After She Wrote Him

by Sulari Gentill

Overview

The captivating thriller Dean Koontz calls "pure delight, a swift yet psychologically complex read."

If you get lost in a book, be sure you can find your way back...

Madeleine d'Leon doesn't know where Edward came from. He is simply a character in her next book. But as she writes, he becomes all she can think about. His charm, his dark hair, his pen scratching out his latest literary novel...

Edward McGinnity can't get Madeleine out of his mind — softly smiling, infectiously enthusiastic, and perfectly damaged. She will be the ideal heroine for his next book.

But who is the author and who is the creation? And as the lines start to blur, who is affected when a killer finally takes flesh?

After She Wrote Him is a wildly inventive twist on the murder mystery that takes readers on a journey filled with passion, obsession, and the emptiness left behind when the real world starts to fall away.

(Previously published as Crossing the Lines)

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781728209159
Publisher:	Sourcebooks
Publication date:	04/07/2020
Edition description:	2nd ed.
Pages:	256
Sales rank:	614,012
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.25(h) x (d)

About the Author

After setting out to study astrophysics, graduating in law and then abandoning her legal career to write books, Sulari now grows French black truffles on her farm in the foothills of the Snowy Mountains of NSW. Sulari is author of The Rowland Sinclair Mystery series, historical crime fiction novels (eight in total) set in the 1930s. Sulari's A Decline in Prophets (the second book in the series) was the winner of the Davitt Award for Best Adult Crime Fiction 2012. She was also shortlisted for Best First Book (A Few Right Thinking Men) for the Commonwealth Writers' Prize 2011. Paving the New Road was shortlisted for another Davitt in 2013.

Editorial Reviews

"Brisk and refreshing. Gentill sustains her tantalizing premise with crisp prose and accelerating suspense. " - Kirkus Reviews

"A twisted masterpiece" - Library Journal

" It's truly unusual, unique, and every thriller lover should make the time to read this. " - Suspense Magazine

"Fresh and creative mystery" - Apple Books

" A really thought-provoking book" - Debbish.com

"AFTER SHE WROTE HIM satisfies on many levels." - Bookreporter

"AFTER SHE WROTE HIM by Sulari Gentill is a thriller novel that takes you on an adventure in the mind of two authors like no fiction novel has ever done before!" - Fresh Fiction

"Clever construction" - Wall Street Journal

From the Publisher

★ 04/01/2020

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

Library Journal

2020-02-10
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.

Kirkus Reviews

06/26/2017
Fans of postmodern fiction will enjoy this departure from Gentill’s 1930s series (Miles Off Course, etc.). It’s an exploration, as one character puts it, of “an author’s relationship with her protagonist, an examination of the tenuous line between belief and reality, imagination and self, and what happens when that line is crossed.” Madeleine d’Leon, a former corporate lawyer who writes about a crime-solving housemaid, decides to try her hand at something different—a standalone crime novel featuring author Edward McGinnity, who writes “the kind of worthy incomprehensible stuff that wins awards.” In Maddie’s telling, Edward becomes a suspect in the murder of an obnoxious editor, who was found with a broken neck at the base of the fire stairs of a gallery exhibiting paintings by Edward’s married love interest. Gradually, Maddie and Edward become aware of each other and grow close emotionally. Those who favor conventional mysteries should be prepared for an ambiguous payoff. (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly

"... Crossing the Lines is a worthwhile read."

Mystery Scene Magazine - Katrina Niidas Holm

"As one for whom certain story lines and characters have become as real as life itself, Crossing the Lines was a pure delight, a swift yet psychologically complex read, cleverly conceived and brilliantly executed."

New York Times Best-selling author Dean Koontz

" Crossing the Lines is a book that smiles and offers cake while it thinks. Sulari Gentill delivers ideas and narrative entertainment, and it's a bonus that her novel is also sub-acidly satirical."

The Australian - Robyn Walton

"A tour de force! Crossing the Lines is a brilliant blend of mystery, gut-wrenching psychological suspense and literary storytelling. The novel stands as a shining (and refreshing) example of meta-fiction at its best—witty and wry, stylish and a joy to read."

New York Times best-selling author Jeffery Deaver

As one for whom certain story lines and characters have become as real as life itself, Crossing the Lines was a pure delight, a swift yet psychologically complex read, cleverly conceived and brilliantly executed.

New York Times Bestselling author Dean Koontz

"A delightful, cerebral novel featuring a crime writer who grows dangerously enamored with her main character. As the interplay between creator and created reaches Russian-nesting-doll complexity, it forces us to question the nature of fiction itself."

New York Times best-selling author of Orphan X and Gregg Hurwitz

I thoroughly enjoyed the glamour of the ocean voyage, the warmth and wit among the friends, and yet all the time, simmering beneath the surface, was the real and savage violence, waiting to erupt. The 1930s are a marvelous period. We know what lies ahead! This is beautifully drawn, with all its fragile hope and looming tragedy.

New York Times best-selling author on A Decline in Anne Perry

" Crossing the Lines is a new entry in a small sub-genre of metafiction in which we not only see writers at their craft but also see lines between reality and fiction blend so far that the fourth wall is just a distant speck in the rearview mirror."

NetGalley - Annie Smith

"This is an elegant exploration of the creative process, as well as a strong defense of the crime-fiction genre, as Gentill illustrates the crossing of lines between imagination and reality. Rich with insights that can add pleasure to the reading of crime fiction."

Booklist - Michele Leber

A delightful, cerebral novel featuring a crime writer who grows dangerously enamored with her main character. As the interplay between creator and created reaches Russian-nesting-doll complexity, it forces us to question the nature of fiction itself.

Gregg Hurwitz, New York Times best-selling author of Orphan X and The Nowhere Man - Gregg Hurwitz

A tour de force! Crossing the Lines is a brilliant blend of mystery, gut-wrenching psychological suspense and literary storytelling. The novel stands as a shining (and refreshing) example of meta-fiction at its best--witty and wry, stylish and a joy to read.

Jeffery Deaver, New York Times best-selling author - Jeffery Deaver

As one for whom certain story lines and characters have become as real as life itself, Crossing the Lines was a pure delight, a swift yet psychologically complex read, cleverly conceived and brilliantly executed.

Dean Koontz, New York Times Bestselling author - Dean Koontz

I thoroughly enjoyed the glamour of the ocean voyage, the warmth and wit among the friends, and yet all the time, simmering beneath the surface, was the real and savage violence, waiting to erupt. The 1930s are a marvelous period. We know what lies ahead! This is beautifully drawn, with all its fragile hope and looming tragedy.

Anne Perry, New York Times best-selling author on A Decline in Prophets - Anne Perry

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