Chloe Harlow wakes up in her own bed after an all night party, not remembering how she got home or what happened during the party. She has had black out periods before because of excessive drinking, but her situation is now serious as the host of the party, an up and coming artist, a friend of hers, died at that party.

Chloe's own sleuthing leads her to discoveries regarding the gallery where she works and art owners, painters, and works of art. What she finds out during the book shocks her and puts her in danger as well.

Well crafted and suspenseful, the novel is entertaining, with a likeable main character who is both vulnerable and savvy.

A huge thank you to Atria Publishing for inviting me to eARC The Gallery Assistant.

Thriller junkies, this one needs to be on your TBR. I rarely find myself on the edge of my seat and still in the dark when the end comes. This one had me. The conspiracies, the centering around Chloe, the added twist of the romance being enough to make you wonder if sweet Gio wasn't maybe so sweet?

This. is. good.

Kate Belli put something in this that made me read it in one shot (approximately 3 hours). I could not put it down. It sucked me in as a history nerd, as an art nerd, as an art history nerd. I really enjoyed this one and have already recommended it to several friends who love thrillers.

Pick it up, book babe. You will not regret it.

I really enjoyed this book. It is my first by this author. I usually do not read thrillers but this book makes me want to read more.

It’s a fun, smart mystery set in the high-pressure world of New York art galleries, and it totally pulls you in. The main character is likable and quick-witted, and the behind-the-scenes look at the art scene felt fresh and interesting. I personally loved the time this book takes place - post 9/11 which compared to now, are less attached and connected since phones, etc were not things everyone had and depended on.

The story moves at a good pace and has enough twists to keep you guessing.

If you like mysteries with a little glamour, a little romance, and a lot of smart writing, this one’s definitely worth picking up. I’ll be keeping an eye out for what Kate Belli writes next!

This was so much fun for me as an art girlie!

This follows an assistant at an art gallery in New York City. She stumbles across the dead body of one of the artists of the gallery and she has to overcome her own personal struggles and drama to try and figure out what happened.

And I thought the pacing of this was really great. Lately, I've read so many books with pacing issues and I really don't find that happening here. Something was always happening and the story was always moving along and being added to.

And, of course, there are hidden messages within the artwork. I JUST LOVE THAT! Gimme more of that, please and thank you!

I also think that putting this in the time period it was in was really smart. This takes place after 9/11 but before smart phones were everywhere, so our characters are a little bit more separated from information but still struggling with the aftermath of 9/11. I think that was a clever way to add more to the story that assisted in its telling.

Thanks to NetGalley for the e-ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review! My Goodreads review is up and my TikTok (Zoe_Lipman) review will be up at the end of the month with my monthly reading wrap-up.

Set against New York’s moody art scene, this novel follows gallery assistant Chloe as she unravels a chilling mystery. After attending a surreal party, Chloe is stunned to learn that the host, artist Inga, is dead and soon after, her coworker Lou vanishes. As she searches for answers, she discovers hidden clues in Inga’s paintings that hint at a web of secrets tied to grief, ambition and the lingering trauma of 9/11.
A book where Art + mystery intertwine beautifully!

DNF for me… sadly it was just so boring but it was interesting that it was post 9/11 timeline and gives the vibes of NY I guess you could say but I just couldn’t really finish like I wanted to. Just not for me, some people who love art stuff and murder mystery and stuff I’m sure this is for you.

I've never read Kate Belli before, but this book leads me to believe we'll be meeting again. The Gallery Assistant is a well-paced mystery thriller that follows the protagonist Chloe Harlow, an art gallery assistant, as she navigates strange situations in her professional and personal life after one of her gallery's artists is found murdered. Suffering from PTSD after surviving the collapse of the Twin Towers on 9/11, Chloe is not sure if she can even trust her own memories in trying to unravel the truth of what's happened in her gallery. I thought it was smart to have this book take place in an era before the prevalence of cell phones, to keep Chloe's discoveries true to practical and real-time findings. Overall, I thought this story moved smoothly and was a page-turning read... who doesn't love a murder mystery set among the fine art world! But, there were perhaps one too many characters, who at points, I couldn't remember who they were - various gallery coworkers, Chloe's bar friends, and neighborhood friends. This was a surprisingly pleasant read and I would recommend to anyone looking for a Manhattan-based mystery.

I was lucky enough to get my hands on an advanced copy of The Gallery Assistant, and let me just say—it did not disappoint.

This was my first read from Kate Belli, and now I’m kicking myself for not picking up her work sooner. From the very first chapter, I was hooked. Belli’s writing is sharp and immersive, and the way she builds tension is chef’s kiss. Set in the art world (which already feels like a perfect backdrop for secrets and scandal), the story unravels through the eyes of a protagonist who’s both intriguing and deeply human. I found myself rooting for her, even when she made choices that had me yelling, “Girl, no!” out loud.

What I appreciated most was how layered the narrative felt—this isn’t just a twisty mystery; it’s a story about survival, trauma, and the masks we wear to move through the world. As someone who lives with CPTSD, I picked up on so many subtle emotional cues in the characters that felt authentic and unflinching. There’s a quiet intensity in the way Belli writes about power dynamics and hidden pasts that really stuck with me after I finished the book.

I wouldn’t call this a heart-racing thriller—it’s more of a slow-burn suspense that digs deep into character. But when the twists hit? They hit hard. And the ending had the kind of satisfying snap that made me want to go back and reread earlier chapters for clues I might’ve missed.

Highly recommend if you’re into atmospheric mysteries with strong female leads, complicated emotions, and a little bit of glamour cloaking a whole lot of grit.

Thanks to the publisher for the ARC—this one will stay with me.

The novel recreated the NY art world very realistically and I read it quickly. It was fast paced and well written. After finishing it, I decided it would have been a better book without the 911 subplot with the rampant rumors that followed the horrors. It would have sufficed to write about the underworld of art that deals in fakes and false bidding. The 911 details were gruesome and superfluous to the plot. The mysterious warnings left hidden in the paintings was a pretentious clue-dropping angle I felt was amateurish. For me, the novel failed to reach the believability level I set when reading a thriller. It could have been better.

It's two months after September 11 and Chloe is not doing well when Kate Belli's The Gallery Assistant begins. She can't remember the night before and it's not long before that becomes a big problem--detectives have shown up at her workplace informing her that the artist who's house party she attended last night had turned up dead. Worse yet, this artist was gearing up to show at the gallery. More questions arise as the story gears up leading Chloe to wonder if she is losing her grip on reality or if she has uncovered a huge conspiracy.

Chloe's current life is a mess, her drinking is out of control and she is in many ways hanging by a thread. Her relationships are fraught and she is barely making enough to get by. Even more worrisome are the gaping holes in her memory that lead to her investigating areas that shouldn't be entered into. Chloe knows something horrific occurred the day of the murder but she can't completely recall and she is consistently concerned that wrongdoing is happening again when her mind betrays her.

The characters in The Gallery Assistant are written to be both believable but aside from Chloe we don't get in-depth profiles. Kate Belli does an excellent job with the time period, dropping just enough millennium details to be believable (I know I had my own bottle of Clinique Happy in the early aughts just like Chloe). I did feel the plot line dragged some and the pacing was a little too erratic for me to completely disappear into the story. For those reasons I rate this 3.25 stars.

I received this advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review.

I liked how captivating this story was. The mystery and intrigue were present at the beginning of the book. I liked the art world exploration and the timeframe shortly after 9/11 in NYC. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

(2.5 rounded up) This to me felt like a fairly generic popcorn mystery/thriller. I guess the added element is that it is set in post-9/11 Brooklyn, which factors into the characters’s storylines. The mystery revolves around a young woman, Chloe, who wakes up one morning with no memory of how she got home from a work party the night before. She then finds out the new artist showing at the gallery she works at has been murdered. This novel revolves around some classic mystery genre gambits : Chloe doesn’t know who is being truthful to her, the people around her have ulterior motives, and Chloe herself is struggling in her own personal life. I did like the art world setting of this and I liked the fast pace and the overall length felt right, but overall, didn’t find it super memorable.

This was unfortunately a DNF for me. The plot seemed rehashed from other books and most of the characters were one dimensional and the ones who weren't were just unlikable and I didn't want to spend more time with them.

Do you enjoy thrillers? Check out The Gallery Assistant by Kate Belli. It was a winner and it publishes this fall.