Thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for the opportunity to read Writers and Liars by Carol Goodman. Honestl, it as left me breathless! I drank in and loved every word.

I appreciate the opportunity to read this title, but unfortunately it didn’t quite capture my interest. While the premise was promising, I found it difficult to stay engaged. That said, I’m sure it will find its audience with readers who connect more strongly with the writing style or pacing.

An Interesting Blend of Greek Mythology and Mystery

Writers and Liars by Carol Goodman offers a unique mix of Greek mythology and mystery. While I didn’t find it as gripping as I hoped, I can see how fans of both genres would enjoy it. The story features a lot of intriguing elements, though at times it felt weighed down by red herrings and excessive details that didn’t always add value. Despite that, there were moments where the mystery piqued my interest. If you enjoy layered stories with a few twists, this book might be worth a try.

I love Carol Goodman, and I liked this change of pace. Usually there is a college involved , with a back story..this was different setting, with a back story and lot of fascinating Greek mythology thrown in. I liked the twists and the characters! the setting was perfect!
thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

I love the way the author, Carol Goodman, weaves Greek mythology into her books. A modern day story with roots in the past, she never disappoints. Writers and Liars is a great example of that. I loved the writing, the scenery, all of it. I will recommend and continue to read!

We’ve all seen the premise of a group of people invited to a remote setting where a murder occurs, so it’s nice that this one introduces the characters and gets the plot moving quickly. The book is coming out in July, which is the perfect time to read about a group of people whisked away to a luxurious house on a Greek island, where they are served mouth-watering food and drink al fresco.

The Mamma Mia vibe ends all too soon, when the body of their billionaire host, Argos, is found and the invitees realize that there are no ways to communicate with anyone outside their group. With most of them being mystery writers, they know how they should avoid being picked off next, and yet . . .

I’ve read a lot of these And-Then-There-Were-None-inspired books and most authors manage to bring something new to the setup. The something new here is a whydunnit tied closely to Greek mythology and a life-changing visit to the island years ago by the parents of two of the current attendees.

This was an engaging mystery, with well-drawn characters and an exciting climax.

"In the latest thrilling suspense novel from Mary Higgins Clark Award–winning author Carol Goodman, a group of mystery authors gathers on a secluded Greek island for a writers retreat, only to discover that their enigmatic host has been murdered and everyone present is a suspect.

They'll kill for inspiration...

Fifteen years ago, Maia Gold attended a prestigious - and very exclusive - writers retreat hosted by billionaire Argos Alexander on the Greek island of Eris. It's where she wrote her first book, the one that should have launched a brilliant career. But something dark happened on that island, a betrayal that has hung over Maia ever since.

Now, Maia finds a familiar envelope in the mail. It's an invitation to return to Eris, and according to social media, she's not the only one from that first retreat who's been invited back. This could be the second chance Maia needs to jump-start her dreams. A chance for reconciliation...or revenge.

Almost all of the writers from fifteen years before have returned to Eris, bringing unresolved resentments with them. Soon, the guests learn that their illustrious host is absent, though he has left instructions for them to participate in a contest: whoever can write the most suspenseful mystery while on the island will win a fortune and literary acclaim. But this is no harmless game - when the guests gather in the morning to share their first chapters, they find Argos Alexander, dead.

Tensions simmer as the guests try to determine who's capable of murder, not just on the page, but in real life. On an island full of mystery writers, anyone could be the killer - and anyone could be the next victim. Trapped together until the next boat arrives from the mainland, they must sort out old grievances and figure out how to trust one another...or die one by one."

They're all there for revenge and it's time to die one by one.

Fifteen years ago, after an idyllic summer turned sour, a group of aspiring writers left the Greek island of Eris, owned by the eccentric and cunning Argos Alexander, thinking they’d never come back. But they’ve been lured back by a mysterious invitation and then, when they reach the island, a challenge. Only, once they complete the challenge, they find their host dead, and realize he couldn’t have been the one to invite them back. So who lured them to the island named for the Greek goddess of chaos? And what do they want…..and most importantly, can they find out before they’re all dead?

While the plot may seem like a straightforward locked room mystery, oh boy, let me tell you, it’s anything but! It’s got so much complexity and mystery throughout that I was practically spinning in circles as each new twist was coming. But it all made sense and fit into the narrative, which made following everything easy and fun.

The reveal was so good and I loved that it involved various elements of both the modern story and the classical Greek mythology that really pervades the story. But I’m also a classics nerd, so getting to revel in the stories of the gods and goddesses was such a bonus, along with the story of modern-day baddies.

There’s a couple of side plots with mysteries that I really enjoyed and also had some really interesting twists and turns. Don’t sleep on any of the details in this book, because Carol Goodman knows how to put little pieces of information into the story that come back later to make sense and make an impact. Trust me, it’s soooo good!

If you’re looking for an exciting and mysterious adventure to the Greek islands this summer, check this one out! It’s a great, thrilling experience!

My very first impression was that there were so many names, it was hard to keep up. As someone who was never hugely into Greek mythology, having all the god and goddess names be thrown around throughout the beginning often confused me, and made forget about who was who, and which person was a characters in the story, and which was someone from Greek mythology, especially since it was so early in the novel.

This novel picked up speed pretty quickly after the murder, and then it was a game of whodunit. Some of the reveal’s were very obvious, while others that arrived at the end of the novel left me feeling surprised until I thought more about it and realized they too were obvious. The ending wasn't a reveal/twist I was expecting, so I enjoyed how everything came together even though some aspect's felt rushed together. If you are a fan of The Glass Onion and Percy Jackson, I have a feeling this novel will be right up your alley.

Thank you to William Morrow and NetGalley for an E-ARC of this novel.

Rating: 😐/2.5
Review: Locked room mystery on a deserted island with Lifetime movie drama and Agatha Christie vibes. Way more Greek mythology connections and references than I could handle. Plot moved way too slow with too many characters.

Format: 👩🏻‍💻
Source: #netgalley

Maia Gold and a handful of writers receive an invitation to return to the Greek island Eries. All attended a retreat there 14 years ago that changed their lives. They are missing one attendee. She was a younger shy woman, and it seems that none of them got to know her very well. All but Maia are successful authors. All have reason to dislike the host, Argos Alexander.

Upon arrival they discover their host Argos hasn’t yet arrived on the island.

At dinner, they receive an assignment. They are each supposed to write the first chapter of a book and kill off one of the attendees. The chapters will be judged, and it will be favorable for the winner. Argos has recently purchased a publishing house and each of the participants are pursuing a publisher.

When Argos doesn’t appear the next day, they have instructions to go visit a site on the island. While there, they find Argos dead. Was it an accident, or murder? They are all suspects because Argos had many enemies.

Fourteen years ago, jealousy created problems for Maia, Ian, her lover, and Annika, her best friend. Argos planted a seed to create that jealousy.

Argos also interfered with the other guests, causing them to dislike him. There is Olivia, a mystery author, Sydney, a reviewer, Bill a cozy mystery author who has returned to cook as well as write, and Eleni, who had been Argo’s personal assistant in the past and is now the housekeeper. Annika has a successful mystery series and Ian’s father was a mystery writer. Maia became involved in a museum that her father had run before his death.

Maia had been the prized student on the past retreat. Her debut novel was considered very good, but she failed to write anymore. She has a partial manuscript done but has been struggling to finish it. She hopes the trip will ignite her muse.

This story goes back to the past and involves Maia’s parents who met on the island when they were young. Maia’s father and mother were involved with antiquities. Ian’s father was a friend of theirs who became a mystery author. They all were interested in mythology.

There were stories of Argos having illegitimate children. The story has several back stories and plot lines from the past that carry forward to current day.

They follow clues and decide there is a Nemesis out to hurt them and who may be Argo’s killer.

The setting is perfect. It is filled with Greek mythology and hints that Argos used the old stories to influence the lives of the writers.

With Maia’s knowledge of Greek mythology, she is able to follow the clues to catch the murderer.

Though I wasn’t familiar with all mythology, I remembered some from Latin class in school. That made it a little more interesting for me.

I enjoyed this book. It was a fast read for me. It in some ways reminded me of some of the books written by Mary Stewart. She was known for setting her stories in exotic locales. It also reminded me a little of Ten Little Indians by Agatha Christie.I also enjoyed that the characters were all writers.

I do think this could have had a better title. I wasn’t fond of it. Since it involved a lot of Greek mythology and the setting was a Greek Island, I think they could have come up with something around the myths.

I expected to enjoy this book because I am a fan of Carol Goodman. I haven’t read her in a while but years ago when I discovered her, I read as many as I could get my hands on.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good, locked door mystery.

Scheduled release date: July 15th

Thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow Books for an arc in exchange for my honest review.

I was so very excited to receive the ARC because I have read so many books by the author and find her writing and creativity to be off the charts. This book reminded me of something else I had read and I finally realized it was The Night Villa (same author) which was excellent. While I enjoyed this one it was not one of my favorites. The beginning was a little slow and Maia’s fixation on the events with Ian and Annika 15 years ago just seemed to drag the story down and took up too many words. The research and details about Greek Mythology were well done and interesting but adding them into the dialogue sometimes seemed a little too contrived. I began to enjoy it more once the trio worked out their long ago turmoil and began to work together on the mystery on the island. As always the writing transports you and the chapters in the labyrinth were very intriguing. Overall a great book but a great author. I appreciate the opportunity to read this book.

I love the author and enjoyed her previous novels. This one was great for the first 60% and then, unfortunately, it jumped the shark. In the best tradition of the Golden Age, it tells the story of Maia, who goes to a writing retreat on a Greek island where she started her career. The same group is there with her. When they arrive, their host is missing. Since these are mystery authors, I enjoyed their banter about the tropes of the genre and how they seemed to be living one of their stories. The characters were oddly stuck in the past and the lead had a dumb fixation about a relationship that went sour fifteen years ago. It still didn’t matter much, because I was invested in the plot. The writing was so atmospheric that I could picture everything, the island, the strange mansion and the creepy sculptures. The allusions to Greek myths were also fun. It was the ending that didn’t work. I understood the motive, but the identity of the culprit was underwhelming. There were also all these details that went nowhere (such as the first challenge). So, as much as I enjoyed this novel, it didn’t work for me.
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, NetGalley/William Morrow.

This book is a combination of classic murder mystery and Greek mythology. It deals with serious themes of sexual assault and the pressures of living up to a legacy.
Recommend for fans of Greek mythology, art history, and classic murder mysteries.

As my (shockingly) first introduction to the author, this mystery kept me on the edge of my seat. The immersive world, the way the mystery was built and layered, and the characters of depth--it's all the hallmarks of an author who knows their craft and knows their strengths. From the locked room mystery heralding back to Agatha Christie to the use of mythology to underline the modern day, this novel is definitely one of the better mysteries I've read in quite a while.

In this sophisticated and evocative mystery, a writer returns to the site of an ill-fated retreat, only to find herself entangled in a web of long-buried secrets, betrayals, and mythic echoes. The unnamed novel in question follows Maia, a woman summoned back to the Greek island of Eris fifteen years after she first attended a formative writers’ retreat—one that concluded in heartbreak and fractured trust. Upon her return, she discovers a disquieting déjà vu: the same guests are present, their fame now well-established, and their personal histories inextricably linked to one another—and to the enigmatic host who is now found dead under suspicious circumstances.

The narrative, structured around the archetype of the closed-circle mystery, becomes more than a simple whodunit. The island’s breathtaking landscape is rendered with lyrical precision, evoking both the serenity and menace of isolation. This immersive backdrop, tinged with a sense of otherworldliness, serves as the perfect stage for a narrative steeped in classic mystery tropes and steeped, quite deliberately, in the motifs of Greek mythology.

Indeed, mythology plays a prominent role. The myths are not merely decorative; they serve to enrich the psychological terrain of the characters, offering thematic parallels that interrogate timeless ideas of fate, power, and gender.

Of particular note is the novel’s candid critique of the misogyny inherent in these ancient tales. The text does not shy away from drawing attention to the troubling dynamics at play in the mythology it invokes, lending a welcome sense of moral inquiry to a genre often content to entertain without provoking reflection.

Stylistically, the prose is taut and modern, avoiding unnecessary ornamentation while maintaining emotional immediacy. The pacing is deftly managed; the reader is never subjected to artificial suspense or manipulative red herrings. Instead, revelations arise organically through Maia’s perspective, allowing the story to unfold with an earned sense of intrigue and discovery. The mystery is not driven by twists for their own sake, but by the excavation of personal histories and the psychological undercurrents between characters.

Ultimately, this novel succeeds not merely as a murder mystery, but as a nuanced exploration of memory, betrayal, and the shadows cast by the stories we choose to tell—or suppress. With moments of dark humor, visceral tension, and intellectual depth, it proves to be a gripping and rewarding read, one that lingers long after the final page.

this one wasn’t my favorite. it has potential but it’s kind of an outlandish book overall. not super believable, and i feel like the whole “retreat” idea is just overplayed. reminded me of a few books i’ve read recently, and wasn’t a fan of them either. just feels like the story writes itself and doesn’t require a lot of creativity

I liked some things about this book and others were not my favorite. If you like locked room mysteries, and mythology, you will like this book. Those are not my favorites but I liked the relationships between friends, former lovers, parents and children and the artistic process. It was medium for my, not my favorite of her books but worth the read

Thank you William Morrow and NetGalley for the Advanced Copy. All opinions are my own. I am a huge Carol Goodman fan and will read anything she writes. I was beyond excited to get this one prior to release!

Writers and Liars is a new twist on an old game. In Grand Agatha Christie tradition, this was a locked room mystery but with a group of mystery writers as the guests. I was pretty much hooked from that point.

As she always does, Carol Goodman intertwined the modern-day story with a parallel historical tale. I generally like that in her books, but this one was very heavy in Greek mythology. At times, it was hard to follow. That said, there was no shortage of surprises or suspenseful moments, and multiple plots to solve. It is absolutely worth your time!

This was a fun exploration of writing and publishing against a backdrop of Greek mythology and archaeology. I loved the dynamics between characters, and the dark underbelly that lurked beneath the idyllic setting.