I just loved this fun 'book within a book'. The actual mystery was nothing special, but the back and forth between Hannah and Leo mixed with the book chapters and the addition of the character named Leo was so clever, The correspondence was actually the part I enjoyed most, but I liked how it it all worked together. If you've ever been part of a writers' critique group, you'll get an extra kick out of Leo's advice and what Hannah chooses to do with it. Very entertaining read!

This was a little tricky for me at first. The whole story within a story murder mystery, mystery was a lot to take in. Won't lie, got confused a time or two in the first couple chapters until I was able to sort things out in my own mind. (That isn't a jab at the writing itself, rather an observation of myself I felt was worth noting.)

With that being said, this was an incredibly well written and twisty story that had me guessing the whole time, who dunnit?

The elaborate way in which every nuanced detail of the location, characters and general surroundings was written really made me feel like I was sitting in BPL watching this all unfold. Truly a talented writer to make that happen and to hold that feeling throughout the story.

Enjoyed getting immersed in this story and all of the characters.

As a librarian, I absolutely had to read The Woman in the Library. There was/is a lot of hype surrounding this book and it is there for a reason. Read this thriller and you will not be disappointed! Did NOT see that twist coming...

The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill
Publication date: June 7, 2022

Date read: July 17, 2022



The ornate reading room at the Boston Public Library is quiet, until the silence is shattered by a woman’s terrified scream. While they wait for the all-clear from security, four strangers sitting at the same table pass the time in conversation and a friendship is struck. Each person at that table has their own reason for being in the reading room that morning - it just so happens that one of them is murder.

This book is kind of two books in one. First, there is the murder mystery. Second, there is the writing of the murder mystery. Between chapters, we are shown letters from a fan of the author who she is using as a proofreader and resource (since the reader lives in the Boston area and the author does not). Confusing? At first. But after a few chapters, I got used to the format and ended up really enjoying the choice to write it this way.

There are a lot of unlikable characters in this book. I definitely found myself getting angry about comments or choices that characters made, only to realize later that the comment was not a mistake by the author, but rather foreshadowing about the motives of a character. So give the author a little more benefit of the doubt than I did.

Murder mysteries are hard to review, because I really don’t want to give away any plot points. So I’ll speak only in general terms about the book itself, rather than the plot.

I thought that the book was written pretty well, if not perfectly. There were some obvious cliches and some romantic relationships that had me rolling my eyes a bit. But it was a decent murder mystery and I feel that the reveal holds up and doesn’t leave any unanswered questions that I can recall. So while I didn’t love the characters and relationships as much as I wish I had, I enjoyed the mystery enough that I would recommend this one.

Overall, it’s a fun murder mystery with a little added twist of a fourth wall break (the mystery being shown to be a book that an author was writing). Enjoyable, as long as you don’t take it all too seriously.

Rating: 3.5/5 stars

Trigger warning: murder, pandemic, physical assault, mentions of sexual assault, mentions of Australian wildfires, racism, stalking

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book.

Fab little mystery/thriller for fans of Agatha Christie! I loved it and it kept me on my toes, I couldn’t guess it! Wonderful writing and I will recommend it to all of my fellow thriller lovers!

A story that starts with a mysterious death in the Boston Public Library? Count me in. I thoroughly enjoy this book. The alternating chapters between Freddie's story and her Leo's letters kept things interesting. I may have been there more for Leo's storyline by the end - suspenseful and well done! I'll definitely be recommending to friends.

Unfortunately, I have been locked out of my netgalley account for a few months and was not able to see which books I had on my list, in order to properly read and review. I do apologize and am doing a 3 for neutral. Will update once I’m able to obtain a copy and read!

Thank you to #NetGalley and publishers for the ARC of #TheWomanInTheLibrary in exchange for an honest review.

This book was set up so that the author is writing a murder book and getting editor feedback from someone who is also murdering people. It’s a little meta and if that’s not for you, you might not like it - but not in the breaking the fourth wall sense. The murder book story is fairly straightforward and I had it figured out about halfway through. The editor-writer story is set up so that there could be a sequel if they wanted.

A twisty tale that was filled with characters I didn’t necessarily love but who kept me flying through the story. I also loved the setting and the peeling back of the layers of each character underlying story.

I will definitely be picking up this author again.

Unfortunately, I DNF’ed this book at 18%. I got confused what was going on pretty quickly and just didn’t have it in me to keep reading. The letters or side story didn’t make any sense or brought anything valuable to the rest of the book. I am not sure where the author was going with it there.
Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I think this was a case of a book being marketed oddly - and it set me up to be disappointed. I'm not generally a fan of lists in reviews, but I feel like this is the best way to approach a book that wasn't for me, but had some good qualities.

Read this if you like :
--story within a story books
--the premise of a possibly unreliable narrator
--a meta concept that each of the characters is being created to suit the narrator/writer of the story within a story
--a mystery with a few characters, who have backstories that are slowly revealed....kinda

Skip it if you don't like :
--unbelievable insta-friendship and unbelievable insta-love
--stories that seem like they might have a lot to do with a library, but really don't
--slow burn stories
--endings that happen quickly and don't give you a lot of detail

It has to be said that I felt like the library aspect of this, in plot and title, felt like it was just added to appeal to bookish folk who enjoy reading about a library in a plot. If this had been called The Woman in the Gas Station, would it have appealed to as many people and prompted them to pick it up? But the location is arbitrary.

I consumed to this book all in one sitting, which is something I haven't done in ages.

I didn't know going into it that there is a book within a book element, and I must admit that I am a bit of a sucker for that trope. I was intrigued to see how both plots would progress, and honestly figure that if folks didn't enjoy this, it's because they are not fond of that device (although they could obviously have other reasons).

The mystery of who the murderer ended up being was intriguing to untangle, and I'm glad my uneasy about the beta reader didn't going no where.

TW for racist stereotypes and ranting of that nature.

The four characters who hear the scream in the library become friends beause of the scream. But one of them is the killer, how could that be when they are all four at the librayr table?
This book is written with an interesting format: an author writing a mystery whena fellow author offers suggestions as the author submits chapters.
Difficult to put this one down. I felt the fellow author, Leo, was not a nice person. Read to see what ensues in this unusual mystery.

What I Loved:

The Characters. Freddie, Marigold, Whit, and Cain are four strangers that bond after being at the same table in the Boston library when a woman is killed. Winnie and Cain are writers and studies of character who blossom into friends and more. Marigold is a tattooed, kick ass psychology major, loyal friend, and a *little* crazy, who is in love with Whit the perpetual Harvard Law student with mommy issues. As the four of them continue to hang out more, romances blossom, secrets come out, and they are all in danger… or are they? In the background is Leo the neighbor, but also Leo the writer’s helper. Similar characters, but very different functions to the story. I loved them all. Gentill creates such rich characters, all with flaws and secrets and layers like onions. You could picture eating ridiculous donuts and crying over a glass of wine with each of them, you see each character in the people you walk by in the city. Complex characters are hard to find in some thrillers, but not here.

The Atmosphere/Setting. Picture Boston in the fall heading towards winter. It is “college” season, with everyone going to and from colleges, seeking warm libraries and hot coffee, glasses of wine and romance. And yet, a layer of dread hangs in the air, of anticipation. A girl from one of those very Boston schools is dead in our narrator’s book. Multiple women from real-world Boston are turning up dead. Women are being stalked, “gifts” are showing up with no senders, and it is hard to trust anyone: even those closest to you. That is what pervades Woman in the Library. It is eerie, it is spooky, and it makes you want to cuddle up with your blanket and wine.

The “Story in the Story“, second half: I will admit, the meta nature of Woman in the Library completely threw me for the first third of the book. I was having a hard time separating the “real” author based in Australia from the character writer currently living in Boston, and the “real” Leo the proofreader from book Leo, a writer in residence in Boston and Winnie’s neighbor. The real world letters from Leo to the author also threw me out of “fantasy land,” like when he brings up masks, wildfires, and other insanity going on in the real world. However, as the pace picks up and the suspense builds, I was able to not only understand the split storyline but become deeply invested in both the novel characters and the “real life” author’s issues. I devoured the second half of this book, anxiously awaiting resolutions to both stories.

What Didn’t Work as Well:

“Story in the story” first half: On the flip side, when I first began Woman in the Library, I was deeply confused. None of the promotional material for this book mentioned that the characters in the book are actually actively being written by the “main” character, a writer in Australia, and that the murder in the book is not the “real” murder we are trying to solve. I was confused at the onset, and almost put down Woman in the Library” after the first two chapters. If this wasn’t an ARC, I might have.

The “Actual” Author. Due to the set up as described above, the “actual” writer of the characters, Hannah Tigone is never actually heard from throughout The Woman in the Library. The only way we know her is through correspondence with “real Leo” and with the FBI. I never got a real sense of what this woman was really like, which I guess was the intent since she is the “author,” but still felt like a loss.

Short synopsis: someone is murdered in the Boston public library

My thoughts: the concept of this was so interesting and unique. A story within a story, set in the Boston public library (which is amazing if you’ve never been there).

All in so I was somewhat confused through the majority of the book, but may have just not been in the right headspace to properly post attention to the details this .

Read if you love:
* slow burn mystery
*plot twists
*who done it
*unique multi layered writing style

“Still, there might be something fitting about a friendship based on a common love of words being founded on an exchange of the same.”

The Boston Public Library’s opulent reading room is serene until a woman’s horrified scream breaks the stillness. Security personnel takes over right away, telling everyone inside to remain put until the threat is discovered and neutralized. Four strangers who happened to be seated at the same table while waiting for the all-clear engage in discussion and formed friendships during this period. Each person was in the reading room that morning for a different reason; it just so happens that one of them is a murderer. In the Boston Public Library, Harriet, an Australian implant writer, stares towards the ceiling in the hopes of getting ideas for a new book. Fortunately, Cain, Whit, and Marigold are seated at the same table when they overhear the horrifying sound of a lady screaming. They end up becoming friends quickly and easily after being shocked. only to learn quickly that the wailing woman had been killed. Who killed her? Could it be a person seated at the table?

This entertaining mystery is recounted from Harriet’s point of view. Leo, a reader of Hannah, the author of the novel we’re reading, is featured in alternating chapters that tell a story within a story. I’ll start by saying I liked this. Life intervened, forcing me to put it down, but it continued to circulate in my thoughts, which was a very nice thing. It was an unusual read because it was told in two tracks (first, the author’s writing of the title story and then, second, the communication of her beta reader responding to the narrative with comments and ideas). I’ve read novels in this style before, but this one stood out as being interesting.

I thought this part of the narrative was cleverer, funnier, and slightly creepier than the main one, and it built to its conclusion in a more gratifying way. Although it does demand some concentration and the primary plot’s resolution felt anticlimactic to me, I still found the mystery to be quite fascinating, though I did feel a little lost in the first few chapters as I tried to understand the characters. I do not doubt that this very original and modern interpretation of a murder mystery will be very well received. Readers are taken on a nuanced journey by Gentill into the confusing world of friendships, where things may not always be as they seem. Even though I figured this one out, the characters and plots are so deceptively camouflaged that it had no impact on how much I enjoyed reading. This tale is dark, suspenseful, and incredibly engaging. This will be a hit with mystery lovers.

The Woman in the Library is a layered murder mystery. Four strangers are seated together at the library when they hear a woman's scream. This event brings these strangers together, and together they investigate not only who did it, but what exactly transpired to begin with.

First of all, I loved that the story took place at the Boston Public Library, a famously old and beautiful location. The story itself was interesting with three different threads running through the book, the actual story with the four strangers, the notes/book that the author is writing based on the scream in the library, and a series of letters mailed to the author. While I loved this aspect, the storylines did get a bit muddled and confusing. I gave the book 3 stars for this reason. An excellent setting and great characters, but just a little too messy for me to enjoy. Would still recommend for someone who can focus on the storylines and enjoys a mystery within a mystery!

If you are looking for a murder mystery that is incredibly well crafted, will keep you guessing around every turn, and has a cast of characters that you will fall hard for… LOOK NO FURTHER!! I am absolutely enthralled with this book! The alternating chapter perspectives provide an additional sub plot that is just as intriguing as the main plot. I still have some questions about the ending, and it will probably live rent free in my head for a while. Highly, highly recommend this book!!

It seems readers are either absolutely loving this book - or not. Unfortunately, I did not. I did not finish. I like the premise, and the way it was written was so different, but it didn't hold my attention. I'm so disappointed that I didn't love it. Doesn't mean others won't. I hope they do.

DNF at 20%

Ultimately, I can’t get into this one no matter how hard I try. The writing style is odd, and audio being my primary form of consumption isn’t helping. I’d be better off putting this one down than forcing my way through a plot that I don’t really care about.