Book Smart Kate

Book: 🌟🌟🌟🌟 Audiobook: 🌟🌟🌟🌟💫 Spice: N/A

by Sulari Gentill (March 19, 2024)

Mysteries about books, bookstores, and writers are some of my favorites. That fact and having LOVED Gentile’s The Woman in the Library made me very excited to read this one. Many thanks to @netgalley @poisionedpedpress @dreamscape_media and @sularigentill for digital and audiobook copies. Below is my honest review.

Theo has quit law school in Australia and traveled to live with her brother Gus, who practices law in Kansas. She has dreams of becoming a writer and spends her days writing at a coffee shop/bar in town. She discovers that another morning regular is a world-renowned author. Over several months, he becomes an important mentor to her as she helps re-inspire him to write. When he is found brutally murdered, Theo and Gus are key suspects but also quickly discover that they may be caught up in something much bigger than either could have imagined. As the walls begin to close in, Theo makes an impossible choice to save her friends and family.

Like The Woman in the Library, the way this book is written reminds me of M. C. Escher’s etching Drawing Hands because the story is writing and re-writing itself – unfolding a little at a time. Although the primary narrative is told through Theo’s perspective, the prologue and numerous excerpts throughout are told through other lenses, making clear that there is more to the book than what Theo is experiencing. Although I still have some questions because of the story’s complexity, I loved the core characters of Theo, Gus, and Mac (a writer, a lawyer, and a detective). My favorite part of the story is how they work together, their messy families, and their unwavering belief in each other. I did not see the end coming, but I really enjoyed it.

The audiobook gets huge kudos for all of the different accents and characters that are expertly voiced by a single narrator.