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by Sarah Lotz
After the untimely death of her bestselling crime novelist mother, a young woman teams up with the fictional "ghost" of the heroine from her mother's series in order to solve her mother's murder.
After the tragic death of bestselling crime writer Annie Morrisey, her daughter, Niamh, moves into her mother's country cottage to take care of her mother's estate. Shut away from the world, Niamh doesn't actually have to deal with the grief of her mother's untimely passing. Until the day that two things happen: the advance copy of her mother's final book lands on the doorstep and Leah Rebecca Overton appears in the kitchen.
Having a stranger show up in your house would be concerning at the best of times, but Leah isn't a stranger—she's the ultra-competent sleuth heroine from Annie's novels. The antithesis of Niamh in every way, she's lived in the fictitious character's shadow for years. But why (and how) has Leah turned up now? And why can only Niamh see her? Leah is the last thing Niamh wants in her house or in her head, but she can't ignore the sleuth...especially when Leah suspects there may have been more to Annie's death than first suspected.
What are you reading this week? And what did you think of last week’s books? (7/9/2026)
...r that, it'll be another discussion book, https://www.bookbrowse.com/bb_briefs/detail/index.cfm/ezine_preview_number/26159/how-to-kill-a-crime-writer How to Kill a Crime Writer by Sarah Lotz, followed by a book for our indie review program, https://www.bookbrowse.com/bb_briefs/detail/index.cfm/ezine_preview_number/26579/reset Reset by Kev...
-kim.kovacs
"Annie's career as a writer provides a fun meta touch, while Niamh and Leah make a charmingly mismatched crime-solving duo. And while the premise may involve a fictional character come to life, Niamh's believable feelings about the loss of her mother keep the story grounded in reality. An absorbing murder mystery with a unique twist and a poignant look at grief." —Kirkus Reviews
"[A]mbitious...[T]he plot never really heats up, and the ghostly conceit at the center of the novel feels undercooked. This feels like a missed opportunity." —Publishers Weekly
This information about How to Kill a Crime Writer was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Sarah Lotz is a novelist and screenwriter with a fondness for the macabre and fake names. Among other things she writes urban horror novels under the name S.L Grey with author Louis Greenberg, and a YA series with her daughter Savannah under the pseudonym Lily Herne. Her novel The Three is currently being adapted for an eight-part BBC series. She lives with her family and other animals and can usually be found in Cape Town or in the wilds of Shropshire.
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