A review by johndiconsiglio
The Crime Writer by Jill Dawson

3.0

A disorienting novel in which real-life, don’t-call-her-a-crime-writer Patricia Highsmith finds herself in a drama worthy of her own books. The Talented Mr. Ripley author retreats to an English cottage to write & await her married lover. Complications arise (the lover’s husband, a nosey journalist). Violence ensues. Suddenly switches from 3rd to a hallucinatory 1st person. Is this the book “Pat” is writing? Her own teetering psyche? A bigger Highsmith fan than I can probably tell truth from fiction, but maybe not reality from fantasy. Slow to start, picks up nicely.