Synopsis

From New York Times bestselling author J.T. Ellison comes a taut thriller about one author at the pinnacle of her career, whose past threatens to destroy everything she has—and everyone she knows.

A great writer knows when to deliver a juicy plot twist. But for one author, the biggest twist of all is her own murder.

With a number of hit titles and a highly anticipated movie tie-in, celebrated novelist Columbia Jones is at the top of her game. Fans around the world adore her. But on the final night of her latest book tour, one face in the crowd makes the author collapse. And by the next morning, she’s lying dead in a pool of blood.

Columbia’s death shocks the world and leaves Darian, her daughter and publicist, reeling. The police have nothing to go on—at first. But then details emerge, pointing to the author’s illicit past. Turns out many people had motive to kill Columbia. And with a hungry reporter and frustrated cop on the trail, her secrets won’t stay buried long. But how many lives will they shatter as the truth comes out?

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If you are an Amazon Prime member, grab this book from the First Reads program by 10/31/24. 

This book will be released on November 1, 2024.

Review

I love a good, twisty psychological thriller, and this one does not disappoint. Especially with the bomb drop in the epilogue!

Columbia is a famous author who dies during a book tour. Riley is the journalist chosen to document her life and this tour. Darian is Columbia’s daughter and partner in crime. What neither Riley nor Darian expects is to find commonality while seeking answers to Columbia’s death.

I really enjoyed this book and the different plot twists. Some I saw coming, others were unexpected. The story goes between the present and the draft of a story written by Columbia and has never been published. Why is that? Is there more to the story than meets the eye? There is a varied cast of characters who all help move the storyline forward. Chapters are told from different viewpoints, which helps bring together the story and potential missing pieces that various characters hold.

I had a hard time putting this book down. I wondered if Riley would be safe, who killed Columbia, and what was the past that Columbia was desperately trying to hide. All of these questions are answered, and the upside is that the book is primarily told over about a week. There are some throwbacks to bring context to the storyline, but not too much.

I enjoyed this book and give it 5 paws up.

Interview

What inspired you to write A VERY BAD THING?

Ironically, it was a conversation with one of my dear friends, bookseller Barbara Peters, owner of the Poisoned Pen Bookstore in Scottsdale. We were talking about Agatha Christie, and she told me she’d visited her house once. Her description of the interior was fascinating, and a story idea hit me like a lightning bolt—a young woman inheriting the home of an author who’d died under mysterious circumstances. As happens with nascent ideas, they grow and change and morph, and the end result doesn’t resemble this original idea in anything but spirit. Happily, though, I’m using those first concepts to write another story that is more in line with the original plot idea. It’s a rich tapestry to work from.

How did you choose the novel’s title?

I love titling books—they’re either literal or metaphorical, and this one is so literal. The book’s prologue is a letter from a mother to her daughter, a posthumous admission of guilt, and the second line is: “Many, many years ago, I did a very bad thing.” It gave me chills when I wrote it. It had all the elements of a great title. Happily, everyone agreed. Sometimes, hitting on the perfect title is a lot more challenging, but we got this one right away.

What are some recurring themes in your work?

My core theme is very straightforward: I love stories about women finding their power and place in the world, and almost every book I’ve ever written has a variation of this theme. I’m also a huge fan of mythology, so my books often have elements of these origin stories. I’m also interested in how we as a society function in a highly curated world. How much can be believed about the people we think we know? What might the real story be? And finally, justice for those who can’t get it for themselves. A college friend of mine (Dail Dinwiddie) went missing in 1992. She disappeared after a U2 concert in Columbia, South Carolina, and I think every story has that sense of dislocation and loss at its heart.

What about domestic suspense as a genre appeals to you as an author?

I spent many years writing stories where a law enforcement officer knocks on someone’s door to share terrible news. Those stories are fascinating, but the more I wrote, the more I realized what really intrigues me is the Janus twin: What happens inside that house, on the other side of the door, when the bad news is received? How does it break a family? What sort of cracks were visible—and invisible—before this tragic event? What set it in motion? Who, if anyone, is at fault? And of course, how well do we really know the people we love? What secrets are they hiding? (I’m a lot of fun at dinner parties, putting these ideas in people’s heads, I’ll tell you that.)

About the Author

J.T. Ellison is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of more than thirty novels and the Emmy Award–winning co-host of the literary TV show A Word on Words. She also writes urban fantasy under the pen name Joss Walker.

With millions of books in print, her work has won critical acclaim and prestigious awards. Her titles have been optioned for television and published in twenty-eight countries.

J.T. lives with her husband and twin kittens, one of whom is a ghost, in Nashville, where she is hard at work on her next novel.

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