Just Finished Reading: The Ending Writes Itself
Just finished reading: The Ending Writes Itself, by Evelyn Clarke.
This novel is advertised as a mystery. "Debut mystery", no less. Well, I am not sure what genre this novel fits in, but I don't quite see this as a mystery. Yes, the identity of the murderer -- there is a murderer, and you can tell there will be a murderer just by looking at the book cover, so it's not really a spoiler -- is not revealed until the last chapters. But the story doesn't seem to invite the reader to figure out who the murderer is. Instead, the questions I have in my head while reading are these: is this really a mystery novel, or is there a twist coming? Are there clues and red herrings, or (as the novel admitted, I think) is there really just one big obvious clue that we all pretend doesn't matter? (No, no, no, and, if I am not wrong, yes.)
But, nevertheless, I am entertained. The world-building is mostly believable, and I do care about some of the characters. I will definitely recommend this novel if you are looking for a fun and entertaining read. But don't go in to look for a mystery. I don't think there are much of a mystery genre.
For a novel about writers, one of them famous, and another very up-and-coming, I am glad we don't get much of an excerpts of any of these novels-within-the-novel. It will be very hard to pull this trick off. (Example "The Plot: A Novel", or the television show "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip".) I am glad the author didn't try to write much of these excerpts and proclaim why they are great.
And, yes, this is the novel I am reading where the young up-and-coming writer claimed that she doesn't know what is a MacGuffin. It took me out of the novel for a minute. Seriously? A novel writer doesn't know the term? I don't quite believe that.
Side note: Do we need some AI to generate more and more plot devices for authors to use so as to keep cell phones out of stories, for, otherwise, there will not be much of a story? But then, I just realized, gen AI are not famous for being innovative nor creative, and we will have the same plot devices recycled over and over again, so… on second though… forget about what I say about AIs.
Oh, a second recommendation here: go read Agatha Christie's "And Then There Were None". It's great. (And it's legitimately a mystery novel.)
P.S.: This is not, strictly speaking, a debut novel.