NetGalley Review: The Mystery Writer by Sulari Gentill

The Mystery Writer by Sulari Gentill
Rating: ✩✩✩✩✩

I adored The Woman in the Library and couldn't wait to read this next book by Sulari Gentill. While I enjoyed the book, and still found this author to offer a refreshing take on murder mysteries, this one wasn't quite as strong.

All the aspects I loved about the book are hard to talk about without too many spoilers, but readers can look forward to:

• Twists that do keep you guessing even when you are sure you put the pieces together.
• A unique look at the world of conspiracy theorists and the ways that conspiracies tend to catalyze around something that may actually be true.
• The same "meta" feel you got from Gentill's previous works, mysteries that feature writers (sometimes even writers of mysteries) is a pretty solid bit...after all, "Murder She Wrote" is a classic for a reason!
• An author that 100% trusts the reader to jump in, keep up and come along for the ride. No lengthy exposition to fill in the gaps, no lingering backstories, just a narrative that unfolds organically with details filing in as they would in real life.

The reasons this one wasn't another five-star read are 100% nit-picky, but here they are:

• Completely blank slate of a main character, to the point that the reader sometimes wonders how she gets herself dressed each day. I get that this is a narrative tool, Theo is the foil for us all to see the story, but it is hard to swallow her as a brilliant young writer.
• Other characters are slightly tropey/archetypical as well. Nothing egregious, but after the clever world and character building of The Woman in the Library, this felt a bit underwhelming.
•  Rushed ending with the book's only real exposition occurring to fill in some plot/conspiracy holes. For how well the rest of the book was written, the ending felt a bit like "here is an info dump of things you would never have ever been able to know...doesn't that wrap it all up so nicely?" I mean, it did, but not with the grace I expected.

Overall, still a great mystery and a clever format for a mystery novel, but I went in with very high expectations and some of it missed the mark for me.

Published on 19 March 2024 by Poisoned Pen Press

Book # 97 of 2023