‘A ghostwriter is tasked with capturing the memoirs of a man who might be a murderer and he’s ready to confess…‘
– Burn After Reading
[ About Burn After Reading ]
The night Jack Smyth ran into flames in a desperate attempt to save his wife from their burning home, he was, tragically, too late – but hailed a hero. Until it emerged that Kate was dead long before the fire began.
Suspicion has stalked him ever since. After all, there’s no smoke without fire.
A year on, he’s signed a book deal. He wants to tell his side of the story, to prove his own innocence in print. He just needs someone to help him write it.
Emily has never ghostwritten anything before, but she knows what it’s like to live with a guilty secret. And she’s about to learn that there are some stories that should never be told..
[ My Review ]
Burn After Reading by Catherine Ryan Howard published with Bantam April 10th 2025 and is described as a ‘gripping, must-read mystery thriller’. I was very lucky to be in a position to interview Catherine Ryan Howard on a panel at the recent Cork World Book Festival, alongside fellow crime fiction writer Catherine Kirwan (The Seventh Body) and it was fascinating to get some insights into their inspiration and research, and how they plot and build suspense.
The premise of a ghostwriter working with a potential murderer is immediately intriguing. Add competitive cycling, a writer grappling with a deep secret and a fictional community in Florida (inspired by the real-life resort community of Seaside which was the location for The Truman Show) and you can be guaranteed an entertaining read. Catherine was also inspired by the OJ Simpson book If I Did It: Confessions of the Killer that caused huge controversy at the time with its publication being eventually cancelled.
Five years ago Emily’s novel The Witness was a number-one bestseller but, since then, she has struggled to write another book. Locked into a two-book deal, Emily was thrilled with the advance cheque paid to her at the time but now, the money is gone and Emily is floundering. When she receives a phone call from the publisher requesting a face-to-face meeting, she balks at the thought but knows her hands are tied. Working in a call centre, Emily lives with her boyfriend Mark. She is content in her relationship but there is an underlying vulnerability that she carries on her shoulders, one that remains a constant shadow in her life.
Emily has no choice but to meet with the publishing contingent but little does she know that her next move is about to dramatically change the course of her life. The request is bizarre but one she has to consider. One of Ireland’s most notorious cyclists is the centre of a public trial. His wife, Kate, the love of his life, died tragically in a house fire. Jack had ran into a wall of flames to try and rescue her but he was too late. He garnered the sympathy of the public until it was revealed that Kate was already dead when Jack entered the burning house that night. Now with huge suspicion cast over him, Jack wants the world to know his story.
Jack isn’t a writer so the publishers recommend Emily. If she ghostwrites this book all debts are paid but there is a huge catch. Emily has to up sticks immediately and fly to a newly developed urban community near Seaside in Florida, where she will have to remain locked away with Jack Smyth, under strict rules, while she gathers sufficient information. A scary prospect indeed but one Emily has little time to consider as the pressure is on to repay her advance.
Emily flies to Florida, meets with Jack Smyth and is quickly confused. Did he do it? Is he innocent? As he recounts his life and his relationship with Kate, we are given a snapshot, an almost voyeuristic view of Jack’s old life and how, in his words, he finds himself in this nightmare right now.
As the suspense mounts, our own doubts emerge. Different characters are introduced into the mix, confusing the narrative and our understanding of what really happened. Unexpected plot twists keep the reader engaged at all times as crucial information is slowly disclosed at a pace that maintains the reader’s interest without giving away too much too early.
Burn After Reading is a twisty and suspenseful mystery. Catherine Ryan Howard spent time in Seaside in Florida researching the setting which adds an extra layer of authenticity to the whole vibe of the novel. Emily’s character is wonderfully eked out as her own personal story is tantalisingly revealed with the reader left slightly discombobulated at multiple stages, trying to figure out the guilty versus the innocent.
An absorbing, page-turner, Burn After Reading is a clever and very satisfying thriller, one that will appeal to all looking for that elusive escape that we all need right now in our fiction.
[ Bio ]
Catherine Ryan Howard is the author of eight novels including the no. 1 bestsellers The Nothing Man, 56 Days and The Trap. Her work has been shortlisted for the Mystery Writers of America Edgar Award for Best Novel, the Crime Writers Association New Blood and Steel Daggers, and Irish Crime Fiction Book of the Year multiple times. The screen adaptation of her lockdown thriller, 56 Days, is currently in production and will debut on Amazon Prime Video this year. She lives in Dublin.
