This book certainly had an interesting premise that would appeal to many readers who are fascinated by authors and their process. The story of a hopeful author trying to get a book published while wrestling with issues in the rest of her life was interesting, but I must confess there were clues dropped like lead weights that alerted me far too early in the story to a likely solution to the mystery.
I’m not suggesting this story is a waste of time, but by the end it really jumps the shark. If you don’t mind some over-the-top situations and solutions, give it a try.

Theodosia Benton leaves Sydney, Australia and school and goes to her brother Gus, a partner in a law firm in Laurence, Kansas. Gus supports her efforts to write full-time and she then meets another writer, Dan Murdoch. When she discovers his body and that he was murdered, the police suspect her. Mac Ethridge, a private investigator and friend of Gus, is asked by Theo to look into Murdoch's death, but when two more bodies are found, all three are now suspects while at the same time, Theo's life is in danger.
A tense story that builds slowly to a thrilling conclusion with cut throat publishers, doomsday preppers and maniacal fans.
Thank you NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for this e-galley of "The Mystery Writer".

"The Mystery Writer" by Sulari Gentill presents a unique blend of mystery, literary exploration, and conspiracy, making for an intriguing narrative. The story revolves around Theodosia Benton, who abandons her legal career to pursue writing, leading her into a hidden literary world where identity is malleable.

I enjoyed Gentill’s approach to interweaving conspiracies throughout and I thought this was such an interesting take; showing just how pervasive conspiracies can be. While ultimately much of the novel, especially the final conspiracy twist, felt unlikely, I thought that this perfectly fit the novel - as don’t all conspiracies seem unbelievable until they’re proven true? Yet, this book is confusing in the beginning. It has chat room sessions in between the story and as a reader they lack context. You are wondering what it all means.

There were places in this book where I felt Gentill lost the plot a little, and I wasn't sure how it would all come together. The last 20% of the book was a RIDE, so it did throw me off a little. I wish we had gotten more about Mac's family and how they were involved in all the conspiracies.

However, once you start to figure out what is going on, you cannot wait to see what is going to happen next. Could a conspiracy be in play?

I would say this is more of a cozy mystery than a thriller, but still enjoyable.

Thank you NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the eARC of this book!

Much like The Woman in the Library, this book was great in premise but not in execution.

Theodosia Benton has chucked law school and flown halfway around the world to show up on her brother Gus's doorstep in a tiny Kansas town where he practices law. The details of her departure are fuzzy but she has decided to give herself the opportunity to pursue her true passion: writing. With Gus's encouragement, Theo finds herself becoming a regular at Benders, a local bar where she sits with her laptop and works on her novel. And Benders is where she meets Dan Murdoch, a bestselling author who just happens to also frequent that establishment.

Theo and Dan strike up a friendship, mainly discussing Theo's historical mystery with Dan giving advice and support to his new friend who is slowly becoming more than just a friend. As they get to know each other, Dan also starts to share details about his own novel in progress and the inspiration he's been drawing from online forums devoted to pedaling conspiracy theories. Things are going well until Theo shows up at Dan's apartment only to find him dead on the floor and Theo is suspect number one. With the help of her lawyer brother and his private investigator Mac, Theo sets out to find Dan's killer but in the process unearths an even larger conspiracy far beyond what Dan could ever have imagined in his novels.

There were parts of this book that I really enjoyed but I had a hard time with the conspiracy theory angle and how it fit in to the overall mystery. I often felt myself being yanked away from the heart of the story to read these strange ramblings that were meant to be a forum for sharing bizarre theories. By the time I finished reading I was relieved that it was over and was left feeling rather unsatisfied with the conclusion. I definitely would not have chosen to read this book had it not been on NetGalley.

Thanks Netgalley for allowing me to read this book. Theo is not happy in her life. She decides to make sone changes because she wants to write a book. This decision she makes will change her life in many ways. This book was a quick read.

For the most part I enjoyed this story very much. The relationship between Theo and her brother, Gus, was realistic and fun to be part of. It reminded me of the best playful times with my own brothers, and the bond was deep between them.

When Theo discovers the murder of her friend and mentor, Dan Murdoch, she is in so much shock she has a hard time functioning. The police consider her a main suspect and that thread of suspicion is pulled through the bulk of the story.

The author did a great job creating tension and wonderful characters. However the ending fell short. I can't say how specifically without giving a spoiler and I don't want to do that.

Conspiracies abound in this tale of an aspiring writer gets deeply involved in a publishing organization that isn't what it seems to be. As the body count starts adding up, the story takes a bizarre path that requires the reader to suspend disbelief. The ending jumps a very large shark.

I couldn’t put this one down! At the heart, it was a murder mystery, but it has so many other elements—conspiracy theorists, writers, cozy coffee shops, romance, and murder without the gore. Although the ending felt a bit rushed, the story kept me guessing and turning pages until the very end. A unique and interesting story! Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the advanced copy!

I have mixed feelings about this one. Parts of it I enjoyed, the character of Theo and her growth, I liked the concept of the book and I get what it was trying to achieve. It didn't quite get there for me though. It was entertaining as a story of good vs evil and a look at conspiracy theories, so if i take it as just that...... 3.5 rounded up

Not enjoyed this one as much as I had the author's previous book. I felt that the book was overtly long and predictable at the same time as it became increasingly bizzare as it progressed.

Thank you NetGalley for an Advanced Reader Copy.

The Mystery Writer by Sulari Gentill had a lot of promise in the beginning. Readers are led to believe that they're reading an intricate mystery and eager to see how it unfolds.

When this book opens, each chapter is kicked off with a few posts from a conspiracy forum. The tension is high. However, everything that was set up falls apart. Later chapters are missing the conspiracy forums in the opening. This was a major loss for The Mystery Writer.

I wish it was more consistent with the conspiracy forums. There really could have been a way to put that snappy and thoughtful insight at the beginning of every chapter. It made the reader which characters represent which usernames, and what are their motives. If it was continued, like it was almost promised to the reader, it could have really added a lot of magic and mystery to the novel. It very much irked me that the format of integrating the forums was was abandoned.

When Gentill stopped including the forums, she abandoned her premise. There is nothing worse in a book than a lost premise.

Later, she picks it up again. This was all a huge mistake. Authors, if you're taking a risk like inserting a make-believe forum into your novel, you must commit. You cannot take big risks like that without a 100% commitment to the bit. If you're going to jump, jump. If you want to dive, dive. Otherwise, it falls short. If you're taking a risk with your work, take it all the way!

Why on earth would an author abandon her premise? It baffles me. What is the point of writing without a premise? I thought that when the author abandoned this structure, there would be a reason, like the forum was shut down, or something to that effect. Nothing. Just lazy, half-assed writing. What an intriguiging start, and to leave it in the dust like that was a shame. I wish this book was so, so much better.

Gentill did not only lose her premise. She also lost her plot, which I am sure is probably more noticeable to most readers. Now, let me discuss this aspect with a metaphor. I want to act as the book doctor here, and make a diagnosis. I can tell you exactly why The Mystery Writer felt like it lost the plot. I can get to the root of the issue in this novel.

Dan's death that happens at the 25% mark, but it should've been at the 50% mark. In a story's structure, the big change is supposed to happen in the middle of the story. We are supposed to have an 'I can never go back to the way it was before' moment with the protagonist halfway through. When this happens too early, we are only set up for trouble.

This author dropped her midpoint far too early. It is a sad assesment, but I must tell you the truth. I know she could have given us more of Dan, set up more tension, and raised the stakes. But the big murder happened so fast, it made the emotional revelations at the end fall short. So Jack Chase was Dan? Well there's so much other nonsense happening, to compensate for an early midpoint, that the reader no longer cares.

When the midpoint comes too early, authors insert randomness into the novel that doesn't belong there. There should have much more emphasis on the meat and potatoes of the story. Instead it went in a hundred diffferent directions on a wild goose chase.

All that unecessary stuff makes the story convoluted. There should have been a lot of characters, scenes, and nonsense cut. There should have been much more focus on the relationship in the beginning, and feeling the loss of the main character. I felt like the novel could have gone so much deeper. The tension she built with the agent, and certain comments about funeral arrangements, were abandoned. There was no payoff. This was ultimately unsatisfying to read. I thought we were going to get something way more real and interesting. It eneded up one-dimensional.

Another symptom of my diagnosis, a midpoint that arrives too early, is the things are are built up, the mysteries we are wondering about, in the end are addressed with one line, with no emotional impact at all whatsoever, because way too many other things are going on. I am referring to the Jack Chase revelation, and the guy with the spider tattoo is almost dropped and there is no impact.

I hated how the climax started to become too broad, too far reaching. The magic of the story was so fluent and effortless in the beginning, I really wish that carried all the way through. Things would have been different if she killed Dan at 50% instead of 25%.

In the end, I was not surprised at all to find out this author is a panster, meaning she does plot her books beforehand. It shows.

Unfortunately, I was disappointed by the way this book panned out. I was so invested at the beginning, so eager to see how it all fit together. It just... didn't. Which was a huge let down, because I had high hopes from the beginning. I thought it was going to be a five-star read.

Worst of all, it seems like the author made the climax so far-reaching, because she was reaching for some political statement. I'm sorry, but this did not meet what was set up at the beginning. The author’s personal opinions tained the work. It felt like she was beating you over the head with her politics.

Some characters were not characters at all, but charicatures of things the author clearly does not understand. It came off as tribal. It came off as so dreary and pathetic. These characters served no purpose. I thought they were at least building up to something bigger, but they merely existed to fulfill the author's political narrative.

It is sad to see writing become so tribalistic and close-minded, even in a made-up universe. I am sure this put off many readers, even those who may agree with her. I like to think that most people can see past politics, to the real person. I like to think that's why we read, to understand opposing sides and what makes characters work. This read more like Republicans =DUMB and that's THAT. Very low brow. I like to think we all can share something in being human. I like to think there is something deeper than political affiliations. Gentill clearly does not see it that way.

Also, the one-dimensional political analysis made the main character look like a mary sue. Little Theo baby could do no wrong! She's just a lost, little Australian, shocked by the guns in America! If you don't like guns so much, why come to America? Especially rural America? I'm sorry it's really not even nuanced in the slightest. Once again, I must emphasize how unfortunate this is because I thought the book was going to be a lot deeper than that when I started reading.

I really don't like when novels become overly political, especially when there is nothing in the title, description, or cover to indicate political biases. You know readers from every corner of the political spectrum are going to pick up the book, and you just insulted half of them. It's not a good move, and ends up alienating much of the audience. Actually, it made me feel pity for the author, as I can't imagine being so terrified of firearms, but I digress.

My final critique is this novel has white wall syndrome. In the beginning we are following two writers discussing their writing process. They discuss building a sense of place, so I thought the lack of place in the real novel was meta. I thought it was clever and intentional. I thought it would build into a bigger point. I thought that was some kind of clue, and it would come back later. But I am afriad, that did not happen. The author just doesn't have the skills to build atmosphere. Even when the setting shifts to another continent, everything feels exactly the same.

I am giving this book a generous three stars, because even though it lost the plot AND the premise, I still could not put it down. This is the first book I've read by this author, and I am curious to read her more acclaimed works.

Never has the descriptive “it’s complicated” rung so true for me as it does now, as I endeavor to describe my relationship to this book.
To begin with the clear wins- the sense of place is wonderfully strong, and the characters are so compelling that I found myself emotionally invested throughout. The author certainly knows how to build a plot and has a beautifully instinctive sense of what motivates people, and thus, her characters.
So from the early pages, I was in, enjoying being along for a wild ride of a story and happily anticipating the reveal of the *mystery* within “The Mystery Writer.
However, I do feel that for the last quarter of the book, the author lost control of her vehicle and it went careening off from what was a well lit motor way onto an ambiguous (and seemingly under construction) dirt road.
So while I enjoyed this enough to rate it highly, (and thank you NetGalley & publishers for the privilege) I walked away feeling like my suspension of disbelief had been stretched to such an uncomfortable capacity that I didn’t feel entirely won over by what was otherwise, a truly original read.

4.5★
“ ‘Don’t ever do anything like that again.’

‘Like what?’

‘Like walking into a strange house alone, with no idea who’s in there. This isn’t Hobart, Theo. People here have guns, and if you wander into their house a lot of them would be quite happy to shoot you.’

‘It wasn’t a strange house...’

‘He wasn’t expecting you. Americans respond to surprises by shooting.’”

I could be clever and say ‘You're not in Kansas anymore’, but in fact she actually is in Kansas in a town called Lawrence.

Theo, Theodosia, is 22, has dropped out of law school in Australia and flown to the US where her brother is a lawyer. He listens to her reasons and is understanding, but he does have a hard time making her believe that she is among people who may shoot first and – you know – ask questions later, if at all.

The two of them were raised in Tasmania by parents who are hippies. or ferals, as they're known, who have a hard time believing that these are the kids they’ve produced. They are peace-loving, tambourine players, not gun-toting doomsday preppers. (They come later.)

Brother Gus encourages little sister to write, which is what she’s always wanted to do. She finds a nice coffee shop, becomes a regular and makes friends with the staff. She feels she’s joined the ranks of other famous authors who work in public. She even meets another novelist who sits across the way from her.

Meanwhile, running in the background is a conspiracy forum which appears in short bursts throughout the book. The story opens with this bit.

“Caleb fell back onto his bed and placed his arms behind his head. If they knew, they would take over. It would be Caleb do this, Caleb do that…like he wasn’t the one who’d known from the beginning. They would forget that. Perhaps it would be better to wait. That way, when it started he’d be the one behind the wheel; they’d have to listen to him.”

Later we get posts and conversations, the things that Caleb is reading and contributing to.

“The people have a right to know. The sacrifices have a right to fight. Beware the icons: Disney, Coca-Cola, CNN. They are friends of the Minotaur. Prepare. Soon we will rise to lay siege to the Labyrinth. More later.
We Know What We Know.
Primus”

Later, the sign-off is simply WKWWK. (Yes, as from the show Hamilton, it says, but I digress.)

Here is another taste.

“Has anyone noticed that FLOTUS does not age? It’s worse than you think. I’ve seen pictures from the Civil War and she’s in them. How do you think she does that? Is it connected to the Frankenstein Project?”

What the? I wasn’t sure how this was going to tie in, but there’s a third excellent character, Mac, a private eye (former lawyer) who works with Gus and whose own family are doomsday preppers. Gus, Theo, and Mac are interestingly normal, considering the families they come from, and I enjoyed their interactions.

Then there is a murder and it looks like Theo may be implicated, so tensions rise and we get full-on thriller action. There is international intrigue and another whole layer of conspiracy at work.

I had found this a bit slow somewhere in the middle and wondered where Gentill was taking us, but I needn’t have worried. I miss her Aussie stories, but I have to admit this one was fun and will probably appeal more to an American audience.

Gus and Theo bring enough of an Australian attitude to make me happy. I enjoy the plot and the characters and the mystery more than the guns and bloodshed, but so what? Gentill’s books are always a good read.

Thanks to #NetGalley and Pantera Pressa for a copy of #TheMysteryWriter for review.

The positive: The writer had a great relationship between brother and sister in the story. Having said that, I found the book to be very confusing with an unnecessary storyline about conspiracist. It was difficult to connect to the characters or take an interest in the plot. Overall, it didn’t work for me.

My review is voluntary and all comments and opinions are my own.

Wow. Sulari Gentill sure knows how to captivate us with complex story lines.

In The Mystery Writer, Theodosia Benton leaves her attorney job and shows up at her brother’s home with only two suitcases and an unfinished novel. She has many doubts about her life, including whether she is capable of becoming a successful writer.

She is drawn into a hidden literary world when her mentor, a highly successful author, is murdered. Theo wants the killer to be found but when the police start looking at her brother as a prime suspect, she knows there’s more going on than she knew.

Theo discovers that everyone is looking for her and she will have to die. Is it a conspiracy or is that too far-fetched?

This is a literary thriller and it is wild! Look out for it in March 2024.

Thanks to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the ARC in return for an honest review.

This book was almost a "non-read". It started out with a post to social media with a doomsday theme. I was expecting to begin the book with an explanation of who the characters were like most books do. So, I skipped the first few pages and got into what I considered the beginning of the book. Each time the author wrote about the social media posts, I skipped them. After several times of doing this, the author finally got through to me on what those social media posts were about.

I went back and reread the book from the beginning as I now understood it wasn't a gothic story but really was about a mystery writer. It took about halfway through the book before the two stories jelled in my mind of what was going on. Once, this happened, I couldn't wait to read the rest of the book.

The setting in in America but about a brother and sister who were Australian. The brother was a lawyer and the sister up and quit studying to become a lawyer as she had a desire to be a mystery writer. The brother had a private eye who works for the law firm he is a partner of. Between the three of them and the doomsday posters, they story unfolds with several twists and turns and keeps the reader engaged.

When you begin reading this book, just remember the social media posts give you background for later in the story. Be patient and it will come together.

This was fascinating!! What a refreshing storyline. I love following along with Theo, Gus and Mac. I would highly recommend this book!

While I loved Sulari Gentilli's last book, The Woman in the Library, this one just didn't do it for me. The premise was interesting, the main characters well defined, but about 3/4 into the book the pace suddenly became breathless, time jumped forward and I thought it all became illogical.

At the end of the kindle arc edition there is a rendering of the back cover in which the plot is laid out to clearly - I'm glad I didn't read the ahead of time, and suggest a broader description be substituted.

Thank you #PoisonedPress and #NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advanced copy.

“The Mystery Writer” is a mystery book by Sulari Gentill. After reading this book, I’m not sure how I feel about it. The pacing was a bit off - sometimes things moved slowly for set-up purposes, but then at others it raced through really quickly. Ms. Gentill’s lawyer past shows, again, in this book - and I really rather like those bits mixed into the story. But for this being a “thriller” - I think it’s more a “cozy murder” than a thriller. There’s conspiracy theory parts that seemed a bit out there - but then aren’t most conspiracy theory things? The main character, Theo, at times seemed rather mature but then would revert to naive so quickly that it felt a bit undeveloped. However, I really loved the relationship between Gus and Theo - it’s obvious they cared for each other and were constantly wanting to protect the other one. And Horse - we all need a dog like him. I’m really on the fence about what rating to give this book - parts I liked, parts I felt were a bit weak, and the “mystery” was obvious (to me) pretty quickly in the book (which usually isn’t an issue, but this time I felt it was). Think I’m going to give it a 3.75 - it held my attention, was a fast read, and I liked a number of the minor characters - rounded up to 4.

Thank you NetGalley for the eArc copy of this book.

I quite enjoyed following Theo and her brother through the story as they worked to solve the mystery around her friend. I was emotionally invested for most of the story and threw on my detective hat to follow them through the journey.

If you enjoy mysteries and feel up for the task of being a detective. Then definitely try this book.