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BOOK INFO
Title: The Gallery Assistant
Author: Kate Belli
Publisher: Atria/Emily Bestler Books
Publish Date: October 14, 2025
Genre: Mystery Thriller
Series: na
My Rating: 3/5
BOOK BLURB
November 2001: Chloe Harlow wakes up late, with hazy memories of the party the night before but no recollection of how she got back to her Brooklyn apartment. Ever since the terrifying and catastrophic terrorist attack, it seems she has been on a collision course with destruction.
When she finally arrives at the exclusive Upper East Side art gallery where she works, she is immediately called into her boss’s office. A pair of NYPD detectives greet her, also very curious to know how her evening ended…because the host of the party, a rising painter and the gallery’s newest artist, is dead.
Navigating both the sophisticated high-stakes art world and her personal life in burgeoning Williamsburg, Chloe struggles to piece together a complete picture of that lost night. As she digs deeper, inconsistencies emerge between what she remembers and what people tell her actually happened, and more questions are raised. Everything begins to feel like a conspiracy and maybe it is. Because Chloe is the only one who glimpses the secrets the murdered artist left behind, and the closer she gets to the truth…the more deadly it becomes.
MY REVIEW
The Gallery Assistant is about a young woman caught up in a murder. Chloe works as an art gallery assistant, and wakes up one morning with a foggy memory of the night before. Turns out, the gallery’s newest artist was killed, and Chloe was the last one to see her alive.
The Gallery Assistant is set in 2001, in a post 9/11 New York City. Chloe survived the attack, but suffers from PTSD. She’s also an alcoholic with low self-esteem, making her an unreliable narrator. Suspicious characters and a complex plot make for an intriguing thriller.
Slow burning and atmospheric, The Gallery Assistant is a character driven mystery. Recommended to fans of the art world and slow paced mysteries.
I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.