Title: Kill All Your Darlings by David Bell
Publisher: Berkley
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery, Suspense
Length: 415 pages
Book Rating: B+
Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher Through NetGalley
Summary:
When a student disappears and is presumed dead, her professor passes off her manuscript as his own—only to find out it implicates him in an unsolved murder in this new thriller from the USA Today bestselling author of The Request.
After years of struggling to write following the deaths of his wife and son, English professor Connor Nye publishes his first novel, a thriller about the murder of a young woman.
There’s just one problem: Connor didn’t write the book. His missing student did. And then she appears on his doorstep, alive and well, threatening to expose him.
Connor’s problems escalate when the police insist details in the novel implicate him in an unsolved murder from two years ago. Soon Connor discovers the crime is part of a disturbing scandal on campus and faces an impossible dilemma—admit he didn’t write the book and lose his job or keep up the lie and risk everything. When another murder occurs, Connor must clear his name by unraveling the horrifying secrets buried in his student’s manuscript.
This is a suspenseful, provocative novel about the sexual harassment that still runs rampant in academia—and the lengths those in power will go to cover it up.
Review:
Kill All Your Darlings by David Bell is a clever, attention-grabbing mystery.
Two years earlier, English Professor Connor Nye is still grieving the deaths of his wife and son. He continues teaching but he is drinking too much and he is easily distracted. Madeline O’Brien is his student and he is her thesis advisor. She has regrets after she turns in her thesis (novel), but Connor convinces her to let him read it first. But, as it turns out, Connor ends up being the last person to see Madeline before she vanishes. When the investigation into her disappearance turns up no viable leads, it soon goes cold.
In the present, Connor is celebrating his newly published novel when Madeline suddenly reappears and gives him an ultimatum. He is to either give her the proceeds from the book or she will ruin his career by revealing he plagiarized her book. Connor does not have the money but he manages to buy some time. Unbeknownst to Connor, Madeline based the novel on a real-life event and the mystery’s publication is about to put him under the spotlight. Detective Alicia Bowman has a lot of questions for him in the still unsolved murder of Sophia Greenfield.
Connor is a bit clueless as he stumbles around trying to save himself. He does himself no favors by avoiding questions and not coming clean about the plagiarism. Detective Bowman is very persistent once she begins trying to build a case against him for Sophia’s murder. Despite sensible advice from his lawyer, Connor avoids talking to Bowman once he grasps how much trouble he is in.
Connor is a sympathetic character whose grief over the loss of his family is palpable. He appreciates how much his friend and boss Preston White has protected his career while Connor was in mourning. In the last few years, he has mostly succeeded in his efforts to get his life back on track. But during his current situation, Connor discovers things have changed and Preston cannot provide him much cover during the investigation. Since Connor’s future is on the line, there is a great deal of urgency surrounding his attempts to uncover the truth about Sophia’s murder and why Madeline disappeared when she did.
Kill All Your Darlings is a thoroughly riveting mystery with an innovative storyline. The majority of the characters are extremely well-drawn with realistic flaws. The narration rotates between different perspectives and the different voices are distinct. The plot is well-executed with plenty of tension that keeps the pages turning at a blistering pace. With ingenious plot twists, David Bell brings this timely mystery to a breathless conclusion.
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