The Mystery Writer by Sulari Gentill

Publisher's Synopsis

Theo has one dream—to become a bestselling author. Determined to make her mark in the literary world, she heads to the US on a whim to stay with her brother Gus and focus on her writing. But her plans take an unexpected turn when she befriends a famous author, Dan Murdoch, at a local bar—and then he turns up dead. Suddenly, Theo finds herself as the prime suspect.

As Theo grapples with the shocking turn of events, she realizes that Dan may not have been the person he seemed to be, and there is something sinister going on in the world of publishing. Desperate to clear her name and uncover the truth, Theo sets out on a quest to find out who killed Dan and why.

As she digs deeper, Theo uncovers a web of deceit, conspiracy, and hidden motives, with clues leading her to a shadowy organization with far-reaching power. With her own life in danger, Theo must unravel the mystery before she becomes the next victim.

Reviews From Elsewhere

Amazon

Another author-based protagonist, Sulari Gentill’s The Mystery Writer (2024) is a delight of a standalone gentle crime tale. Theodosia (Theo) Benton is an aspiring writer who quits her law degree and flees to Kanas to join her brother Gus, himself an attorney. Theo attends Benders, a local café-bar to spend the day writing, meets Dan Murdoch, a well-published author, and they become friends. When Dan is found by Theo murdered, her brother Gus is accused of the killing, to which Theo confesses, before disappearing. Complicating matters is an online forum for conspiracy theorist believers and Gus’s friend, Mac's doomsday preppers family that forms an integral part of the story. As is typical of Gentill’s narrative style, there is a gentle engaging narrative that feels almost benign, yet reveals a dark twisted tale of the book publishing industry. Read All Reviews

PhDiva.blog

This is an intricately plotted story. I can’t even begin to describe how many different threads pull in that seem to distract from what really happened, until the end when everything is expertly laid out to show that not a single thread was extraneous to the conclusion. I don’t think this book will be for everyone—for those familiar with Gentill’s writing, she is an expert at an outlandish literary plot. Nothing about this is a straight forward murder mystery. But don’t forget the title—this is at its core a story about a mystery writer and all will eventually tie into that when the mystery comes together. Read Full Review

The Newtown Review of Books

Gentill has a particular way of getting into tricky subject matter with a light touch that makes for surprisingly easy reading. The Mystery Writer tackles a number of current issues, not just the death of a famous author. It is a dive into the complications of relationships within families and the way that online conspiracy fantasists build and then conflate their alternative realities, generating the worst possible behaviours in way too many people as a result. Read Full Review