The Ending Writes Itself

Summary:

Six authors from various genres get invited to the private island of the world’s most successful author for a weekend retreat off the coast of Scotland. They soon find out their beloved hero is dead and left his magnum opus unfinished, but they’ve been assembled to help finish it. Only one can win the grand prize, a life changing contract and sum of money, but will they be able to beat the clock and survive the weekend?

Review:

It’s been a long time since I’ve read a book that I couldn’t put down and that kept me reading well past my bed time because I just had to know the ending. This one gripped me from the first page.

Now, perhaps it’s because it was written as a sort of love letter to authors about the struggles we all face, the realities of the publishing industry, with a dash of horror and murder mystery in a most satisfyingly Agatha Christie manner. I truly loved the nods to authors throughout with a clear IYKYK context woven throughout. The authors (Evelyn Clarke is a pseudonym for two friends) did a great job of calling out little cliches and yet using them at the same time. It was brilliant.

I was gripped and found the prose to be beautifully written, but more impressed by how many character POV’s they successfully wrote in and still made them all feel unique and real.

The climax was satisfying in a thriller twist way. The entire thing reminds me of And Then There Were None mixed with Clue.

I know the ending, but I’ll revisit this one again to see if I can pick up on the subtleties and hints they definitely dropped along the way. It feels like a fun masterclass in mystery and horror writing.