Who is Maud Dixon? by Alexandra Andrews

 What a fun debut that took me by surprise after a sort of slow start that built to a wild climax and a fitting conclusion.

Florence Darrow, an editorial assistant at Forrester Books, isn't living the life she imagined. She'd always thought of herself as eventually becoming a famous author, but her job in New York hasn't opened up the opportunities she'd expected. When she makes a series of stupid decisions that result in her termination at Forrester Books, she's thrilled when offered a position with the famous Maud Dixon. Maud Dixon is a pseudonym for the author of the bestseller, MISSISSIPPI FOXTROT, and Florence is hired to be her assistant as she writes her second book. Florence, under a strict confidentiality agreement, travels to meet Helen Wilcox and take up the position at Helen's secluded home in Cairo in upstate New York. The only other person who  knows Maud Dixon's real identity is her editor, Greta Frost, and Florence will be taking over the correspondence with her and helping Helen with research. The two women get along well and Florence sees Helen as a mentor and guide, hoping that she will be inspired and actually start work on her own novel. Helen soon proposes a trip to Morocco for research and Florence is excited as she experiences the novelty of foreign travel.

But then, suddenly, everything comes to an end when Florence wakes up in a Semat hopsital after an apparent car crash. Somehow the police think she is Helen Wilcox and no one has said anything about another victim. Is Helen dead? And, if so, is it possible that Florence could step up and take over the Maud Dixon name? NO SPOILERS.

The first half of the book is full of details setting the stage and to introduce the reader to the character of Florence Darrow. At 26-years-old, she is naive and directionless even while thinking she's got this tremendous potential despite having an unremarkable life trajectory to this point. Things pick up when Florence travels to Cairo, meets Helen, and starts to get to know the woman behind the famous name. Morocco is where the main action occurs and I enjoyed the descriptions of the country and this is when the pace of the narrative picks up making the book impossible to put down as the twists and turns keep coming. Although I never really felt an affinity for either Florence or Helen, I had to applaud the ending. Once I figured out what was really going on, I couldn't help but admire the deft plotting and the excellent storytelling skill. I look forward to reading other reviews of this title as I enjoyed it very much.

Thank you to NetGalley and Little, Brown and Company for this e-book ARC to read, review, and recommend.

This is a standalone and is not part of any series.

Genre - mystery/thriller