Thank you so much to Park Row Books and Thoughts from a Page Podcast for access to an eARC of The Fiction Writer by Jillian Cantor. I read this through Cindy at Thoughts from a Page Podcast patreon group! And while I missed the author zoom (because I was driving my tween somewhere. That is always the case, lol!)I did SO enjoy reading this. In fact, I read this in one day and now today I can celebrate the publication day! Yay!

Author Olivia Fitzgerald’s most recent novel (a retelling of Daphne du Murier’s Rebecca) was a total flop and the rest of her life isn’t going that well either: she’s struggling with a bad case of writers’ block and her boyfriend of many years just broke up with her. So when her agent calls with a high-paying ghostwriting opportunity, Olivia doesn’t hesitate to sign the NDA. And the job sounds straightforward–interview Henry “Ash” Asherwood, a sexy reclusive mega billionaire, and write a book that reveals a secret about his late grandmother and Daphne du Maurier. 

The deeper Olivia gets into this project, though, the less straightforward anything is. In fact, isolated at Ash’s Malibu estate, Olivia uncovers mystery after mystery and can’t seem to determine fact from fiction. Who should she trust? What are everyone’s true motives?

Oooo, this is a fun mystery/thriller that had me totally creeped out and frantically turning pages. I was right along with Olivia, never sure who to trust but I was suspicious of everyone. This is a fast read with so many twists and turns. The Malibu setting is both gorgeous and described in a way that also added to the creep factor. I thoroughly enjoyed this ride!