Review - The Mystery Writer

I have only read one other book by author Sulari Gentill (Edgar Award nominee) and now for my second.

The Woman in the Libary (click here) 

What is a better topic for mystery fans than a mystery author who is caught up in a murder mystery!? That is the short version of this book plot.  Read on to find out my thoughts on the newest Sulari Gentill book.

Author: Sulari Gentill

Copyright: March 2024 (Poisoned Pen Press) 400 pgs

Series: Standalone

Sensuality: Mild, adult situations, TW: old rape case discussed

Mystery Sub-genre: Amateur Sleuth, Traditional Mystery, Literary thriller

Main Character: Theodosia Benton, early twenties naive aspiring author 

Setting: Contemporary, Lawrence, Kansas

Obtained Through: Publisher via Netgalley for honest review

 

Book Blurb:  "When Theodosia Benton abandons her career path as an attorney and shows up on her brother's doorstep with two suitcases and an unfinished novel, she expects to face a few challenges. Will her brother support her ambition or send her back to finish her degree? What will her parents say when they learn of her decision? Does she even have what it takes to be a successful writer?

What Theo never expects is to be drawn into a hidden literary world in which identity is something that can be lost and remade for the sake of an audience. When her mentor, a highly successful author, is brutally murdered, Theo wants the killer to be found and justice to be served. Then the police begin looking at her brother, Gus, as their prime suspect, and Theo does the unthinkable in order to protect him. But the writer has left a trail, a thread out of the labyrinth in the form of a story. Gus finds that thread and follows it, and in his attempt to save his sister he inadvertently threatens the foundations of the labyrinth itself. To protect the carefully constructed narrative, Theo Benton, and everyone looking for her, will have to die."

MY Thoughts:

Theodosia is flat as the main character and I've seen it suggested that was so the reader would cast themself as Theo, but it just made her seem like a blank canvas for a lot of the book.  Her main characteristic is incredibly naive.  I felt for Gus, Theo's brother, trying to be big brother and protector while giving Theo space to be herself and then when everything goes to crap he is trying to save his little sister.  Gus was well developed and I could relate to him.  Cormack (Mac) Etheridge is a good friend of Gus and a private investigator that gets involved. Mac comes from a wacky, conspiracy theorist, survivalist family that play into the storyline as well.

Very clever concept for the story and ultimate villain. Kudos there.  The pacing is well done and once the murder occurs the tension is pretty constant with plenty of action to keep the story moving at a good speed.  Kept me turning the pages. I like the writing style in general but at one point I was a bit confused with jumps between Theo's point-of-view and Gus' without any break or notice.  

I thought interspercing the conspiracy theory message board discussions throughout really showed how such wild conjecture played into and was manipulated in the scheme of things.  In this current atmosphere that was a spot-on element.

The climax occured fairly quickly in terms of number of pages, but I think it worked well. I will say that I figured who the villain was shortly after the murder but even with that I thought the suspense was built plausibly.  In this case the wrap-up supplied explanations for all the myriad things that occured, giving the full picture of events.  

I have to say that author Sulari Gentill has a knack for developing pretty unique storylines, but this one had some fantastical elements that some might find a little over-the-top, but I enjoyed it tremendously.

Overall a wonderfully entertaining mystery that I recommend.

Rating:  Excellent - A fun read and enjoyable story throughout

Thank you for reading this blog and please recommend to friends and family who will enjoy it.

Review - The Wharton Plot

Ms. Fredericks is the author of the popular Jane Prescott Mystery series.  I have only read one of the series so far.  

2nd in Jane Prescott Mysteries: Death of a New American (click here) 

Guest Post:  (click here)

Inspired by a true story, The Wharton Plot follows Edith Wharton (real life author who was the first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize in fiction) as she looks into the murder of a fellow author.

I really enjoyed the Jane Prescott Mysteries by Ms. Fredericks (I should go back and read more of them now that I'm thinking of it). When I saw she had written this book incorporating a well known real life author I was intrigued.  Read on to find out what I thought.

Author: Mariah Fredericks

Copyright: Jan 2024 (Minotaur) 285 pgs

Series:  Edith Wharton Mystery (standalone)

Sensuality: mild

Mystery Sub-genre: Historical mystery, Historical amateur sleuth

Main Characters: Author Edith Wharton

Setting: Gilded Age, New York City

Obtained Through: Publisher for an honest review, Netgalley

 

Book Blurb:  "New York City, 1911. Edith Wharton, almost equally famed for her novels and her sharp tongue, is bone-tired of Manhattan. Finding herself at a crossroads with both her marriage and her writing, she makes the decision to leave America, her publisher, and her loveless marriage.

And then, dashing novelist David Graham Phillips—a writer with often notorious ideas about society and women’s place in it—is shot to death outside the Princeton Club. Edith herself met the man only once, when the two formed a mutual distaste over tea in the Palm Court of the Belmont hotel. When Phillips is killed, Edith's life takes another turn. His sister is convinced Graham was killed by someone determined to stop the publication of his next book, which promised to uncover secrets that powerful people would rather stayed hidden. Though unconvinced, Edith is curious. What kind of book could push someone to kill?"

MY Thoughts:

Edith Wharton was a real gilded age author. She is trying to write her next book – which is over due – deciding whether to divorce her husband, and is disenchanted with New York. She decides to immerse herself in investigating the arrogant author's murder either as a diversion from her needy and troubled husband or to liven up her predictable rut.  I have to say I didn't particularly like her but neither did I dislike her.

Husband Freddy is going through some mental health issues, depression and some mania and is more like dealing with an adult child.  Edith is emotionally drained from the relationship and grabs at the excuse to investigate.  Good friends Walter Berry and fellow author Henry James and her old flame Morton Fullerton all play sidekick at different times. 

The premise is that she looks into the murder of an author because the deceased man's sister fears his about-to-be-published book will be blocked or worse changed and that he was murdered to prevent the "explosive" book from being published.  Anonymous warning notes had been sent for a few weeks before he is shot.  

I suspect the writing style was intended to be either like the time period or mimic the real Wharton's own style. Unfortunately I didn't care for the style myself with a lot of extraneous inner chatter by Ms. Wharton that some might find more literary. This also slowed down the pacing too much for me until about the last fourth of the book.  I believe Ms Fredericks is a talented author and this book will definitely be superlative to many, but it just wasn't my cup of tea with the writing style and slower pace.

It did have a tense killer reveal which I appreciated. I hadn't considered that person for the killer, so that was well done.  

Rating: Good - A fun read. It wasn't great, but it wasn't bad. I would recommend based on certain tastes. Maybe read an excerpt before buying.

Thank you for reading this blog and please recommend to friends and family who will enjoy it.