After She Wrote Him

March 1, 2020
Did she create him, or did he create her? And who killed whom? A murky prologue reveals the discovery of a dead man at a gallery, triggering a buzz of excitement and speculation. Gentill (Give the Devil His Due, 2019, etc.) introduces a yin-yang pair of protagonists. Lawyer and writer Madeleine d'Leon gets a burst of inspiration about a new character: Edward "Ned" McGinnity, a literary novelist permanently scarred by the loss of his family in a tragic accident. Edward, for his part, is pleased with his new creation, crime writer Madeleine d'Leon. Edward's lover is Willow Meriwether, whose work is being shown at the gallery where the murder occurred and who is the first witness to be questioned by police. The victim is ruthless editor Geoffrey Vogel, who was far from friendly with Edward. Though Madeleine has made her reputation writing mysteries, she struggles with the very different demands of a police procedural. As Edward emerges as a prime suspect, his portrayal of Madeleine deepens to include her grief over a miscarriage and a largely loveless marriage. And as Madeleine becomes more involved in her creation of Edward to escape her personal problems, so Edward focuses on his own creation in order to deny the seriousness of his plight as a suspect. Lines become even more blurred when the lives of Madeleine and Edward interact and both characters develop a dangerous obsession that threatens to destroy them. This was the winner of Australia's Ned Kelly Award for best fiction. Brisk and refreshing. Gentill sustains her tantalizing premise with crisp prose and accelerating suspense.

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Starred review from April 1, 2020

Madeleine d'Leon is an Australian author who writes quirky, whimsical mysteries until she creates the character Edward McGinnity, a writer. Or does she? Edward McGinnity is a writer of literary novels who creates a genre writer named Madeleine d'Leon. As they reveal the stories they are writing, they discover more about each other. Edward is in love with an artist, Willow, but she's married to a man he detests. Edward is at Willow's art show when a critic is murdered, and he's the primary suspect. Madeleine is a successful mystery writer whose married life to the local doctor is marked by her loneliness after four miscarriages, and her husband sees her sliding into obsession with her new character. This unconventional mystery is an open-ended puzzle that asks the reader to determine who is the writer and who is the character. What is reality? VERDICT This mystery won the 2018 Ned Kelly Award under the title Crossing the Lines. Now available in the United States, it's a twisted masterpiece about writing and the loss of identity while writing. The disturbing examination of obsession and loss will appeal to readers of literary novels and introspective books about the writing process.--Lesa Holstine, Evansville Vanderburgh P.L., IN

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