{4.75/5}

CW: violence, gore, references to assault

Read as an ARC via NetGalley. “The Mystery Writer” releases March 19, 2024!

Ooooh buddy, this is a trippy one. How do we feel about conspiracy theories, folks?

After bailing on a law program in her homeland of Australia, Theodosia Benton arrives on her brother Gus’ doorstep in America to start her career as a writer. Just as Theo puts the finishing touches on her first book, though, she’s launched into the midst of a murder investigation. As evidence mounts and Theo’s life becomes increasingly complicated, unseen forces continue to send her spiraling into further turmoil.

I’ve been in desperate need of a really good read, and I’m happy to report that this particular book has delivered just that. Where do I even start? How about…..

Plot! We’ve got murder, we’ve got an aspiring author, we’ve got a fiercely loyal found-family situation, and we’ve got an ever-increasingly insane level of conspiracy theories providing a marvelous backdrop to all of it. I don’t even know how to fully explain what happens because so. Much. Happens. Also, we don’t do spoilers. There are just so many twists and turns to this story. Just when you think you know where something’s going, you’re wrong. Despite this, I never felt like I’d gotten lost or confused while trying to keep up with the moving parts. Even Theo’s increasingly frazzled state of mind made a lot of sense as I was reading, and I rarely found her to act foolishly, which is especially nice considering the actions of some particularly wreckless heroines. The only time I felt like the story dragged was around the 65-ish% mark, and that’s because the story itself starts to take a lot longer. It made sense for what was happening and what the characters were going through, so I didn’t actually mind.

I’m going to combine the characters and the writing into one section here, because I feel you can’t really discuss one without the other. The story is written in the 3rd person past tense, which I adore. It means we get to jump around to different parts of the action without the limit of being stuck inside that character’s head; we get to see more pieces of the puzzle because our POV isn’t limited. Even though we’re essentially ‘locked out’ of those innermost thoughts, though, it never felt like the characters’ actions didn’t make sense for who they were. Their personalities were conveyed so thoroughly that we could see what they were going through even without having that ‘front row seat’ you’d get with 1st person. That skill also conveys the actual story with a delightfully creepy, tension-filled finesse that leaves you spiraling alongside Theo’s life.

This was a read that had me hooked from the first chapter. It was marvelously twisty, and the sense of dread and unease just kept building the whole way through. Scattered throughout were moments of humor and ordinary life to break the stress without derailing the action, and the depictions of writing and the joy of building a story were wonderful. The conclusion felt satisfactory and reasonable without feeling too predictable, and the absolutely insane amounts of layers all end up working together to leave you feeling just a little bit out of sorts at the end. If you like psychological thrillers that utilize just the right amount of conspiracy theory styled delusions, this is definitely the book for you.

The Mystery Writer - Likewise Book Reviews

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