The Mystery Writer

October 1, 2023

To complete her novel, Theo Benton eagerly moves from Australia to Kansas City, MO, where she meets and falls in love with the writer she has always idolized. Alas, he is murdered the day after reading her novel, and the prime suspect is Theo's brother Gus. Gentill penned the USA Today best-selling The Woman in the Library and Ned Kelly-honored After She Wrote Him. Prepub Alert.

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Copyright 2023 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 1, 2023

Gentill's latest contemporary mystery (after The Woman in the Library) proves she's adept at both historical novels (like her Rowland Sinclair series) and ones set in the present day. Theodosia Benton flees law school in Australia and flies to the States, where her big brother Gus lives. Gus, a lawyer himself, allows Theo to stay with him and work toward her new goals. Her passion is to be a writer, and so she finds a local coffee shop in which to write. Amid the other coffee-shop writers, Theo befriends published and well-known author Dan Murdoch. Just as their relationship begins to develop further, Dan is brutally murdered. As Theo tries to work out both Dan's murder and where his secret manuscript has gone, bodies begin piling up. The police suspect Theo first, but then more information about her brother's past becomes known. When Gus is arrested, Theo's decision to disappear in order to deflect blame from him onto herself will change both their lives. Gentill's worthwhile novels is full of compelling characters, including doomsday preppers, online conspiracy theorists, and overzealous publishing agents. VERDICT Recommended for Gentill's fans and readers who enjoy mysteries from Riley Sager, Ruth Ware, or Louise Penny.--Jen Funk

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January 8, 2024
Gentill (The Woman in the Library) nimbly balances the plausible with the outlandish in this sly thriller set in the publishing world. Theodosia “Theo” Benton has dropped out of law school in Australia to pursue her dream of becoming a novelist. Determined to leave her old life behind, she flees Australia and moves in with her brother in Lawrence, Kans., to hunker down and write a novel. In Kansas, she meets and befriends Dan Murdoch, a bestselling author who agrees to read her manuscript and offer notes. When Dan doesn’t show up for one of their meetings, Theo goes to his house, where she finds him stabbed to death and calls the police. A few days later, she agrees to meet with Dan’s agent, Veronica, who says her agency would like to take Theo on as a client. Her elation slowly gives way to terror when others in her circle, including a reporter she speaks to, are killed, and she becomes a suspect. With her life and career on the line, Theo does some digging and turns up startling details about the twisted operations of Veronica’s agency. Every time readers think they’ve got the plot pegged, Gentill swerves in a shocking new direction. Certain late-stage reveals, which might ruin the fun in less capable hands, only serve to enhance the novel’s biting wit. This is a winner. Agent: Jill Marr, Sandra Dijkstra Agency.

February 1, 2024
The killing of a famous author turns a faithful prot�g� into a fanatic sleuth. Australian college student Theodosia Benton has abruptly left her university in Sydney and moved to the United States with the intention of becoming a writer. When she shows up unannounced on the doorstep of her older brother, Gus, in Lawrence, Kansas, she interrupts a romantic moment he's having with a half-dressed woman named Pam, who beats a hasty retreat. Such rashness leads to the kind of sibling spats and banter that propel this story and make for a compellingly unpredictable protagonist. When she meets writer Dan Murdoch at a restaurant, Theo quickly manages to become his friend and avid writing student. Then Dan is murdered, and his agent, Veronica, hires Theo to find his killer, who also apparently snatched the manuscript of Dan's latest novel. The tale presents two intertwined mysteries. First, who slew the renowned author? Second, who are all those people with quirky screen names who comment on the murder at the beginning of most chapters? This latter thread is introduced through Caleb, someone who vaguely touts the rise of something called The Shield and the revolutionary plans of its leader, Primus. Caleb's quest to discover the identity of Primus proceeds in tandem with Theo's. He comes to believe that Dan was Primus, but was he? Primus is just the tip of an identity iceberg that includes Space Monkey, Frodo 14, Patriot Warrior, and others. Fans will rejoice that the prolific Gentill, author of the Rowland Sinclair mysteries, maintains her record of packing stand-alone novels with devilish twists on genre conventions. A fizzy whodunit with pace, panache, and surprises galore.

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February 15, 2024
Theodosia ""Theo"" Benton moves from Sydney to Lawrence, Kansas, after dropping out of university. She lives with her brother Gus while she works on a novel. While writing at a local bar, she strikes up a friendship with fellow writer Dan Murdoch, who takes Theo under his wing. After they finally give in to their romantic feelings for each other, Dan is murdered, and Gus is the prime suspect. When another body is found--a man who claimed to be a neighbor of Dan's, who handed Theo a misdirected letter--Theo finds herself in over her head even as a powerful literary agency begins courting her and her almost-finished book. Gentill's latest, after The Woman in the Library (2022), slowly unravels as a traditional mystery, but then evolves into a self-aware, Grisham-esque thriller. Readers will root for Theo, then for Gus, to find the answers they need to find closure. With likable side characters (including a dog named Horse) and a truly unexpected third act, The Mystery Writer is sure to please literary crime fans.

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