This was such a twisty story and I loved the murder mystery . I liked how the author used dial timelines of the past (the 70’s) and the present, and used multiple characters povs. I also really liked how Olivia discovered poppy’s old movies and journal to help solve the murder. This book was scary and I couldn’t put it down until I knew who killed poppy and Danny. Great thriller. The k you NetGalley for the digital copy.

The idea of being a ghostwriter is so fascinating to me. Your job is writing books for other people but basically passing it off as someone else's. It seems like a very different from the way other writers make their living. In The Ghostwriter, we hear from someone who has not only worked as a ghost writer, but who has been very successful at it, until being canceled after a social media gaffe. Lo and behold, who calls her agent seeking her ghost writing services, just when she really needs a job, but her estranged, mysterious writer father.

Through her work on his final, much anticipated novel, Olivia struggles to create a coherent story out of her father's notes, and wonders if she will ever make it into something worth reading (and something that can hopefully get her career back on track). While staying with his father working on the book, she manages to find some witnesses willing to talk to her about her father's childhood and she realizes that she may be able to solve the mystery behind who killed his brother and sister way back in 1975.

I really enjoyed this book and found the take on the multiple timelines and different perspectives very unique and fun to read. I did not see the truth of what happened coming! I would recommend this book to anyone who loves a good mystery!

**Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for my advanced reading copy in exchange for this honest review**

A domesti.c thriller and murder mystery all rolled into one great read. The story develops through several points of view and dual timelines, but is never confusing,.... all adding up to unexpected twists as the truth is finally revealed. 4.5 stars.

Wow - what a fantastic novel told in a totally engrossing format. Clark pulls the reader between timelines and perspectives seamlessly. The writing to me was almost reminiscent of King - the way you can be transported into a decade and feel exactly what the family dynamics are, picture the atmosphere of the time and feel like you are stepping back to another place. Loved this read and can’t wait to tell more people about it.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

It took a minute for me to get into this one (the first 20% or so felt a bit slow), but once I did, I was hooked.

Olivia, a somewhat disgraced writer, is called to her hometown to ghostwrite a memoir of a man who may or may not have killed his siblings. He's also, as it turns out, Olivia's father. The story goes between Olivia's present-day experience and flashbacks to various characters in 1975, and it does a good job dropping interesting hints and keeping up the intrigue. Did I figure out some of the big reveals ahead of time? Yes - but I wanted to keep reading and see if I was right.

Unlike anything Julie Clark has written before, this twisty tale of family secrets will pull you in from the first line. The dual timeline, paired with multiple points of view, completely immerses you in the tragic story of the Taylor family and the murder of two of their three children in the 70’s.

Fast forward to present day where the Taylor’s surviving son Vincent, now a famous author, summons his estranged daughter to ghostwrite his memoir as he slowly succumbs to dementia. Will her research finally solve the murder of her teenage aunt and uncle long before her birth? And does she really want to know the truth?

Tradegy strikes in the 70s when the Taylor family loses two children on the same night and the third child is suspected to have committed the crime even though he says he didnt do it. Fast forward to years later and Olivia is a famous ghostwriter but has a fall from grace after a very public uproar and is in financial strain. One day Olivia gets a request to be a ghostwriter for a famous author to really tell his story but when she finds out who it is she immediately wants to decline due to the author being her father who was accused of killing his siblings and who she has been estranged from. She decides to take on the job but tells no one that the subject is her father. As she embarks on this journey she discovers way more than she bargained for and goes through some personal turmoil as well.

I thought this was an incredible book and kept me wanting more. I have read other Julie Clark books and this one hit it out of the park. It was fun of mystery, sadness, and finally truth at the end. I never thought while reading that it would end the way it did. Highly recommend!

My jaw is on the floor. I DEVOURED this ARC. I am so picky with my mysteries & thrillers because so often I can guess the direction it is headed, and often times ideas are repeated and overused. This book blew all of my expectations out of the water. The writing was addictive and the pacing was perfect. Each chapter revealed just a little bit more information that had me dying to read more. I loved the ending and I loved that Olivia’s relationship with her father had healed.

If I could give this book more than 5 stars, I would do so without hesitation. I have not read a book in years that made me have goosebumps on my arms with the reveal of the book occurs. Olivia is a ghostwriter that had found herself in a little trouble in the author scene. She receives an offer from her estranged father, a famous author, to ghostwrite a book with him revealing their families dark, dark secret surrounding the murder of his siblings. Oh, I wish I could keep telling you all about this book. It is living rent free in my mind! I could not put this book down. AMAZING!! Thank you for allowing me to preview this book for my honest opinion. I can hardly wait to press it to my friends.

I was lucky enough to get an ARC of this title, and it’s explosively good. I’ve been in a bit of a slump lately, every book I’ve picked up has been sort of “meh”. This one gripped me immediately, and all I wanted to do was read. I devoured it over the course of a couple of days (work got in the way) and it left me stunned at the final conclusion. It’s got great multiple timelines and viewpoints that allowed the story to unfold in a very satisfying way. Loved it!!!

Julie Clark can do no wrong in my eyes lol. The only reason I could not give it 5 stars is because it was a little slow moving for me. Thank yo NetGalley and Sourcebooks for this advanced readers copy in exchange for my honest review.

This is the first book I've read by Julie Clark but won't be the last! I thoroughly enjoyed this suspenseful family drama, full of secrets and twists. It pulled me in from the first page and kept me interested all the way to the conclusion. There are changes to the narrator and time period throughout the book, but they are clearly marked at the beginning of the chapter so there isn't any confusion. It's a very good, suspense mystery and I highly recommend it.

I have been looking forward to reading this book and it did not disappoint. I love the layers of the story told through Poppy and Vince's POV it gave the characters depth and it really worked out. I stayed up all night reading this because it was so engaging.

𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞: The Ghostwriter by Julie Clark
𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞: Thriller
𝐏𝐮𝐛 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞: June 3, 2025

"Everyone is an unreliable narrator, she'd said. "But someone who has killed another person?
They are the ultimate gaslighters. You begin to question everything- even the things you can see to be true."

🖋 Disgraced Ghostwriter
🖋 Unsolved Cold Case
🖋 Dual Timelines
🖋 Feminist Themes
🖋 Unreliable Narrator
🖋 LGBTQ Side Character

Synopsis: On the 50th anniversary of his sibling's murder, which he was accused of his whole life, novelist Vincent Taylor has his estranged daughter ghostwrite a tell-all book recounting the events leading up to that fateful night.

Review: *sigh* I don't really know what I expected. If you're looking for a fast-paced thriller this one is not for you. I think I'd call 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘎𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘳 a women's literary fiction with minor *thriller elements.* Olivia is incredibly dull, and getting to the interesting twists meant having to trudge through the other 80%. I think this book would've benefited greatly from a bit of streamlining.

The story, as a whole, has some interesting twists and unique characters, especially Poppy who is a feminist spitfire. If you're looking for more women's lit fic in your thrillers, you'll enjoy 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘎𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘳.

Thank you so much Sourcebooks Landmark and NetGalley for the digital review copy.

PG-13: ⚠️ abortion, SA, murder, dementia, abandonment, underage drinking

This book went back and forth between 3.5-4 stars.

Julie Clark is a phenomenal writer but tends to give you slow introductions and backstory for 30-40% of the book before the thrills and page turning chapters comes into play but when it does, it’s amazing. Even tho I predict the major “twist” 50% in, I still enjoyed the storyline and writing style between current time and chapters from 1975.

Olivia a professional ghostwriter gets hired to write a memoir for her father. Someone she has not seen in 30 years for many reasons. One being he possibly murdered his brother in sister in the summer of 1975, a case still unsolved. Olivia finds herself driving back to her families hometown to help her estranged father right this book while being haunted by secrets and opinions of everyone around her of what really happened.

*** Thank you Sourcebooks Landmark & NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review ***

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC! This was one of my favorite thrillers of the year so far. In addition to a murder mystery, it explored grief, forgiveness, and the reliability (or unreliability) or memory. Instead of the typical trope of an unreliable narrator, there were intermittent flashbacks to other characters with conflicting POVs that led to questions and suspense to drive the plot. This book kept me guessing until the end and even the final chapters left a hint of ambiguity (but not enough to be disappointing or frustrating). An original storyline, compelling characters, and overall satisfying mystery read!

I love Julie Clark, and I was so excited to see this one pop up! This was different from the other Clark I've read in the past, but not in a bad way. I would recommend it for anyone who loves a good, deep storyline - this one really kept me thinking late into the night.

The Ghostwriter follows Olivia Dumont (FKA Olivia Taylor) as she navigates a floundering career as a ghostwriter. Once prominent and sought-after, she called out a fellow ghostwriter in a public forum and watched everything she had built crumble around her. She’s drowning in legal fees and without any work on the horizon, she gets an offer she cannot refuse. The offer is to write a memoir for the famous mystery writer Vincent Taylor. This is a particularly complicated job because Vincent Taylor is her father. Olivia and her father are estranged and her feelings around the man are complex to say the least. But Vincent has a story to tell. When he was a teenager his brother and sister were found brutally murdered in their home. The case has never been solved and Vincent has been unwilling to discuss what happened to any extent.. until now. But is this story he’s telling the whole truth? His failing health and spotty memory makes for Olivia’s most challenging assignment yet. Will she like what she uncovers? Or will she realize that she knows the man she calls her father even less than she thought she did?

Ok I should start by saying that I love a good cold case story so I was predisposed to loving this story from the jump. That said, I absolutely DEVOURED this book. It’s been a minute since a mystery kept me up so far past when I should have reasonably gone to sleep but I just kept saying to myself “one more chapter.” Julie Clark’s ability to build a story working in two different directions from different perspectives and timelines is exceptional. The characters were layered, complex and imperfect and that’s just the way I like it!

I will be pre-ordering this book and will immediately find and consume any other books written by this talented woman. 4.5 stars rounded up.

Thank you to Sourcebooks Landmark for offering this title for advanced review via Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

This was another great mystery by Julie Clark. It was more of a slow burn than an edge of your seat thriller but it still had some great twists and I couldn't put it down. The switching between the point of view of Poppy and Vincent in 1975 and present day Vincent and Olivia worked really well to enhance the mystery and understand the characters. Thanks to NetGalley for the digital ARC.

A professional ghostwriter must return to her childhood home to help her (in)famous father, a successful novelist under suspicion of an long-ago unsolved family murder, write his biography and face the truth. Clark's novel hums like the engine of a muscle car on the highway, and this story of a father and daughter and the decaying tension beneath their relationship combines nostalgia, memory, and long-buried secrets into an intoxicating mix that's one of the summer's highlights. Seek this one out. Perfect for fans of Rebecca Makkai.