The Mystery Writer Review 🕵🏻♀️
Book Review:
The Mystery Writer
by Sulari Gentill
 |
.png) |
This book took such a turn from the expected. One of the reading group questions was about how you thought the book was going to go from the first portion. Having read one of her previous books I had an idea that a first-time reader might not have. Let's just say the other person would have been more correct. This review will have slight spoilers as I have to talk about some issues.
.png)
The bulk of our story takes place in Lawerence, Kansas. With the majority being in a café/bar, which is an interesting business idea, due to this, we don't get much detail about the location itself. A few things that did stick out and made me need to Google though. First, there were so many cafés with writers in them, sure it’s a college town but is it big enough to support that? Next, her lawyer brother's firm would have that many dealings with New York or the proposed flight time between Kansas and New York. The answer to both is probably not in the real world. Either way, moving on.
.png)
In this novel, we follow Theo and Gus Benton. For the most part, we are with Theo as she arrives in the US after having dropped out of law school to become a novelist. Theo believes in her dream of creating a story, and that she is a bright person. However, throughout the book, she makes dumb decisions. Some of the actions are slightly what we see in mystery novels and other times things don't add up at all. Then there is Gus Benton, a partner at his law firm, and supportive older brother. The Benton siblings had an interesting childhood growing up with hippies in Australia (apparently they call them ferals). Then late in the story, we start to see from Mac Ethridge. He is a longtime friend and somewhat colleague of Gus. Mac is a very easygoing person who takes all the craziness happening quite calmly.
After a stint of manic cleaning and doing minor house repairs Gus loving tells Theo to get out of the house and write. This is how she meets the man that will become her mentor. After months of discussing the craft of writing and working on her manuscript, Theo gives him the finished draft. Only to find him dead the next day. What transpires is a series of horrors all with Theo at the center. Can the Bentons prove their innocence before being targeted by the real killer or arrested?
.png)
Much like her other novel(s?) each chapter begins with an excerpt of something else. In this book's case, it is chat room messages. In the beginning, I had thought this must be from one of the novels being written. Quickly though it proved to be something that was supposed to be taking place in real time with our characters. This gave the book an interesting vibe to be sure because of what these were based upon. In this one, we are focusing on conspiracy theories. It was interesting to see one of the chat room participants enter into the story itself. Also highly amusing that his particular theories were considered the strange ones out of the rest of his family.
I don't think it would be considered the pacing but it could be something that felt off with the timeline. I do understand fast-forwarding through the months she is writing her novel and only showing snippets. However, due to that decision, I didn't feel any of the chemistry Theo was supposed to have had with her romance (or even the second one really). Her first entanglement felt more like he took advantage of the mentor status more than anything else. It was an ick thing to happen and then, for the rest of the book, she said she had loved him. As for the second one, it just seemed too soon after meeting Mac or the death of this guy she "loved". I get falling for Mac of the two of them, just wish it hadn't kept going about the "love" of the first person.
.png)
I still enjoyed how the novel went mostly because it was so very different. Sure, a lot of things made no sense even after the end was revealed. Or at least let's say they didn't make sense for a smart person like our characters or the police to do. The big end reveal was also so out there but that is somewhat the point of the book.
You can find this book from the below retailers:
Comments
Post a Comment