DEADLY AUTHORS AND MURDEROUS RETREATS: NEW 2026 CRIME FROM EVELYN CLARKE, ANTHONY HOROWITZ & VICTORIA BROWNLEE

Writing crime fiction is obviously more dangerous than it looks, based on the number of recent books about authors being caught up in murder and mayhem.

Pleasant looking writing retreats seem to be particularly dangerous, with normally idyllic locations around the world being turned into scenes of carnage. From a remote island in the Irish Sea (The Fog by Brooke Hardwick) to the Adirondack Mountains in northern America (The Writing Retreat by Julia Bartz) to Australia’s own Blue Mountains in January Gilchrist’s The Final Chapter, writers are getting more than they bargained for when they try to find somewhere nice and quiet to write. A new addition to the list is Victoria Brownlee’s The Writers Retreat, (review below), in which struggling Australian author Kat Hale finds that the Provencal atmosphere of the South of France also has more than its share of dangers.

Even book conventions and seemingly casual gatherings of authors can be dangerous, as shown in Anthony Horowitz’s A Line To Kill, Gabriel Bergmoser’s inventive Backstory, Alex Pavesi’s Ink Ribbon Red, and Ande Pliego’s You Are Fatally Invited, where six thriller authors find themself caught up in their own deadly whodunnit. Evelyn Clarke’s recent The Ending Writes Itself, (see review below), provides a clever twist on the theme with six authors being invited to a private Scottish island to participate in a million dollar competition to write the killer final chapter in an unfinished book by a deceased master crime writer. Not surprisingly, things do not end well.

The author as detective, has also become an increasingly popular motif. Anthony Horowitz’s excellent series about former police detective Daniel Hawthorne, in which Horowitz himself plays a major role as Hawthorne’s chronicler and assistant, probably sets the gold standard for this sub-genre and the latest one, A Deadly Episode is terrific (see review below). Other recent examples include forthcoming books by Jess Kitching (The Secrets Of Strangers) and C. B. Everett’s intriguing The Final Chapter (both previewed below). While there have also been a plethora of books over the years with actual historical authors from Agatha Christie to Oscar Wilde and even Charles Dickens cast as detectives.

Publishers and editors also get into the act on occasion, most notably in Anthony Horowitz’s series about editor Susan Ryeland (Magpie Murders etc) and Mike Ripley’s engaging Buried Above Ground and his forthcoming Played To Death (reviewing shortly). While New Zealanders Gareth and Louise Ward’s series about bookshop owning detectives Garth and Eloise, is also full of charm and fun.

Finally, there are books in which authors just seem to be in trouble. Sarah Vaughan’s recent Based On A True Story, in which a famed 70 year old children’s author, Dame Eleanor Kingman, finds her past coming back to haunt her with deadly results, is a good example. As is Natalie Barelli Finders Keepers, about a woman who discovers that her private teenage diaries have been turned into a bestselling novel.

So there is plenty to choose from for those who like to mix authors and writing with crime.

The Daniel Hawthorne books, in which Anthony Horowitz features as a character himself, are an absolute treat. I binged my way through them last year and found each one to be excellent. In the latest, A Deadly Episode (Century, 21 April 2026), a murder takes place on the film set where the first book in the Hawthorne series, The Word is Murder, is being filmed.

The actors have been cast, the script written, and filming has already started in Hastings. However, when Hawthorne and Anthony visit the set, they find a far from happy family. The director’s pretentious, the screenwriter’s an eco-warrior, the two stars hate each other, and the producer has run out of money.

And things are about to get much, much worse. In the middle of shooting, the actor playing Hawthorne is stabbed, which leaves the real Hawthorne with no choice. He has to step in and investigate his own murder. Because the killer may not have got the right man. Was it Hawthorne himself who was meant to be the target?

A Deadly Episode engages from the opening pages. Horowitz’s unassuming narration drives the story along at a good pace, as he tries to keep up with Hawthorne’s detective work. The book takes an unexpected detour around the midway point, as older crimes are introduced, and there are an abundance of twists and turns as the two investigations unfold. Horowitz’s solo attempts at detection add some good context to the story, as well as some amusing diversions, and his wry asides on the writing life are always interesting . It is also good to see that Horowitz gets some half wins against Hawthorne along the way to the final solution.

Horowitz is no stranger to television and film sets, from his time on Foyle’s War and other productions, and A Deadly Episode is filled with interesting snippets of insider information and a credible background of sniping actors, greedy agents and frustrated directors. The ending perhaps lacks the energy and tension of the previous books, but it is still cleverly worked out and typically surprising. Terrific fun.

A Deadly Episode is released in Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States on 21, 23 and 28 April 2026, respectively.

The Ending Writes Itself, (HQ, 14 April 2026), by the pseudonymous Evelyn Clarke, is a high concept novel which comes with much hype and a strong recommendation from Stephen King. Fortunately, much of it is warranted.

A collaboration between bestselling fantasy author V.E. Schwab and her friend and screenwriter Cat Clarke, The Ending Writes Itself uses the frame of a murder mystery to poke gentle fun at the worlds of publishing and writing.

Six struggling authors from the across the genres are invited to a private island off the coast of Scotland. The island is owned by the world-famous mystery author Arthur Fletch. When the authors arrive, they discover that Fletch is dead. His final novel, the most anticipated book in history, remains unfinished. But the ending won’t write itself. The authors are given seventy-two hours to write their version of the ending, with the author who writes the best one winning a large financial reward and the opportunity to restart their flagging career. Of course, things soon go awry.

I won’t reveal any of the machinations that occur, or the bloody events that unfold, other than to say that I was frequently surprised by the twists and turns of the plot and by the fates of the various authors.

The story telling is breezy and fun, with a good touch of humour, and the insights into the various genres represented by the assembled authors: romance, crime, youth adult, horror, etc, are truly interesting. The mystery elements are well handled, with Schwab and Clarke avoiding some obvious twists, and the clever epilogue nicely wraps everything up. Some suspension of disbelief is needed around the set-up and conclusion, but it is easy to just settle back and be entertained by two very enjoyable authors.

For once the hype is largely deserved – warmly recommended.

The Ending Writes Itself is released in Australia on 14 April 2026 and in the United Kingdom on 9 April 2026.

Bestselling Australian author Kat Hale heads to the south of France to find inspiration in Victoria Brownlee’s The Writers Retreat (Affirm Press, 31 March 2026).

Crumbling under the pressure of writing her second novel, Kat decides on a whim to join a writers retreat in the South of France run by internationally acclaimed author Helen Thorne. What Kat hopes will be two blissfully uninterrupted weeks to focus on her writing in anonymity, quickly turns into something more sinister, when Kat begins to suspect that Helen isn’t quite as perfect as everyone seems to believe.

Kat’s drive to uncover the truth about Helen, is equally matched by Helen’s desire to hold onto her career, her reputation and her writing retreat, leading to a suspenseful conclusion.

The Writers Retreat is a slow burn of a thriller, that gradually tightens its grip on the reader’s attention. Victoria, a celebrated international food writer who once lived in France, brings a good deal of authenticity and cooking detail to her descriptions of the writing retreat and the local area, and creates a strong sense of place.

The story itself alternates between extracts from Kat’s journal and chapters from a novella, and once under way moves at a decent pace. As things come together the tension mounts and the ending is good.

An enjoyable read that will make you think twice about going on a writer’s retreat.

The Writers Retreat was released in Australia on 31 March 2026.

Thriller writer Janine Rai is also suffering from severe writer’s block at the beginning of Jess Kitching’s The Secrets Of Strangers, (Simon & Schuster, 28 April 2026).

A devastating loss has left Janine adrift and unable to write. Even the move to the picturesque Lancashire village of Bamblethorpe does not help, until she encounters a real crime.

Life in the peaceful village life is disrupted when local Alexa Clarke goes missing. Did she leave her husband, like some people suspect? Or is there credibility to the rumours that something more nefarious has happened to Alexa? Easily distracted from her ‘going nowhere’ writing, Janine stumbles into investigating Alexa’s disappearance, and the more she discovers about Alexa’s life, the more complicated things become. Nothing is as it seems, and Janine begins to realise that there are disturbing parallels between Alexa’s life and her own.

What starts as curious procrastination quickly spirals into a tangled web of secrets, lies and a truth Janine may not be ready to face.

I have started reading The Secrets Of Strangers and I am quite enjoying it so far.

The Secrets Of Strangers is released in Australia on 28 April 2026 and in the United Kingdom on 16 July 2026, although the Kindle version will be available in the UK from 28 April 2026.

The Final Chapter, (Atria, 2 June 2026), by C. B. Everett, aka Martyn Waites, is an intriguing sounding thriller that I am keen to read.

The Final Chapter is a book-within-a-book thriller, with the author also being the main detective.

Ten years ago, a bestselling, critically acclaimed literary author, Jon Durward, disappeared without a trace, and without a final novel. When the missing last novel finally surfaces, the publishers are surprised that it is not another genius work of literary fiction, but an espionage novel full of all-too-stereotypical spycraft and James Bond-like twists. The publisher asks the author’s best friend, and fellow author, C.B. Everett to read and annotate the novel with details from real life to give the strange novel context within his larger oeuvre. But as C.B. reads, he finds the espionage thriller is filled with references to events and people who feel a little too familiar, and soon he’s wondering if the novel might in fact be a key to his missing friend’s disappearance. There’s text and subtext aplenty, and C.B. is determined to learn once and for all what happened to his friend through solving the mystery woven into the pages. But the final chapter may hold secrets darker and more threatening than anyone anticipated.

With a strong meta feel to it, The Final Chapter sounds really interesting. Everett/Waites’ last novel, The Other People, also had a very original feel to it, and although it fell a little short in the end, it was still an entertaining read, with some good quirks to it.

The Final Chapter is high on my ‘to read’ list’.

The Final Chapter is released in Australia on 2 June 2026 and in the United Kingdom on 7 May 2026.

Happy reading!