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.

Thank you to Carol Goodman and William Morrow Paperbacks for the opportunity to read this eARC.

Upon reading the description on NetGalley, I was totally excited and thought this would be a wonderful read as Carol Goodman's books are always highly recommended by my fellow bookies. However, for me it fell short. I found myself forcing myself to get into it to try and proceed, but, the characters were just not it - and the book was too slow and boring for me, so I ended up DNF before fully finishing. The book resembled that of the Murder Mystery 2 movie with Adam Sandler, however, this was slower.

I'll definitely try more Goodman books in the future, but for me, this wasn't my kind of book.

I’ll read just about anything by Goodman, but WRITERS AND LIARS wasn’t one of my favorites.

That’s not to say it’s a bad book—it’s just a bit strange and sometimes stretches the bounds of plausibility. Maia, our protagonist, is stuck in the past, running the same classics museum her late father once did. When she receives a mysterious invitation to return to Eris, the secluded Greek island where she attended a fateful writing retreat years ago, she’s drawn back into a web of secrets and betrayals. The retreat not only led to her debut (and only) novel but also a devastating betrayal that has haunted her ever since. Now, many of the original attendees—including Annika, Ian, Eleni, Bill, and Sydney—are returning, along with their enigmatic mentor and benefactor, Argos. (The first of many questionable decisions made by these characters!)

It doesn’t take long for things to spiral—Argos is soon found dead, and it becomes clear that danger lurks on the island. With no escape, Maia and the others must untangle the mystery before one of them is next. And, as it turns out, there are an alarming number of ways to die on a remote island.

The novel embraces the classic locked-room (or, in this case, locked-island) mystery format, and the atmospheric Greek setting is undeniably immersive. However, the heavy-handed references to mythology—gods, goddesses, and classical themes—become overwhelming, even for an English major who’s taken entire courses in Greek mythology! The characters, too, are frustratingly difficult to root for. Their lack of common sense and inability to communicate makes for some exasperating moments, and a few plot twists verge on the absurd.

That said, there are some genuinely surprising moments, and Goodman is skilled at building tension—you can practically feel the island’s eerie isolation creeping in. If you love a locked-room mystery in an exotic locale, this might be right up your alley.

I just want to say that I wanted to love this book but I think it was not for me I just couldn’t get into the story line it just fell flat

Writers and Liars by Carol Goodman is a perfect read for fans of Agatha Christie. Intriguing cast of characters stranded on a remote island ending up solving a murder or murders. All received invitations to be there but the host is found dead. Guests not knowing who among them is the murderer. Add to that a secret about the island and its artifacts is exposed.. Numerous twisted plots to solve.

Maia Gold has been invited to a reunion on the exclusive island of billionaire Argos Alexander. Fifteen years previously, she and a half dozen writers were invited to the island to write their greatest book. And while she did write a great book, life got in the way, and she never lived up to her potential as a writer. As such, her first instinct is to ignore the invitation, but peer pressure causes her to agree to join the retreat.

When they arrive (and Maia deals with her mixed emotions), their host is missing, but they are invited to write the first chapter of a murder mystery, set on the island, potentially featuring their fellow guests. The next morning instead of presenting their work to Argos, he’s found dead, apparently murdered. The goal quickly switches for Maia from writing another award-winning novel, to staying alive and possibly solving the case.

I have mixed feelings about this book. I really enjoyed it, but some pieces felt a bit implausible. For example, a ‘dark betrayal’ happened to Maia on her visit which she immediately runs away from and tries to ignore for 15 years? Seems like she would have confronted the people involved before she left the island, or they would have confronted her during the next 15 years. Likewise, this event which has impacted her life (and a few others) for 15 years is cleared up rather quickly and everything forgiven – no hard feelings for anyone? The end feels a little contrived as well with tie to the labyrinth. And based on the description and some early comments, I thought this was going to more of a locked -door murder mystery – like Christie’s And Then There Were None which gets mentioned early in the story. On the flip side, it was very entertaining which is the primary factor for me to read a book. I liked how Maia’s parents’ past was brought into play and how the future of the island is hinted at without going into lots of details.

Overall, recommended, although a suggestion to not look too closely at the details.
I received a copy of this book through NetGalley.Com which I voluntarily reviewed.

The story, the characters, the history, the plot! All of it wrapped up into one great book! It had me second guessing who could be trusted and who couldn't, and then back again. Definitely one for the mystery lovers out there!

Classic, much loved mystery tropes and a cast of mystery authors in a closed-room mystery ... EEEEEEK! I loved the premise and I loved the story even more. I was riveted, captivated, and gobbled this up waaaay past my bedtime. And the lack of sleep was so worth it.