This cleverly written story within a story begins in a library, so what's not to love! Four strangers who are seated at a Boston library table hear a woman's scream. When forced to remain in the library during police investigation, they begin discussions and a friendship ensues. One of the four is our narrator, Freddie, an Australian author who is in the US on a fellowship. Freddie has been stalled in her writing, but the library incident inspires her to begin her book, which includes her 3 new friends as key characters.

Red herrings abound, and the story has many twists and turns and can require a bit of thought to remember which characters are real and which are part of the novel! The characters are believable and the pace is perfect with a slow, menacing build. Unlike many stories within a story, this one was cleverly written with well-placed hints dropped along the way!

In addition to the mystery element, I enjoyed peeking into the life of authors as they are 'birthing' their books, and the various techniques by which they create their stories.

Thank you NewGalley, Poisoned Pen Press, and the author for the advanced readers copy in exchange for an hones review.

When a book's mystery begins with a scream in the Boston Public Library it grabs you! It was such a twist to be told one of the people in the first scene was the murderer! I enjoyed learning about the characters and changing my mind about "who done it" multiple times. It's a story within and story and it keeps you guessing!

This book just didn’t do it for me. I found it to be confusing and hard to follow. I was really excited about the premise of the book but for me it just fell flat.

The premise of a story within a story, a murder mystery within a murder mystery was sooo interesting especially in the backdrop of a library but unfortunately the execution was beyond poor. The plot became so convoluted that I lost interest and found myself not being able to even finish the book. It was a dnf at 75%

4.5 stars.

I really liked this story-within-story. It’s a complex, twisty tale, with each chapter relating the in-story developing relationships amongst four people who were at the Boston Public Library (BPL) when a woman was murdered. Each chapter concludes with an email from beta reader Leo to Hannah Tigone, the Australian author of the chapters. Leo is commenting on character descriptions and plot developments, providing feedback on setting and idiom, and trying to be helpful to the author. Additionally, we find out the COVID-19 pandemic is in progress as the Hannah the mystery/thriller is developing her BPL murder mystery.

Interestingly, the in-story narrator Freddie is also an author, and she and her fellow three library acquaintances become involved, and begin investigating, as it seems the BPL murderer has a connection with the other three. Soon family and acquaintances of three of them begin getting attacked or murdered, with suspicion falling on the one member who has a prison sentence in his past.

Meanwhile, Leo the beta reader’s comments begin to take on a somewhat too familiar, too helpful, lecturing and ominous tone.

This was cleverly written. I became deeply invested in the outcomes of the in-story characters, while I began worrying about Hannah and Leo’s intentions towards her.

I will say that I had to reread the first chapter (and its concluding email) when I started this dual-narrative to get what Sulari Gentill was doing in this book. Then, I sat back and grinned as she built tension in Freddie’s and Hannah’s stories. Freddie’s mystery wasn’t that hard to figure out, despite the many details Gentill dropped into each chapter, but I had fun reading it nonetheless. And regarding Hannah’s situation: I loved how concerned I became for this author over the course of this smartly told and compelling book. This book was so much fun to read!

Thank you to Netgalley and to Poisoned Pen Press for this ARC in exchange for my review.

We meet Freddie, a writer, as she sits in the Boston Public Library, trying to write. She’s observing her tablemates when they all hear a scream. A woman’s body is later found in the library, and the tablemates become fast friends as they try to solve the mystery.

This novel has an interesting structure; there’s the story of Freddie and the scream in the library, interspersed with letters from someone named Leo, offering feedback on the Freddie story.

We see some of his suggestions implemented in the chapters that follow, so it’s obvious that the Freddie chapters are actually a story by someone named Hannah (the recipient of Leo’s letters).

I’m not sure how I feel about the execution of the structure. It took me out of the Freddie story and had me wondering about the Leo/Hannah story. It’s a clever device, but in the end I felt removed from all the characters and felt like both stories were just surface-level.

I enjoyed the mystery, but the ending seemed rushed. To be honest, I didn’t really buy the conclusion. It came out of nowhere and didn’t fit the characters.

All in all, this was a decent mystery.

Thanks to @netgalley and @poisonedpenpress for the eARC.

Check out this book if you like unusual story structures!

This wasn’t the most action packed storyline but it took place mostly in a library so there is that! All in all, I enjoyed it and would recommend it to someone who wants to read something a little bit different.

Why does this continue to happen in mystery books. I am gripped for the first two thirds and the conclusion always falls flat. Every bit of excitement or intrigue that was built was totally flattened by the most lacklustre and lazy ending of a book I've read in a while. I actually feel robbed! I gave it three stars purely for the initial stages but I'm so disappointed with how it turned out.

A nice quick mystery for people who enjoy putting pen to paper. This is a light murder mystery with the added fun of interweaving a writer's discussion on technique. Ok, said like that it doesn't sound fun, but it really is quite entertaining to see the comments of someone on the chapters of the mystery as we finish them. And to see where this all goes... I wasn't very surprised by any of the "revelations" but it was well done. This is a good fast-reading one-shot for people between series.

THE WOMAN IN THE LIBRARY by Sulari Gentill is a wonderfully complex and completely engrossing mystery/thriller written in an epistolary format.

Successful writer Hannah Tigone communicates with a fan/beta reader, Leo Johnson: as she sends him chapters of her next mystery novel, he replies with constructive feedback and location-based information to help her craft her story. The mystery of the woman in the library is the subject of Hannah's book, so as such, it becomes a story-within-a-story.

I don't usually describe books as "unputdownable," but for me, this one certainly was. I knew, almost from the beginning, that there were layers to the mystery (or, rather, mysteries), and I was absolutely desperate to find out what happened next.

It's wonderful, and smart, and Agatha Christie in the way that subtle clues pop up again as the story progresses. Things are not what they seem—and it makes for a unique, all-consuming read.

I'd rec this one for readers looking for a break from the norm.

Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for this eARC. My review will be shared on Goodreads and Amazon. I've shared my review to Goodreads, and will post it on Instagram on the book's release date.

Hannah Tigone is an author in Australia writing a novel set in Boston in the U.S. Leo is an aspiring author living in Boston and is a fan of Hannah’s and has offered to give her some writing tips about living in Boston. Leo talks about his life and describes where he lives and his favourite places which gives Hannah writing inspiration. She includes some of his ideas into her novel and then sends new chapters for Leo to review.
Hannah’s novel starts with Winifred Kincaid who likes to be called Freddie sitting in the Boston Library trying to get ideas for her latest book. Close by are three other people all quietly working when suddenly there is a terrifying scream, the scream gets them talking and they decide to go and have a coffee where they get to know each other a bit better. Later it is discovered that someone was murdered in the library.
This novel is about the person who was murdered in the library and how they might be connected to the four random strangers sitting in the reading room.
A creepy murder mystery about writers, families, homeless people, and stalking. Lots of twists and turns. I loved the descriptions of the characters and how their stories were revealed.

A book within a book within a book.
I loved this very unique book concept, and how we had essentially two mysteries going on at the same time. I found myself sucked in to the story form the very beginning and was unable to put it down. I thought the mystery was wrapped up a bit simplistically, and that's why I couldn't rate this a full five stars. Other than that, this was such a fun mystery and concept. I wholeheartedly recommend it!

I really wanted to love this one, but it was just okay. The plot seemed all over the place. I enjoyed the story within a story aspect of the book and I loved that it took place somewhere close to me (Boston Public Library), but it just didn't keep my attention the way I hoped. Not to say that it will not be enjoyable for other readers, but it just wasn't for me!

I tried to pick this up a couple of times but it didn't hold my interest past the first 5-10%. I'm giving up on this for now, but I may come back to it. It just wasn't interesting enough to me and I didn't find that the writing drew me in. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the free preview in exchange for an honest review.

This was a miss for me. It felt sporadic and it seemed like it needed one more round of editing for the story to really click and make sense. I understand what the author was trying to accomplish and it really was a cool idea, it just wasn't executed properly.

I really liked the sound of this one, and with the cover design I thought it had Agatha Christie vibes. I must admit to start with I got a bit confused between the different narratives but once I got into it I really enjoyed it.

This was a DNF for me. I lasted about 1/3 of the way through waiting for the characters to grab me and the mystery to take shape. It never did. I also did not care for the story-within a story structure. I can tell from other reviews that it may have resolved if I’d been able to finish, but after a month of picking it up and putting it down, I gave up.

The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill

Boston ~ Library ~ Death ~ Friendship ~ Mystery ~ Dual storylines ~ Whodunnit ~ Libraries ~ Authors ~ Donuts ~ Story within a story ~ Well-written characters ~ Romance ~ Thriller ~ Obsession ~ Stalkers ~ Leo who?? ~ Highly recommended

I was gifted this advance copy by NetGalley and was under no obligation to provide a review.

Thank you Netgalley,Poisoned Pen Press and Sulari Gentill for free e-ARC in return of my honest review.

It all starts with the scream in the library. Four strangers are sitting around the table in the library, they are working independently on their own projects when they hear a woman scream. They start discussing the incident and they become friends. From now on the events are unfolding - some rapidly, some take more time. The narrative is interrupted by emails from a fan of the author who presumably write about these four strangers. The fan gives some advice and update in current world events (like pandemic). These interruptions are quite an interesting development as it gives a different perspective on the narration itself and how the story is unraveling.

I did enjoy characters more that the plot. I think female characters are written extraordinarily- both women came to life from pages. The male characters, on the other hand, didn’t impress me that much, they were only tolerable. As for plot - it wasn’t very thrilling, at parts I lost interest at all.

I wish I enjoyed it more.

I really wanted to like this book. I thought the premise was amazing. Unfortunately, it fell short for me. I found the story too confusing and the reading was very choppy because of that.