Kill All Your Darlings by David Bell is a suspenseful and twisty story, based on lies and betrayals in the world of academia.
My Overview
From the beginning, the reader learns Dr. Connor Nye has stolen a student’s manuscript and published it as his own. No one’s more surprised than he, when the student shows up at his home to confront him. She demands the money she’s owed for the book and decides to blackmail him since he can’t pay her. As if the wasn’t bad enough, it turns out the book he published contains details about a local murder. Details only the murderer would’ve known. What to do?
Based on that, I was hooked on the story from the beginning. What Connor thought was a brilliant plan, imploded and it seemed the only way out was to announce Madeline O’Brien was the author of the book he published. I just had to know how he’d get out of the mess he’d created.
There’s tension and mystery throughout, but at times the story was repetitive. I did, however, appreciate the multiple POVs and alternating timelines. I also liked that the chapters are short and there are a few twists along the way, which still made it hard to stop reading.
My Recommendation
I recommend this story, if you’re looking for a mystery story based on the plagiarism plot. This is my first book by this author, and I’m now interested in reading more of his stories.