open. As her eyes adjust to the darkness inside, she stumbles across the lifeless body of Dan, lying in a pool of blood, his throat slit. When the police arrive, Theo becomes the prime suspect and when her real reason for leaving law school is revealed the police are convinced, they’ve caught their murderer. When Dan’s overzealous fans get wind via a conspiracy theory chatroom, they descend in droves to Lawrence to get justice for Dan and place poor Theo and Gus under siege. Theo is desperate clear her name and get justice for the man who was not only her mentor but someone she was falling in love with. After an attempt on Theo’s life from the protestors camped outside Gus’s house his friend Mac, a private investigator and hacker, decides to play bodyguard while Gus has to attend to a work matter. When things go from bad to worse the three must investigate in order to find the murderer and save Theo. The more they investigate Dan’s death the more secrets come to light and Theo realizes that there is far more going on than she ever imagined.

Being an avid reader and aspiring mystery writer myself, I am captivated by stories featuring writers and I really enjoyed this book and highly recommend it. An action packed, cleverly crafted, unique, and unexpectedly twisted whodunit filled with brilliantly quirky characters that keep the reader flipping pages to a thrill a minute ending.

A clever mystery with some great twists and turns, I liked the book and thought Theo was a great protagonist. Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Theodolite decides that she doesn’t want to be an attorney anymore so she goes to live at her brothers house. She is drawn into the literary world when her mentor, a well known author, is murdered. She needs to find the killer before her brother is arrested.

I am a huge fan of Sulari Gentill. I loved “Woman in the Library.”
I am conflicted over Mystery Writer. It just didn’t jell for me. So disappointed. Still I will return at a later date to re-read. I may just need to approach the story with a fresher mindset.

A Poisoned Pen ARC via NetGalley.
Many thanks to the author and publisher.

Good book with some well done characters. I liked the story as a whole but there were several slow parts that slowed down the story.

I almost dnf this book. I was so lost and confused in the beginning. I'm glad I didn't. I adore Theo, Gus, and Mac! I hated to say goodbye at the end. Such a wild and original concept.

Title: The Mystery Writer by Sulari Gentill
Publication Date- 03/19/24
Publisher- Poisoned Pen Press
Overall Rating- 3 out of 5 stars

Review: Review copy given to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

The Mystery Writer was my first book by this author. I have not gotten around to reading her previous, very popular work, The Woman in the Library. I struggled to settle on a final rating but decided that 3 stars felt most fair. I enjoyed a lot of the elements here, doomsday preppers, ultra conservative nationalism as an interesting plot device, and books as meta. Unfortunately, I felt that the synopsis was somewhat misleading. I went back and read it again several times after finishing and still feel that way.

In retrospect, I actually think the synopsis is very misleading and one sentence in particular just doesn’t happen in the story from my point of view. I can’t say what that is without spoiling the story but I don’t like to be misled as a reader. I don’t think this was intentional and maybe it came from how I interpreted the story and what was happening. I’m not sure but I would like to talk to other readers about this. This aspect made me want to give the story 2.5 stars but I didn’t. I’ll talk about those reasons next.

Aspects that I found really enjoyable in the story were the characters that were conspiracy theorists and doomsday preppers. This is just something I find so interesting in society so that kept me reading and wanting to know more. At times this did feel disjointed like the book was trying to do too many things at once. That leads me back to thinking about the cover and what it is trying to do. I believe this really should be a cover with some sort of doomsday prepper or nationalism theme because the book isn’t really about authors and writing and uncovering a mysterious story. I mean it is and it isn’t. This is where I think readers will really differ. Some will align with what I’m saying, others will disagree. This fact really irritated me as you can see I’m trying to write about the positives of the novel and I come back to feeling misled and frustrated.

At this point I still don’t think this book deserves less than 3 stars. It’s a quick, popcorn read that I think others should try. I am interested to hear the conversations that will come afterward. Even taking a step back and coming back to this review, in my gut I feel that this was a 5 star reading experience until about half way then it quickly went to a 2 star. Factoring in both of those things I think it remains fair that I leave this with a very conflicted 3 star overall rating.

The world on conspiracy theories is fascinating to me, and I'll be the first to admit that I can fall down a rabbit hole when things feel a little ~too~ real (I am looking at you, Kate Middleton picture!!!). So a murder mystery centered around an author who might have cracked a conspiracy theory? Sign me up!

Theodosia Benton has decided to radically change career paths from attorney to author, and as she works on her debut novel from a coffee shop, she finds herself becoming closer to Dan Murdoch. Dan is also writing from the shop, and the two connect over their stories and writing. But when Theo finds Dan murdered in her own home, she is pulled into a web of conspiracy theories and evil associated with his latest work based on the "Frankenstein Project." And when her own brother is accused of his murder, she must do the unthinkable to save his name - and herself.

I loved the way so many elements were woven together to create this story - the creepy online commentary, Theo's story, the disappearance of many related to the case, the ultimate justice served and the web untangled.

I will say the chaos of tracking down what exactly happened to Dan Murdoch had me feeling a bit burnt out by the end. While the first 75% of the story is easy to track, when Theo disappears I found myself having to go back and read entire sections because I wasn't sure what was going on anymore.

That being said, this was a really great book and I thoroughly enjoyed the mysterious elements here. All of the confusion is worth it for the way the writer ties every seemingly small detail together by the end!

Thank you to NetGalley, Poisoned Pen Press, and Sulari Gentill for the advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!

Theodosia Benton abandons her career as an attorney and shows up on her brother’s doorstep. She now wants to be a novelist. Her mentor is brutally murdered. The police begin looking at her brother, Gus, as their prime suspect. Gus finds a thread of the murder and follows it. Theo Benton is now missing and everyone looking for her will have to die. This is a rollercoaster ride of a book. It’s a literary thriller that Theo Benton will have to endure. The ending of the book was a complete shock as the truth finally came out. Read this book and discover who people are trying to protect. If you like stories that turn things upside down then you will love this book.

Another stand alone book from this Australian author which is great (but I still miss the Rowland Sinclair series)

In The Mystery Writer the main character, Theodosia Benton (Theo), leaves her university course in Sydney and moves to the U.S. determined to be a writer. She moves in with her brother Gus and begins to spend her days writing at a coffee shop. There she meets Dan who turns out to be a published author who becomes her mentor. When he is murdered it stirs up an ants nest of mystery and danger for Theo, Gus and Mac who is a friend of Gus and a private agent.

There follows more murders, shootings, several visits to hospital, and an introduction to the lives of doomsday preppers in the form of Mac's family. Conspiracy theories abound on the internet and it is scarily realistic how easily people can be led to believe in almost anything. Especially when so many of them have guns.

The story began at a steady but unremarkable pace, by the middle it was speeding up, and then it went for broke in the last third. By that point I was having trouble putting the book down at all. I enjoyed it all very much and am going to give it five stars.

Thanks NetGalley for an ARC of this book. This book starts out great but then kind of drops off. Theodosia Benton moves from Tasmania to Lawrence Kansas. So far so good. Her brother is a partner at a law firm and she has decided that she doesn’t want to study law anymore but instead write a novel. Theo spends time at the local coffee shop/bar and meets a fellow writer. He’s Dan Murdoch. He’s famous. They sleep together and the next thing, he is dead. A couple of other people end up dead. There are too many holes in this book for me. There’s an online conspiracy group, Theo’s potential publisher is odd, her brother’s friend’s family lives on a reinforced farm. Then a couple of years skip and her brother, Gabe, and his friend Max read a book and decide she is alive and they need to save her. Just not believable. Read something else on your list.

This was a twisted page turner of a thriller!
It’s full of conspiracy angles and a good mystery plot.
I liked Theo even tho she was a bit wimpy acting.
It certainly keeps you guessing
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the early copy

This is told in third person and follows Theo, a young woman who has ventured from her studies in Australia to visit her brother, Gus, a criminal defense attorney and partner in a law firm located in Kansas. Theo is ready to pursue her dream of being a mystery writer.

The story is more of a quiet, slow burn suspense than a thriller. The chapters are occasionally interspersed with commentary from online conspiracy theory forums. The audiobook is narrated by Katherine Littrell. This was my first audiobook listen by this narrator. I found the narrator’s voice for most of the characters to be pleasant and distinctive.

Parts of this were not for me as I have a low tolerance threshold for conspiracy theorists and doomsday preppers; however, the relationship that developed between Theo and Dan as well as her brother and his friend Mac pulled me in enough to speculate about the motives behind the murders and subsequent events.

Unfortunately, I had issues with Theo ignoring red flags all over the place and not communicating at times when she knew she should be speaking up. I also had some other issues with the story from some later abrupt time jumping, odd emphasis on guns and strange reactions from her brother’s law firm. Then the mystery plot devolved into a scenario that I’m at a loss to describe without spoilers but just felt ridiculous to me.

Thank you to Netgalley, Poisoned Pen Press and Dreamscape Media for a copy provided for an honest review.

What a story!! I am not going to reprise the summary, just compliment the author on a job well done. This page-turner was absolutely worth every minute of sleep I lost reading it! Well-developed characters set the stage for a plot full of tortuous twists and nasty surprises. Don't let the calm beginning fool you, debris from this explosive novel continues to fall until the very last page!

I enjoyed reading Sulari Gentill's The Women in the Library and so I am excited to read The Mystery Writer, written by the same author.

The Mystery Writer follows Theodosia Benton moves to live with her attorney brother Gus in Lawrence , Kansas deciding to quit law school after an incident. Theo wants to finish writing her novel and instead of Gus asking her to return back to law school to complete the degree, Gus encourages her to finish her novel. Theo meets a mysterious man named Dan Murdoch who is actually a successful author. He starts mentoring her to write the novel and introduces her to a literary agent. However, Theo then comes across Dan's body when she was visiting his house and finds that he was brutally murdered. Theo is determined to find the killer but it seems that more and more people seem to die around her.

The writing was great but I felt this book wasn't as great as the Woman in the Library. However, the book was fast paced, I also liked the brother sister relationship between Gus and Theo. I also like the slow romance blossoming between Mac who is Gus's friend and Theo as well. There weren't much twists and turns but the story was engaging as a whole and I also thought that the ending wasn't bad. Nonetheless, I did enjoy reading this book and cannot wait to read more books from this author. Worth 4 stars.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Poisoned Pen Press for ARC. The review is based on my honest opinion only.

I've been a fan of Gentill but this latest was a tad too convoluted for me as it mixes family, conspiracy theories, and murder in a way that might challenge you to keep up. Theo has dropped out of law school in Australia and moved to Kansas where her brother lives to become.a writer, It doesn't work out quite so well. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. Over to others.

Sulari Gentill’s The Mystery Writer puts a whole new perspective on the world of bestselling penmanship. The novel gives an interesting account of what it takes to be an author, a look into conspiracy theories and where they originate, and how many authors may actually be fugitives. I’m not entirely sure where this line of thought came from, but it is absolutely enticing!

I didn’t dislike The Mystery Writer. It was fast paced with lots of little twists that kept me fairly glued to the pages. The timeline was somewhat confusing though. I have no idea how much time passed from cover to cover for Theo, Gus, and Mac. The narrative, though easy to read and understand, felt a little hastened. I honestly feel like the book could have been longer with a more defined timeline and more detailed storyline.

I wouldn’t call it a cozy mystery but I wouldn’t exactly call it a thriller. The Mystery Writer is a fun read that falls somewhere in between the two categories.

I cannot stress enough the utterly ridiculousness of this novel . For the first 40% it felt like a logical, plausible mystery. But then it lapsed into a plot that was so crazy and convoluted that it almost felt like another author had taken over writing the second half. It became a runaway train. I went from reading what I thought would be a 4-star book to knocking off 2 more stars as the plot became more and more ludicrous. Extra characters were introduced at the very end for the convenience of the story, the main characters changed drastically in numerous ways, and the original mystery was eclipsed by a weird and wacky ending. It left me feeling duped and frustrated. A reader wants to be able to try and solve the mystery. When we’re bombarded with last minute details that come out of nowhere, it feels like all of our efforts have been for nothing.

The Mystery Writer is a layered mystery with great characters. Theo is a new author looking for an agent, she gets caught up in a web of craziness starting with an agent she uses. She can’t figure out the best course of action, fortunately she has a lawyer brother and his best friend to help her. Bringing in the conspiracy theorists and end of the world preppers with their online presence and the chaos they can create throughout the book adds another element to the story. Highly recommend! Thanks to NetGalley and Poison Pen Press for my review copy of this book.