I love a book about books! This one will have you questioning who the authors you read really are.

Aspiring author, Theodosia Benton, leaves Law School in Australia and moves in with her brother in the states to follow her dream, becoming a published author. While working on her manuscript at a local coffee bar, she meets an author who becomes her mentor, connecting on all things writing-related and a budding romance forms. The love affair is short lived when she finds her mentor brutally murdered in his home. This discovery leads you through the twists and turns of a dark publishing company who owns more than their author's manuscripts.

Great story overall, but there were times when the plot became confusing and hard to follow.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with this ARC to review.

Theodosia (Theo) Benton is at a crossroads in her life. As she is now certain she would rather be a writer than a lawyer, Theo flees school and finds herself on the doorstep of her older brother Gus (and his loyal dog Horse). With his support, she begins life anew, working on her novel at a local coffee shop/bar.

While toiling away, Theo meets elusive writer Dan Murdoch and they begin a mentor/mentee relationship that slowly becomes something more. However, all dreams of a power-writer couple are swept away when Theo discovers Dan’s body; it is clear he has been brutally murdered. As Theo finds herself caught up in whatever led to his death, it becomes evident she never really knew him at all. Will she be able to solve who he really was and what happened to him before she falls victim to the same fate?

The beginning of the book takes its time setting the stage; we learn a fair amount about Theo and her relationship with her brother Gus, but it is not until Dan’s murder that the plot gains momentum. From here, we are introduced to more interesting characters, like the charismatic Mac and his Doomsday Prepper family members. The first 2/3 of the book is intriguing and the author does a great job pulling the reader into the story.

It is near the end of the book where things begin to fall apart. Much like the conspiracy theories implied throughout the novel, holes start to get poked in the storyline and everything goes haywire, leading to an over-the-top and cluttered last section of the book. The subtleties of the first sections give way to action movie insanity and it almost feels like a different book entirely.

Overall, this is a fun read with an original plot and likable characters (even if Theo occasionally does idiotic and groan-inducing things), but the chaotic energy at the end of the novel lets it down.

When Australian Theodosia Benton decided to abandon law school and become a writer, she moved in with her brother Gus. To finish her book, she started hanging out at a local bar to write. Here, she met experienced author Dan Murdoch who took her under his wing. But when Dan was murdered, Theo, her brother and their private investigator friend Mac became the main suspects. Can they clear their names before someone else - or one of them - is murdered? And will Theo ever achieve her dream?
This book starts with a conspiracy theory that threads throughout the novel. It's actually one of two conspiracies in the book.
I appreciated the literary focus of this novel. But the writing feels more like telling than showing, and I wasn't emotionally invested in the story.
At the end of the book, the author uses a unique way of moving time forward. While it's effective, it's also a little confusing.
I like the book club questions at the end, which helps readers analyze and appreciate the book.

This is my first ever ARC and I thoroughly enjoyed it! The story had a bit of a slow beginning, but it ramped up quickly. I wish the character development for the MFC was more in-depth, but on the whole the story was very nicely tied together. I appreciated there weren’t many (if any) plot holes that distracted me, although it was a bit far-fetched to think that Gus & Mac didn’t immediately question who Theo left with from the police station, which is my one pet peeve with the storyline. Overall a solid 5/5 read.

There's definitely an audience for this, but it just didn't pull me in. It read too cozy for me, rather than a true murder mystery. It was still a good read, just a little confusing at parts and I wasn't able to connect to the characters and plot. Passed the time fine, but not a true winner.

Theo has left college in Australia, where she is studying to be a lawyer, and moved to her brother's house in America. She has decided to become a writer. With her brother's encouragement she finds a small local business to go to every day to write. She becomes involved with Dan who is into conspiracy theories. When Dan is found murdered is she the likely suspect?

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. 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? This book is a different kind of mystery with enough twists to make it really interesting. If you are looking for a mystery with something different then this is the book for you. I enjoyed reading this book.

Thank you to #NetGalley, #SulariGentill, and #PoisonedPenPress for a copy of this book.
#mysterywriter

This book got off to a very slow start for me. The author employed an interesting use of a chat room conspiracy as part of the plot, but I found the overall plot a bit confusing. This is a murder mystery full of twists and well developed interesting characters. The relationship between brother and sister was fun. The pace of the book was a bit to slow for me, but overall an interesting story.

If you like conspiracy theories then this is the book for you. It started off a little slow but is full of twists and turns. Get caught up!

I loved this mystery! It was a great time to read and follow the plot and the twists and turns of the story. I would definitely recommend and will do so!

This was a very satisfying literary mystery—it really kept me guessing. Can’t wait to dive into Gentill’s backlist books now!

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for the ARC.

Compelling and fast paced but a bit contrived. Does any literary agency make enough to finance this?

3.5 stars
I received a free e-arc of this book through Netgalley. It started off a bit slow, but then pulled me into the story. There are some weird jumps in time a couple places through the book where it seems like the transition could be smoother. Overall, it was a book that kept my attention.

The twists and turns kept me hooked in this compelling mystery!twisty mystery! I will definitely be reading more by this author soon.

I usually love a good psychological thriller, but I really couldn't get in to this book... the "suspense" gave me too much anxiety! Maybe others would like that better, but it just wasn't for me.
The story was more than a little over the top too; just too much. to0 unrealistic, too chaotic.
This had the potential for being a good book, and I am sure plenty of people will like it, but it just didn't work for me.

I enjoyed the first half or two-thirds...then it fell apart. I didn't like the turn the story took, yet wasn't surprised by it either. Very poorly edited at the end too, though I realize this is a galley.

If your into conspiracy theories & how they can impact peoples daily lives because of things in their past & present ........then this is a book for you . The start resonated with me because it seemed similar to something I'd heard or read before , but it was well constructed although somewhat far fetched in area's hence why I have only given it 4 stars. #NetGalley, #GoodReads, #Amazon.co.uk, #FB, #Instagram, #<img src="https://www.netgalley.com/badge/8a5b541512e66ae64954bdaab137035a5b2a89d2" width="80" height="80" alt="200 Book Reviews" title="200 Book Reviews"/>#<img, src="https://www.netgalley.com/badge/ef856e6ce35e6d2d729539aa1808a5fb4326a415" width="80" height="80" alt="Reviews Published" title="Reviews Published"/>#<img src="https://www.netgalley.com/badge/aa60c7e77cc330186f26ea1f647542df8af8326a" width="80" height="80" alt="Professional Reader" title="Professional Reader"/>.

This book was a really great twisty mystery! I feel like some books are just recycled stories, but this was new and fresh! The author did a phenomenal job of making me care about the characters and root for them until the last page. I especially loved Gus and Mac, they made me laugh and worry for them! This was a masterfully-told original story and I can’t wait to read more from her!

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the arc. This is the first book I have read by this author and I was blown away. This story takes so many twists and turns, just when I think I had it figured out it goes another direction. The character development was great, I was highly invested in the three main characters. If you enjoy a good mystery I highly recommend this book.

While I enjoyed the book overall, there were parts of the book that I had a hard time with. Especially toward the end. It felt very rushed through about three-four chapters to get to the end. I did really like Theo, Gus and Mac and Macs family were funny. Overall this is a solid book.

Interwoven with the story of a young Aussie writer who leaves law school and decamps to Lawrence Kansas to live with her brother, an attorney, is the story of a prepper family, conspiracy theories, and a controlling agent. Very twisty with several unexpected turns, there is not much to say without giving away too many plot details. A roller coaster of read that had me wanting to finish in a hurry!