Wow wow wow. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read this arc! This was such an amazing thriller. Sort of a “who dun it”. If you’re a fan of old family secrets this one is for you to check out!!

What a plot! Olivia is an esteemed ghostwriter, but is now in hot water after she publicly bashes an even more popular yet sleazy ghostwriter in a panel and online. With funds being tight, she doesn't have many options for her next book. So when she is specifically requested to help write Vincent Taylor, she really can't say no, even though he is her estranged father she hasn't spoken to in decades. But it is not a novel that Vincent wants help with; it's a memoir of the brutal murder of his siblings 50 years prior. Many believe that Vincent himself was the cold-blooded killer, and he wants to set things straight.

I liked the dual timelines, with POVs from Vincent and his late sister, Poppy, back in 1975, which gave a sense of what was going on when the murders took place. People in town were saying one thing, Poppy's diary was saying another, and Vincent was saying another, making it a very tangled web Olivia is trying to unravel to get to the bottom of the mystery. This kept me engaged and wanting to keep reading, and once I was at the last 10%, I stayed up to finish. I think it was enjoyable and twisty, and I liked how the story was personal to Olivia, who not only was trying to uncover the truth about this horrible event, but also her family, too.

Julie Clark has done it again! I devoured The Ghostwriter! Five stars, no notes (well, except the ones below 😅).

I loved the dual timelines! Flipping between the 70s and the present day, and the changing POVs added so much depth. Giving voice to Poppy and young Vincent?? Genius. Absolute genius. They brought so much emotion and context, and I was fully invested in their perspectives.

The suspense? Twisty. The secrets? JUICY. And I love how Clark always manages to layer her thrillers with real emotional weight. This wasn’t just a whodunnit, it was a story about legacy, truth, and the secrets we carry.

I’ve been a Julie Clark fan for a while now, but this one might be my new favorite.

If you're into family secrets, dual timelines, and characters you feel like you know by the end, then this one’s for you.

Thank you Sourcebooks Landmark for the gifted eARC and physical book.

This was probably a 3.5 rating for me. The premise was super intriguing, but it started feeling pretty repetitive like halfway through. Unfortunately, I also guessed most of the twists, so the ending didn't feel that shocking to me. I really like Clark's writing style (I loved 'The Lies I Tell'), so I'll continue to check out her books in the future. Just wish this one had been a little more inventive.

Sooo much to unpack here. It's a good story, but it does take a long time to move the story forward. There is a lot to unravel here, especially the fact Olivia and her father have gone so many years without speaking. I feel like there was room to really dig into their relationship dynamics a little more. After all these years, he hires her to write his final book where he will supposedly tell the truth about the night his siblings were killed. There were things I suspected, but not necessarily in the direction it went. I always like when a twist actually surprises me and is actually something that could really happen. (While there are trigger warnings of some things, lets just say you are told it happened instead of having to read the details of it happening) I did enjoy the story and will definitely look for others by this author.

I love a mystery told from the past so the 1970s setting of that part of the plot worked very well. Olivia is a writer charged with telling the story of the murder of her father's siblings. Her father, Vincent, was always thought to be a suspect but the crime remains unsolved. I was really invested in this story and the alternating points of view. I also appreciated explored the father-daughter relationship in this very unique circumstance. I loved Julie Clarks's past work and this newest book lived up to expectations for me. I highly recommend it for mystery/thriller readers. Thanks to Julie Clark, Sourcebooks Landmark, and NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Julie Clark is fast becoming an auto-buy author for me. This is my 3rd read by this author and probably my favorite yet.

The Ghostwriter focuses on main character, Olivia who works as a ghostwriter. She has been hired by her father to ghostwrite his account of the death/murder of his two siblings many years ago. The investigation of the death of Vincent's siblings has long been a mystery in Ojai California. Many people believe that Vincent was the murderer, but his alibi for the night has held strong. Now it's Olivia's job to tell the real story through her father's book. I loved that there was a treasure hunting aspect mixed throughout the book. While not true crime, I feel that this book would be appreciated in the true crime community. The book was suspenseful and really painted a picture of Ojai, California.

Fans of Liz Moore’s The God of the Woods will love the 1970s setting and the layers of mystery unfolding as a cold case is brought to light in this slow burn of a thriller.

Olivia is a ghostwriter hired to write the story of her estranged father’s life, including the unsolved murder of his brother and sister in the seventies. But not only has he been manipulating the truth for her whole life, he’s also suffering memory loss at the end of his life. So the truth is rather hard to come by in this complicated story that moves between the past and present.

The discovery of a few rolls of old Super 8 camera film and her dead aunt’s diary are what help Olivia piece together the truth, emphasizing how unreliable memory and stories are in comparison to primary source documents in building a coherent and truthful account of the past.

The resolution felt a bit muddy and the story has a few too many points of view, but overall the cold case aspect and the dysfunctional family dynamics kept me very much invested and eager to dig into Clark’s backlist for more.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for the opportunity to be an early reader of this title, available now!

I requested this book so I could moderate a discussion at BookBrowse.com, so I didn't do a full review of the title.

That said, this was one of the more enjoyable mysteries I've encountered this year. I felt it was really well-written and it kept me guessing until the end - and what more could you want from a book in this genre? While some of our readers felt it started off slow, I found it engrossing from start to finish. Very rarely do we have consensus on a book, but in this case I think everyone felt it was a hit, and we had an exceptionally low "opt out" rate for it.

I’ve liked everything I’ve read from Julie Clark and I was excited to read this. She writes a good, unput downable thriller.

This was no different. Super twisty. I thought I had the twist figured out, but Clark did a fabulous job crafting a story and dropping hints that kept you second guessing. Story definitely hooked me. It was a quick read as well.

I’d recommend this others.

I received this book free of charge from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

So much trauma and secrets in this story. Although, toward the middle it did become hard to find the trurh from the assumptions. The love Vincent has for Lydia is so beautiful. I liked how the story came together at the end. Always had an ICK feeling for Mr. Stewart!

4.5 ⭐️ I was immediately captured by the storyline and couldn’t put this book down! I liked the multiple pov’s and the different timelines. Family drama is my favorite!

Thank you, NetGalley, for an e-ARC of The Ghostwriter by Julie Clark.
The Ghostwriter has a unique premise in an estranged daughter being asked to write her father's memoir due to his dementia diagnosis. The father was acquitted in a murder trial involving his siblings; now he wants to tell the story of that night. The author weaves information into the story and creates a puzzle that the main character as well as the reader must uncover. Clark does a great job keeping the reader guessing what is true up to the end of the book.

Olivia is 44 and backed into a corner. She’s facing the need to pay off a large legal judgement and attorney’s fees and doesn’t have the funds unless she sells the house she loves in Topanga, California. She’s an experienced non-fiction ghostwriter but now has an offer to ghost write a book for a horror writer. The clincher is that the author is her estranged father, Vincent.
Vincent is a very successful writer, but also well known because his brother and sister were murdered in 1975 and nobody was ever charged with the crime (but he was always a suspect). He’s now ready to tell his story and the only person he wants to do so is Olivia.
Their story is told with present and past times alternating, and with Olivia’s story broken up with chapters from the 70’s - from Vincent and also his sister’s diary.
The background about working as a ghostwriter was especially interesting. The Ghostwriter was a slower burn for me than Ms. Clark’s earlier novels but really picked up for the last 1/3 of the novel.
Thanks to Netgalley and Sourcebooks/Landmark for the opportunity to read The Ghostwriter. I received a complimentary copy of the book and opinions expressed are completely my own.

This was a great slow burn mystery! The twists happened right at the end, so if you like that, you’ll enjoy this. The twists were believable and if you love a slow buildup with twists shocking you at the end, this is your book! Loved it!

Review posted: 6.2.25

Traveling With T’s Thoughts:

I’m a HUGE fan of first lines/paragraphs. They may not make or break the book exactly, but they add a bit something. And the first few lines in The Ghostwriter def added that lagniappe.

Having loved Julie Clark’s other books (The Lies I Tell and The Last Flight), I felt I was in for a great treat with The Ghostwriter, but I may have underestimated how much I did enjoy it.

What I liked:

The cover is HOT!

Olivia. I thought she was such a well-written, fleshed out character. From her struggles with her dad in her earlier years (the struggle between the magic of their relationship at times vs the times she felt abandoned by him) to her triumphs and struggles as a ghostwriter. One dimensional she was not!

How the story was laid out- the scenes of 1975 and the current day, with some current events tying in the story. I was never quite sure when some stories were being revealed as to how true they were because Victor was a good storyteller.



Bottom line: I predict this book will be on many “best of” lists of 2025.

3.5 stars. This is my first time reading a book by this author, but I have been interested in reading several of her books. I would describe this book as a contemporary mystery with shades of a gothic murder mystery. This story takes it's time getting to the answers that we are seeking and you question some of the information you are given. I don't mind a slow burn, but at times I felt like it was a little too slow. I do look forward to reading more of this author's books. Thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for this ARC.

Olivia Dumont finally has a possible assignment after messing up her career as a ghostwriter. She jumps at the chance until she learns that the subject is Vincent Taylor, the very successful horror writer and her estranged father. No one in her life knows of their relationship. When he was a teenager, his siblings were murdered. It has been rumored for years that he took their lives.
What a story! I received an advanced reader's copy of the book from the publisher through NetGalley. This is my own unsolicited opinion of the book. It grabbed my attention right away. Even when I wasn't reading, I was wondering about the characters and who did what. Olivia's anger toward her father is outweighed by her need for income and repair to her career. This is an excellent story about assumptions, tragedy and family dynamics. It certainly had me feeling anxious at times while reading.

I learned about Lewy Body Dementia while reading this. It's very sad. This may be a trigger for some readers.
Alcoholic parent
Foul language

Another fantastic thriller from Julie Clark!

Ghostwriter Olivia Dumont returns to her childhood home and the father she’s spent her adult life distancing herself from. Olivia’s father, Vincent, is deteriorating from Lewy Body dementia and will only allow his daughter to write the account of his siblings’ murders. The dual POVs and timelines are instrumental in setting the tone of the novel. The twists are exciting and unpredictable. The story starts a little slow but the pace picks up between the 1/3 and 1/2 mark, making it hard to put down until the end!

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks for the opportunity to read and review this book. All opinions are my own.

Thank you Netgalley and Sourcebooks for the EArc in return for an honest review.
This story follows ghostwriter Olivia Dumont. She's excepted a job to write renowned horror author Vincent Taylor's final book. She doesn't want to do the job but shes in financial trouble and needs the money. Another reason she doesn't want to write this book is because Vincent is her estranged father who was accused of his siblings death.
Vincent's final book will be about what happened to his siblings in June 1975.

Told in past and present timelines, we get breadcrumbs leading us to the truth.
I loved this book. The author did a great job to transport the reader back to 75. The political climate, the trends, and the music of this time lay the foundation of this brilliant story.