Gallery Assistant
Chloe’s life has been anything but easy since the terrorist attacks of 9/11. She’s working the best she can as a gallery assistant and forgetting about the past few weeks by drinking her worries away. Problem is, she gets blackout drunk.

And one of the times she gets blackout drunk is the night an upcoming artist for her gallery gets shot and killed and Chloe is one of the last people to see her alive and she remember almost nothing.

As she starts to remembers flashes of memories and meets with people in Inga’s life, the more she thinks this is more than a random murder.

The art world is always complicated but now it includes the reappearance of a Monet, the death of an up and coming artist with hidden messages, and the world on edge from the recent terrorist attacks which makes for a high stakes mystery.

Follow Chloe as she tries to unravel the mystery of Inga’s death and the parts of the night she can’t seem to remember.

Set a couple of months after 9/11, and narrated by a young woman who was actually in one of the towers that fell, The Gallery Assistant is both an art world murder mystery and a novel about navigating a post-traumatic world.

The titular gallery assistant, Chloe Harlow, works for a family-owned art gallery in the Upper East Side. She wakes up one morning with hazy memories of having gone to a party the night before, but no idea how the night ended and how she got home. She learns the answer to the first question when she gets to work: the gallery's hot new artist Inga Beck has just been found dead, and Chloe may have been the last person to see her alive. As Chloe struggles to piece together what happened that evening, she learns things that makes her wonder who she can trust.

This is a pretty good thriller. I enjoyed getting a glimpse into the fancy art world in NYC, and I was drawn into the mystery of who wanted Inga dead and why. Details like how art auctions work and how much a famous artist's sketches are worth were fascinating. I also really liked the bit about how anxious the art world was about the state of their market in the wake of 9/11; with everyone so terrified, would they still bid on art? It turns out the answer is yes, which is a relief to the characters, but also could be a commentary on the state of the world. I'm not sure if I'm comforted that rich people can still care about things like art after something like 9/11, or troubled that commercialism can move on so quickly from tragedy.

I also appreciated the little details about what it was like to live in NYC post-9/11. There are a couple of scenes where Chloe's friend Vik has to deal with racism because of his skin colour. And another scene where a transit delay causes major anxiety for Chloe and other passengers, because, what if it's another terror attack?

I do feel that a subplot about hidden messages in Inga's artwork could have been sharpened further. The hidden messages were useful in establishing that Inga knew she was in danger, but I wish the hidden messages actually contained important clues that Chloe had to puzzle out. Apart from one message that put Chloe on the trail of a suspect, the rest were pretty repetitive. Granted, this may be just because I enjoy puzzles in general, so with something as intriguing as hidden messages, I really want more.

The romance also lacked chemistry, and there were references to Chloe sleeping with other characters that just felt kinda random? I'm all for a sex-positive heroine, but this felt more like the literary fiction type of an active sex life, where the encounters feel more empty and perfunctory than pleasurable. The actual romance that develops does play into the plot, but ultimately feels more like a plot device than an actual relationship.

Also, and I admit this is a personal gripe, while I do appreciate the author specifying that Chloe comes home every day to feed the cat even while she's at her boyfriend's house for safety reasons, I wish she'd asked the boyfriend earlier on if she could bring the cat over. Being in Chloe's apartment also puts the cat in danger, and I wish they'd thought more of his safety beyond just being fed.

Overall, this book was pretty good. I appreciated the 9/11 elements, and thought the art world mystery component was interesting. It's just a quieter, slower-paced novel than I expected, and it quite grip me nor keep me eagerly flipping the pages as much as I'd hoped it would.

+

Thank you to Simon and Schuster Canada for an e-galley of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A thriller with a lot of complexities, PTSD moments that tangle the web, and a setting teeming with real world 9/11 ripples. It’s a lot of moving parts that had me lost a few times but overall I’d say worth a read.

I had not read Kate Belli previously but I will again now. The Gallery Assistant is a murder mystery set in the art world taking place in NYC during the aftermath of 9/11. Chloe Harlow is the unreliable narrator who is suffering from panic attacks and drinks to excess to bury the reminders of 9/11. She wakes up one morning unable to remember how she got home the night before. Going into work she learns that the host of the party she attended the night before has been murdered. Suspicious things start happening and she doesn’t know who to trust. Is everyone she knows lying to her? This story kept me guessing to the end. Highly recommend to any one who enjoys a suspenseful murder mystery. Thank you to Atria/Emily Bestler Books and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This book was an intense thriller that took place in post 9/11 New York in the posh art gallery scene. It included one of my favorite tropes, an unreliable narrator, and the writing style kept me intrigued and engaged with the story. The plot mainly focused on solving the murder of an artist, but it quickly unfolded into something much more sinister. I will say that there are several trigger warnings for violence, alcoholism, gaslighting, and depictions of 9/11 events in the towers. Overall, I greatly enjoyed this one!

I enjoyed the book although a bit slower than I like but it kept me engaged enough to where I had to finish and it kept me coming back for more!

Sometimes the storyline was predictable but overall a good ending.

The Gallery Assistant is trying to gain a space with all the current thrillers, but it just doesn't hold a candle to books like Ruth Ware's. It's clunky, and the pacing is not great. The 9/11 tie-in is fascinating, especially considering that fact that Belli was living in NYC during that time. It made those scenes more poignant, but they didn't save the book because the main plot fizzled out. It's not even that the ending was super predictable; I just didn't care about it by the time I got there.

I really enjoyed this book! I thought the overall plot ended up getting a bit complex with the motivations and through line of what happened but a quick read with a fun subject in the art world.

2.5 rounded up
Nothing really memorable about the story. I think it is a slow burn mystery but I found it to drag a lot and it would have been a DNF if not for a commitment to Netgalley to review. Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book

I feel a little torn on reviewing this. I enjoyed this overall as the story was fairly compelling and is definitively a thriller. However, there were moments that felt forced and the character’s disillusionment gave the story a bit of an unreal feel. I think the pace of the story worked really well but could incorporate the backdrop of the aftermath of 911 a little better.

Chloe is the titular gallery assistant, living in Brooklyn and late to work in the Upper East Side after waking up hungover from a party at an artist's loft the night before. Chloe doesn't remember much about the party and she doesn't know how she got home. When she arrives at work, she and her boss Lou are summoned to the gallery owner's office to meet with two NYPD detectives, who inform them that the artist, Inga, was found murdered in her loft early that morning. Chloe must now extricate herself from the investigation; moreover, she feels compelled to figure out the mystery of Inga's death.

Chloe narrates through three parts of the novel, and we learn about the PTSD she developed in the wake of 9/11. She doles out the details of the trauma she experienced during the attacks throughout the book and makes the reader understand what she lived through. It's very engaging and handled with aplomb.

The story moves quickly, told in short chapters that are very engaging. Learning about Chloe and her past is interesting, and she is very easy to root for. The art world and the city of New York make for a dynamic backdrop for this trendy tale. The novel is sure to please readers who enjoy a fast-paced mystery thriller and tales taking place in NYC.

Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC! This book was a quick and fun thriller set right after 9/11 in the New York art world. I like how the author incorporated her real experiences and art knowledge throughout the book. I think the plot was engaging and kept me guessing throughout. Heavy topics include PTSD, murder, and 9/11 flashbacks, but it was all well-written.

This was a well written mystery, though the setting in an immediately post 9/11 New York was jarring. The mystery of who killed a talented artist had plenty of twists and turns, but the time and place of the story loomed large over it and felt distracting.

The Gallery Assistant is a fast paced thriller set in the world of New York City’s high end art scene. The story follows Chloe Harlow, a gallery assistant who wakes up after an artist’s party with unsettling memory gaps. Her unease deepens when the party’s host is found dead the next morning, thrusting her into a disturbing search for answers.

As Chloe begins to piece together what really happened, it becomes clear she can’t trust everyone around her. Friends gaslight her, trusted colleagues hide secrets, and the sense of paranoia grows. With Chloe as an unreliable narrator, readers unravel the mystery alongside her looking for motive and truth.
The story is rich with behind the scenes glimpses of the elite art world and features an array of characters. While the narrative maintains tension throughout, the final stretch loses a bit of momentum and grounding. Still, The Gallery Assistant remains an easy, engaging read that delivers suspense and psychological twists with style.

Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for the advanced reader copy. This is my honest review.

This book was like if you took Ottessa Mosfegh’s My Year of Rest and Relaxation but had it written by Frieda McFadden. Party girl gallery assistant accidentally may have witnessed a murder? Oh but because of aforementioned partying, she really can’t remember. Did I mention this takes place shortly after 9/11 in NYC and our main girl also is suffering from PTSD from being in the north tower that day? Overall I enjoyed this book. It was a quick read for me. I’m not really sure why, but in the beginning I thought everyone was British. I had to put down the book and see if the author was British and realized she wasn’t and maybe I just envisioned this subplot in my mind. Once I got over that- and was back on track, I was very much locked into our story. I loved the idea, but at times the plot seemed to get a little far fetched (especially in the end). I am rounding the stars up to four though because I am usually good at guessing the plot twist at the end, and I did not guess this, nor did I guess who the murderer was. I think if you like a typical thriller but want a more elevated narrative, this book is perfect for you. Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for the free ecopy in exchange for my honest opinion.

Fast paced thriller that kept me in the edge of my seat, a bit predictable, but I really enjoyed the premise and the atmosphere was just so glorious. The author used great imagery!

This was my first book by Kate Belli! I thoroughly enjoyed this story! I am not usually into art, nor do I know anything about art, so reading this was a little nerve-wracking for me. This story was so good! It was fast-paced, twisty, a little emotional, and kept me hooked! This definitely won't be my last book by this author!

I want to personally thank NetGalley, as well as the author, publisher, and anyone else involved in providing copies, for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Atria Books for my arc!

This ended up not being what i expected it to be but i was definitely not mad about it. the story was interesting and kept me engaged. But Chloe really should've just seen a therapist and i feel like a majority of her issues could've been solved.

I wanted to love this mystery thriller, but it didn’t quite deliver. The book is concise with a slow-burn pace. I liked the themes, short chapters, and diverse characters. Told from Chloe’s point of view, it’s set in post-9/11 New York where she works at an art gallery and struggles with PTSD. When a painter is murdered, Chloe tries to piece together what happened while facing heavy gaslighting and distrust.

The story leans more toward mystery and dark vibes than thriller. The setting before cell phones felt realistic, but there were too many characters to keep track of. Chloe’s vulnerability and struggles felt authentic, making it hard but rewarding to read at times. Overall, I give it 3 out of 5 stars. Fans of art world mysteries and dark psychological stories might still enjoy it.

3.75/5 - Honestly, this book was good. I was engaged and it kept me guessing - I honestly couldn't predict the ending. I think what turned me off was the 9/11 flashbacks. I wasn't expecting them and it was a bit unsettling for me (which is totally expected when you're re-living such a traumatic event).