The Writing Class by Jincy Willett (4 / 5 Stars)

The Writing Class by Jincy Willet is many things: intelligently-humorous, whip-smart, well-written, entertaining, engrossing, suspenseful, and scary – just to name a few! When I grow up I want to be Jincy Willett!

This book will be a real treat for all fiction lovers, writers, and wannabe writers. The Writing Class manages to combine mystery/suspense elements with classic fiction elements making the end result a fast-paced thriller for smart readers as well as a semi-tutorial on how to write a decent story.

In the novel, reclusive eccentric Amy Gallup teaches an extension fiction writing class at the local college. At first, Amy is pleasantly surprised by the high potential exhibited by this semester’s group of students. However, her dream class soon turns into a nightmare when one of the students starts playing malevolent pranks on both Amy and on the other students. The pranks eventually escalate to murder and Amy must use everything at her disposal to try and nab the killer amongst the group. The resource with the most potential is the student’s writing and Amy examines each student’s prose for the clues.

Anyone who has participated in a writing workshop (or for that matter, in any small collegiate class) will be able to relate to the class dynamic portrayed in this novel. As is almost always the case in these courses, the class is comprised of the know-it-all, the slacker, the pretty girl, the class clown, etc. The characters are maddening, amusing, and creepy and all of the other adjectives one can remember people in school being. Ms. Willett’s descriptive talents are truly frightening (pun intended)!

Although, Amy Gallup (the workshop teacher), would admonish me for my use of cliché, I can’t help but describe this novel as a “real page turner!”