Loved the little homages to Agatha Christie in this. I throughly enjoyed this one. If you love Agatha Christie style books and who dunnit murder mysteries think you will love this one. I highly recommend it. Characters were easy to learn about. The plot was great.

I was expecting a bit of a Paula Hawkins or Lisa Jewell, but the storytelling style is quite different, and I'm afraid overall, disappointing.

The story opens with lengthy details on Nicky's reason to visit writer, and possible murderer, Sebastian Trapp. I found it difficult to get hooked on Nicky's arrival or the opening characters, and I was left with a sense of wondering when the "real story" will start. Added to this, the plot is narrated in a fairly linear sequence, and the dialog and descriptions feel quite plain--rather matter of fact. It just felt like a case of "did he or didn't he do it" with the usual fare of other suspects entering into the mix.

I was missing the clever pacing and twists of other crime/thriller writers who really grab you by the seat of your pants. Maybe the more conservative pacing and scripting is a deliberate strategy to distance this work from other authors' styles, but it made it difficult to persist with reading the whole work. I somewhat dragged through it. This just wasn't a particularly memorable read for me personally.

That's not to say there isn't a decent story here. The development feels logical and everything hangs together. Maybe more for a Sherlock Holmes reader or a Silence of the Lambs afficionado.

The premise of this novel was such that I expected to love it. The gothic horror and nods to classic crime fiction make this a modern take on a classic crime novel. However, it wasn't for me. I found the pace slow and the dialogue contrived.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC

Like many people, I've been dying to read A.J Finn's new book for a long time and although my expectations were high - this didn't disappoint. I used to be allergic to books about writers/with writers as a main character, but this one really worked for me. I'm glad Finn is back and hope it won't be so long until his next one.

Having read the description for this novel I was really looking forward to reading it. Unfortunately the writing style was just not for me, very slow in developing the plot as well.
Thank you Netgalley and publishers for the opportunity to read this, sorry but it was a did not finish for me!

I enjoyed this book, it is a slow burner in pace, but the story does grab you.
Nicky Hunter goes to stay with famed author Sebastian Trapp to ghostwrite his “family memory book” as he is dying. Sebastian is as famous for being a detective author and having his own mystery, the disappearance of his wife and young son twenty years earlier.
Nicky is excited to work with him and hope he reveals the truth about what happened to his family two decades earlier before his death.
I liked the main characters of Nicky and Sebastian. Freddy, Diana, and all the other characters had their parts to play too.

Now halfway I suspected I had guessed the end (the big reveal, revealed that I had guessed correctly) but I was ok with that
as I wanted to see what would happen after the reveal and it was very satisfactory. Give it a read!

Thanks to NetGalley for the advance copy.

Slow to start but stick with it, it’s full of suspense and intrigue, this book had me guessing until the final reveal. Slower than my usual but once it got going it was great. Bravo

I’m sure many readers will love this book, but I didn’t. It was the writing style more than anything that I just couldn’t deal with – short sentences that aren’t actually sentences drive me nuts. Is this creative writing? I ended up feeling confused and disappointed. You can’t please everyone can you? Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read this and I’m sorry that I can’t recommend it.

Sorry but this one is a DNF for me at the 40% mark - it’s just way too slow paced and the dialogue a bit of a slog so no desire to finish it. What sounded like an interesting plot just hasn’t held my attention and too many names getting thrown about.

I was looking forward to reading this novel as I had enjoyed the authors previous novel. However, the slow narrative and the multiplicity of characters were confusing and I did not finish.

This was a bit of a slow burner but I’m glad I stuck with it as the payoff with the reveal at the end is worth it.
Nicky Hunter goes to stay with famed author Sebastian Trapp to ghostwrite his memoir as he is dying. Sebastian is as famous for his detective stories as he is for his own mystery, the disappearance of his wife and young son twenty years earlier.
Nicky is excited to work with him and hope he reveals the truth about what happened to his family two decades earlier before his death.
I liked the main character of Nicky and had mixed feelings towards Sebastian especially at the end, which I’m sure was intended by the author. There were several other characters who each brought something interesting to the plot.
Overall a good read, well plotted and good characters.
Thanks to NetGalley and Hemlock press for the advance copy.

The past isn’t gone, it’s just waiting.

When famous writer Sebastian Trapp is given months to live he invites Nicky Hunter to finish his life story. This story is as intriguing as some of the novels he has written and as Nicky moves in with the family she soon discovers this is some story she is going to have to tell.

Sadly this book wasn’t for me, I found it hard work to read and it seemed to take me forever. The writing just didn’t seem to flow for me. I did like the end (not just because I got to the end) but how everything tied up. Thanks to @netgalley for the opportunity to read this book and good luck to the author on its release.

Publication Date - 29/02/2024

⭐️⭐️

#EndOfStory
#AJFinn

After loving their previous book I was excited to have a new book by A.j Finn to read.
But sadly this just didn't fully work for me.
While at the beginning I was intrigued. Wanting to solve the mysteries. I soon found myself a little bored. Until the end where it picked up again. But by then it was a little too late.
I found the characters a little flat throughout as well.

This story had so much potential. But just didn't work out for me.

I loved this one just as much as The Woman In The Window. It was a touch slow and a little confusing but, once I got into it wow, I was hooked. A really great read a long time coming but, well worth it. My thanks to netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

The premise of this book was such that I was really looking forward to reading it. Sadly though the reality was that I didn't enjoy it. I found the writing style hard going, particularly some of the dialogue, and what should have been the Gothic horror trope of the house didn't feel exploited well enough. The whole narrative felt quite confusing and I'm sorry to say I gave up before the end. I'm obviously in the minority and I'm sure many readers will really enjoy it.
Thank you to netgalley and Harper Collins for an advance copy of this book.

"Death has come for better men. Death has come for
worse. Now Death has come for me."

Novelist Sebastian Trapp, author of the successful Simon St. John detective series has three months to live when he invites writer Nicky Hunter to write a private memoir of his life. A successful career marred by personal tragedy, the disappearance of his son Cole and his first wife Hope twenty years ago was never solved and has been the subject of much media interest over the years. A long time fan of his work and someone who has corresponded with him over the years, Nicky readily accepts and moves into the San Francisco mansion where he lives with second wife Diana, his daughter Madeline and nephew Freddy.

I loved everything about this novel, I savoured the descriptive scene setting, the atmosphere, the hints to classic noir and the witty dialogue. I relished the slow burn build up, the mansion that seemed to stand still in time and the damaged characters within its walls. Its a book of two halves, the first laying out the groundwork and the second ramping up the tension significantly bringing it to a gripping conclusion.

One of those books that once finished I want to read from start to finish all over again.

Sebastian Trapp, esteemed author with a mysterious past, is not long for this world. For his final couple of months he wants to lay down his life in book form for his nearest and dearest. Rather than write it himself, he asks Nicky Hunter, a would be author with whom he has been in correspondence to do the honours. When Nicky arrives at the Trapp mansion, she can’t believe her luck and eagerly sets to with the project.

This is a hard one for me to review, and I appreciate I am in the minority. I really liked The Woman in the Window, and from the blurb I thought this one would be a good read. Sadly I struggled with it right from the start and it only became interesting at the last few chapters, The clues are all there for the reader to get to the denouement well before its execution.

At times the writing format was odd, just seemed to be a notebook of jottings and ideas for a book rather than any plot. The switching between character dialogues was very confusing. All in all a bit self righteous and wordy, rather smug. Much depended on the charisma and glamour of the crime writing greats rather than anything original.

Not a book I enjoyed, sorry.

Thank you NetGalley and Harper Collins.

I am afraid this one was just not for me. Far too confusing story.I skim read through a good part of it as it just did hold my attention. Only about 90% of the way through did it start to become interesting. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the chance to review it.

I have to say I found this book quite odd. From the premise it sounded great but in reality, I found the writing style strange, and the plot was quite confusing. I didn’t enjoy it and had to force myself to finish it. Thank you to NetGalley, Harper Collins UK Harper Fiction and the author for the chance to review.

Simply astounded. Pure brilliance. 5* plus
A well crafted tale of murder, mystery and a whole lot of suspense as the writer pays homage to the greatest crime fiction writers in the modern era.
The plot centres around a young girl Nicky who having written to Sebastian, a murder mystery novelist over the past five years is requested to write his final story. Sebastian who is dying is taken care of by his daughter Madeline, a would be screen writer if only she knew how to write and her cousin Fredrick who appears when he is least expected.
In writing Sebastian's final "memory book' Nicky hopes to uncover a twenty year old mystery of the disappearance of his first wife and son. Both have been suspected of being murdered by him and so the games begin as the two characters play a game of cat and mouse dancing around each other.
Nicky's quest introduces her to friends, family, sub plots and more twists than a rollercoaster. as she gets closer to discovering the truth. A thoroughly brilliant read with a twist I never saw coming.

Thank you NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to review this title. I can not recommend enough.