The mystery – and the mystery writer herself – both kick off when a bedraggled, desperate Theodosia Benton knocks on her big brother’s door. Theo is uncertain of her welcome, but when her flight from Canberra fetches her up in Lawrence Kansas, she’s hoping against hope that the one person who has never failed her will rescue her one more time. Even if she and Gus haven’t seen each other in years.

Her hope in her brother is not misplaced. But her arrival pushes a small stone down a long, steep hill that gathers more than enough moss, snow and really big rocks to crush the lives that they are trying to build. And sweeps entirely too many people around them into its destructive path.

Depositing Theo – along with poor Gus and his ginormous dog Horse – and the heart of the deepest and darkest conspiracy theory that neither of them could have possibly seen coming. Not even their best friend’s family of obsessive, true believing conspiracy nuts.

Escape Rating B-: I picked this up because I LOVED the author’s previous book, The Woman in the Library, and was hoping for more of the same. That isn’t what I got – emphasis on the “I” because I think that the reasons this book didn’t work for me until the very end were a “me” thing that may not be a “you” thing. Before I explain, let me state for the record that the dog is a VERY GOOD BOY and he’s doing FINE at the end of the story.

Even though I loved Horse nearly as much as Theo did, this book drove me bonkers. I was listening to it and it turned into a rage listen, but as much as the whole thing frustrated me no end, I couldn’t stop even though I couldn’t stand another minute. So I switched to text just to find out who done what and how and why a whole lot faster.

The audio was fine, and the narrator did a terrific job of dealing with Gus’ deliberately strong Aussie accent and Theo’s less pronounced one among all their American friends and neighbors. It was the story itself that was making me crazy, to the point where I tried thumbing to the end of the book just so I would know – but it didn’t make sense because things get very, very twisty at the end.

However, that twistiness did manage to redeem a great deal of my frustration, because the macguffin that powers this whole twisted mess that Theo has been dropped into was definitely a WOW to the point where it’s entirely too easy to fall down the rabbit hole of it being real. Really plausible anyway, in spite of itself. Or myself. Or both.

But it definitely middled in a place where it seemed obvious to this reader that there was a malign agency of some kind behind the way that Theo’s life goes so far down the road to hell in that handcart so fast. (Like Wednesday’s audiobook, people just aren’t THAT unlucky unless someone really is out to get them.) So I had a pretty good guess fairly on who was doing the dirty deeds – I just didn’t have the whys, the hows or the wherefores.

Which also frustrated me because I thought that at least one of the main characters, probably not Theo herself but either her older brother Gus or his friend Mac.

And that’s the point where I worked out that the part of the story that was not working out for this reader was that the entire house of cards relies on the protagonist’s innocence and naivete in order to work at all. And since the story is told from her perspective we get a lot of that naivete to the point where I just wanted to shake some sense into her. It’s not that she’s too stupid to live, it’s that she’s young and has led a rather peculiarly sheltered life in the remoter parts of an entirely different country.

Gus or Mac should have had a better perspective on just how high the terrible coincidences were piling up, and just how unlikely that was, as they are both a decade older than Theo and have, particularly in Mac’s case, considerably more knowledge of the way the world really does and doesn’t work. But the way the story works means that they are dealing with most of the events through what Theo tells them, and her naivete bleeds all over everything.

Plus, they are both trying really, really hard to protect her – even from her frequently misguided self.

In the end, I think the whole story and the way that it works can be summed up by the tagline that the most prominent group of conspiracy aficionados uses in their messaging, “We know what we know.”

The full quote, from Nicolaus Copernicus, feels like it’s a key to understanding the conspiracy theorists in the book as well as the book itself and how it hides its real mystery in plain sight.

“To know that we know what we know, and to know that we do not know what we do not know, that is true knowledge.” Clinging to what they know, the conspiracy theorists have no clue about all the many, many things they don’t know. Neither does Theo. And neither, as the book takes us on a not-so-magical mystery tour of the way that Theo’s, Gus’ and Mac’s lives go so very, very wrong, does the reader – at least not until the bitterly climactic end.

This book was absolutely whackadoo crazy! And I honestly loved it.

The narration was great and I cruised through it quickly. Theo leaves law school in Australia and moves to Lawrence, Kansas to write a novel. She moves in with her brother, Gus, and develops a relationship with an older author who is subsequently murdered.

What follows is a labyrinth of conspiracy theories, preppers, police pressure, insanely powerful book agents, and more murders.

The book synopsis is a bit misleading. It says Gus gets blamed for the murder... well, that does happen, but not till like 70% into the book, and it's not even the original murder. So, for that, I am deducting a star because I kept waiting for it to happen. Also the crazy time jump at the end was a bit disorienting, with how day to day the first 80% of the book was.

Really fun, crazy plot. Definitely one I would recommend!

This one started off as your typical murder mystery as an aspiring writer tries to discover who killed her friend and best-selling author lover only to quickly devolve into an over the top conspiracy theory ladden action-driven adventure. Recommended for fans of movies like Enemy of the state and people who like creative, somewhat implausible plots. This was good on audio and definitely entertaining if not quite believable. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital and audio copy in exchange for my honest review!

The Mystery Writer is entertaining if increasingly outlandish. It’s a story about a conspiracy theory that’s written as though the author is meant to be critical of conspiracy theories, but ends up creating an absolutely outlandish one in the form of this story. Early on I was intrigued, but by the end I was reading just to see how ridiculous it could get.

Katherine Littrell did a great job narrating the audiobook.

Thank you Sulari Gentill, Poisoned Pen Press, Dreamscape Media, and NetGalley for providing this ARC for review consideration. All opinions expressed are my own.

THE MYSTERY WRITER by Sulari Gentill and narrated by Katherine Littrell was a mystery of conspiracy theories and literary identities.

I will be candid and express my delight in having a story with familiar places, as this takes place primarily in Lawrence, Kansas. I have been to the @ravenbookstore that is mentioned as well as a couple other little places which lent an extra level of interest and excitement!

The mystery aspect was layered and something that felt unique. Our main character, Theo leaves Australia and comes to her brother who lives in Lawrence. It feels like a perfect place to escape and concentrate on her writing. When she discovers the body of her mentor, who recently became a bit more, she is sucked into the world of the literary labyrinth and may not come out.

I enjoyed all the conspiracy theories presented in chat room formats. I couldn't tell how it would all come together, and I would have never guessed the final denouement or the way it came about. I enjoyed the trip down this rabbit hole!

I also have to mention that Littrell did a fantastic job going back and forth from Australian and US accents. It was mostly from Theo's perspective, but not always, and the other characters were voiced so well. A great audio choice if you can keep up with the plot!

Thank you @netgalley & @dreamscape_media for the ALC that will be published on March 19th!

DNF'd at 50%. I really wanted to enjoy this book after loving The Woman in the Library by the same author. While that one had an interesting mystery with a fun meta quality to it, I'm not getting sucked in to this story in the same way. For some reason I don't care at all about the main character and the multiple mysteries she's finding herself in the middle of, maybe because she's seeming helpless and like she has no autonomy over the situation. The side conspiracy-theory elements don't interest me either, and I don't love not knowing how they're going to tie into the main storyline. Without either of the two parts of the book capturing my attention, I don't feel much of a reason to continue. This could be a me problem, and there could be a satisfying end to the mystery if you do become attached to the characters, but unfortunately I'm not going to get there. I will say the audiobook is well-done and I would recommend the audio version to those interested.

This book was a trip and there were enough current/real-life aspects that you could kind of see this happening today! Terrifying! This was my 2nd book by Sulari Gentill and it was even better than the first one I read, so now I adding all of her books to my TBR! I can't wait to read another book by her.

#TheMysteryWriter
#NetGalley

This started really strong, I loved the narration and it felt like a cinematic style mystery with the conspiracy theory angel.

However, the ending was as a big mess, it needs to be edited and reworked, too many time jumps and confusion and when I finished I just felt annoyed.

Thank you for the ARC all opinions are my own.

This book started out very interesting, I liked the premise of it and thought it was a great story. However I felt too much happened at the beginning and then in the middle there were things that I felt were missed and rushed over. Too much didn’t make sense on what happened and how police/family handled things. It picked back up in the end and I did appreciate how it ended. Again a great idea for a book, I just felt the mid section lacked too much.

This book started off slow, but I gave it a chance and kept reading. I am glad I did, I ended up liking the book

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.

Authors, beware of your agents and read the fine line of your contracts! I'm sure it would be amazing to find an agent, especially a good one, but damn, agents and agency in this book are rather disturbing. You don't want be the shackled to your desk and write novels until you lose your sense of self and creativity

Theodosia (such a name btw) decided to quit law school and write the novel she always wanted to. Moving in with her brother in the US, she thought she would be able to go heads down and finish that book. After spending useless hours at home, she started to go to this café and claim it as her office. There she met a bestseller author and her creative process went light speed. Her book was ready but she could not get anything from this author on his process. One day, she decided to ask if he could recommend her to his agent. After that what happened could be a book itself

While some characters did not have to be in the story and storylines around them were all over the place, it was a fast read. We had domestic violence, sexual harassment, cult behavior all in one place. On one hand I see why they had to be brought on, but on the other it was too much.

The first thing I want to say is I am shocked at how much the synopsis gave away. I think there is a lot of criticism by readers generally in the mystery/thriller genre that synopses give away too much. But I was shocked when the things listed in the synopsis didn't happen until **70%** That really makes no sense to me.

As far as the story. I really enjoyed the set up and beginning. I always love stories centered around writers and the publishing industry. I don't love stories that go towards espionage and conspiracy type angles. So that component lost me a little bit. The main character's decisions and naiveté definitely bothered me at points, but I did like some reveals and the relationships that developed.

Sulari Gentill really writes unique stories and while this one wasn't my favorite, it was still fun and unique and I look forward to seeing what she does next!

Theo is a want to be writer who just moved to the United States to be near her brother after a few incidents caused her to want to leave Australia. Now in a new town, in a new country, Theo is trying to flex her creative fingers and explore the world of writing. As she sits down at a local cafe to try and churn out a few pages at a time, she becomes friends with one of the other locals who helps her hone her craft until one day he doesn’t show up and she goes looking for him at his home, finding a horrific scene and becoming a suspect in the process.

I enjoy a good thriller which can keep me on the edge of my seat and one thing I can say about this book is it has a lot going on. Perhaps a little too much at times, but overall it’s a pretty good story. It does take a few chapters for the energy to build, so it is a sort of slow roll and then a very quick chaotic tumble the rest of the way. We have mob like publishing companies, conspiracy theories, preppers, framing people for murders, and a host of other things I am sure I missed.

Nevertheless, I was entertained by this book and want to thank Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an audiobook as well as digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I thought the narration was well done and helped with the atmosphere of the story. I love when the narrator has the accent of the intended character. I hope I can read her other work “The Woman in the Library” soon. It seems to be up my alley as well.

I enjoyed the mystery writer. A 22-year-old dropout, Theo, from Canberra, decides to travel to Kansas to stay with her brother. Although he is surprised, Gus is happy to see her. Theo's plan is to finish her novel. She meets one of her favorite authors, Dan Murdock, and he becomes Theo's mentor and eventually her lover. For once all is going well in Theo's life until she finds Dan murdered. This novel is a good one and kept me guessing throughout the pages. It was well-written and had a great storyline that kept me engaged. The narrator was fabulous.

When I saw a book from Sulari Gentill available I requested immediately.
The Woman in the Library was a great book. But it raised expectations for this one.
This isn't a dull book or anything like it, I just expected a bit more. However I do think that if conspiracy theories aren't for you, you definitely should pass this book.

This is an interesting mystery, but I’m not sure it was totally what I expected it to be. I started with the audiobook but switched to kindle so I could finish it faster. It started and moved slowly but there were parts that jumped. Theo goes to stay with her brother after she decides not to finish law school despite what their grandparents’ trust wanted for her. He supports her and she decides to start writing and to achieve her dream of being an author. As she writes she meets another writer and they become friends and eventually loves. But when he murdered it looks like her brother may be the primary suspect. Theo is desperate to find out who killed her friend, but there are more secrets than she could have ever guessed. There is a lot of conspiracy theory layers to this one and while that’s not always my favorite it worked for the story. I do like my thrillers to seem a bit more realistic and I guess there is not enough of a conspiracy theorist in me to find this mystery realistic.

Rating: 3.5/5 Stars
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I really enjoyed The Woman In The Library, so when I saw this I immediately requested it. While this was a really cool concept, this one didn’t hit the same.
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The Mystery writer is told in a singular POV with snippets of an online conspiracy theory forum which made the story even more exciting. The story follows Theo as she leaves college, shows up at her brothers, decides to be a writer, meets and author and then he’s found dead. Attempting to solve the crime, many more murders ensue, and the reader is taken on a wild ride of “who’s next?” The story itself is pretty straightforward. I wouldn’t say that there were many twists and right from the start I knew where this was going. I enjoyed the ride, though it was definitely more of a slow burn.
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Most of the characters were great. Theo was a bit annoying in general, her naivety really caused a bunch of issues that could have been avoided. Gus was so easy to love and of course my favorite character of all – Mac, with his stealth and of course crazy family. I absolutely loved listening to their conspiracy theories and learning about their doomsday prepping.
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I listened to this one via audiobook and it was narrated by Katherine Littrell and I thin that she did a great job with this one.
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This is a very interesting story. It was a bit slow for me and a little too predictable. But, overall a solid read. I continue to look forward to more of Gentill’s work. Recommending to all of my mystery fans! The Mystery Writer is being released on 3/19, be sure to check it out. Huge thank you to NetGalley, Sulari Gentill and Dreamscape Media for the ALC in exchange for my honest review.

Mystery and intrigue follow a burgeoning writer after the murder of the man she befriended and came to love over coffee and books. Two more deaths follow, and she finds herself, her brother, and his friend the main suspects. Does getting what you always wanted always come with such a high price?

Theo shows up on her older brother Gus’ doorstep with her unfinished novel and her unfinished law degree (and she only wants to complete one). After having a brief affair with an older writer and mentor she meets at the bar she likes to write at, she finds him brutally murdered and becomes the main suspect. Now Theo and Gus are sucked into a dark, murderous literary world where one’s identity can be as easily rewritten as their next novel.

I half listened and half read this one and was just as engaged with both (the narrator was really great). Some parts were a bit outrageous and went a too far in the conspiracy angle but it was definitely a fun read. I found the plot predictable but I still enjoyed the ride and got through it pretty fast. Theo’s character was not a favorite, but the ancillary characters (like Gus) made it all worthwhile. This probably won’t be a book I remember in 2 years but it certainly entertained me for the 2 days I was reading it.

3.75 stars