This book is WILD and an incredible mystery. It’s set in Boston, in the Boston Public Library, with at least three different layers to it. It’s a thriller that functions as well as a mystery — ie, it doesn’t just keep you on the edge of your seat, there’s actively something to figure out as well. The blurb calls this book “sharply thrilling”, and they are CORRECT. Four and a half stars, rounded up for NetGalley.

At 292 pages, this book was a quick and fast paced read. The author writes this in a “book about a book” style. I honestly would have just enjoyed the main plot/story without any outside plot (this is hard to explain without spoiling lol). I just feel like it left me wanting for more or with a different outcome. I also couldn’t really connect with the characters. I will say the author’s writing style/prose was enjoyable and I would consider reading another stand alone thriller to give the author another shot! A lot of people enjoyed this one so this might be an unpopular opinion

- thanks to netgalley and the publisher for providing me with the ARC in exchange for an early review.

The Women in the Library has one of the more interesting structures of any mystery books I have read: a story being written within a story (about a writer whom is writing another story, a wonderful inception). Surprisingly, rather than taking away from my reading experience, I found it added an entire level of richness; I found myself able to enjoy the overarching narrative, and connect with the characters, without fixating on any anachronisms, and this was so consuming that I completely missed foreshadowing of any twists and turns that I would usually unpick while reading, so I was taken completely by surprise! If you are unable to turn off the "critical reader" part of your brain, then this one is for you!

The plot line is neat but the letters in between the chapters feel irrelevant. I wasn’t personally interested in continuing past 10%, but I think many of our readers would enjoy. It’s likely a 3 star average read, four for the right readers.

Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the ARC.

Book set in the beautiful historic Boston Public Library? Yes! Locked room mystery? Yes! Quickly falling in love with a guy you just met who you already know served time for murder? Ehhh, I'll pass. I liked the premise of the book and the overall mystery and whodunnit reveal, but I could have done without the "smart woman making very dumb decisions" trope. As a smart woman, I prefer my heroines to make smart decisions. Don't fall in love with a murder suspect. Don't open the door if you don't know who is on the other side. For the love of at least your bowels, never ever eat mystery cupcakes sent from an unknown source. SMH.

Thank you #NetGalley and Sourcebooks for the opportunity to ready and review this ARC.

I got a third of the way through this and realized I didn’t care what happened. I skipped to the end to see who the murderer was and wasn’t surprised. The style is interesting but I just couldn’t get into it.

I am finished thank goodness. I was clicking the pages as fast as I could but the pages were not moving and it took me forever to finish it.

The story felt like a Scooby Doo mystery and the characters were the scooby gang. If you read this one you know where I got that from.

This book was unfortunately not it for me. I found it to be very confusing. While the idea of the plot had so much potential it did not live up to my expectations.

Riveted! Delighted to include this title in ‘Summer Reading,’ my latest round-up for Zoomer magazine’s Books section highlighting guaranteed great beach pleasers (see mini-review at link)

Sadly, I quickly gave up on this one. I could only read a few chapters and felt disinterest. I hope to try again some day because I've read good things.

The manuscript starts with four strangers in a library that hear a scream. I’m very new to mysteries/thrillers so I probably say this too often but I thought this one was unique. It’s a book within a book. The author in the book is sharing her manuscript chapter by chapter with a beta reader and that reader is given her feedback after each chapter in the form of emails. The manuscript was so interesting and the feedback from the beta reader was such a nice touch. It kept me guessing and interested until the end. I would definitely recommend it.

Perhaps I've read too many edge of your seat thrillers, but I was hoping for more from this mystery. While I enjoyed reading it and the premise was interesting, the storytelling was a bit bland and the reveal didn't pack enough punch for the buildup. I think the story within a story was an original twist that added to the mystery but at times was annoying. It wasn't a favorite for me but I can see others really enjoying it.

This book was an enjoyable mystery that had my entranced until the end. The plot was witty and I was invested in the characters from the beginning. I highly recommend to anyone who enjoys a good mystery!

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a copy to honestly review.

A book within a book??? Count me in!!!
It is kind of a locked-room set in the reading room of the Boston Library. The story starts off with a loud scream and the fate of four people changes all of a sudden!
Twists and turn with every turn of the page- this is what a great thriller is made up for me!
For me this book is one of those rare and unique ones that will stay with me for a long time!
Thanks #NetGalley #Poisoned Pen Press for this ARC

Thank you Netgalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. I really enjoyed this book going into it, but the ending kind of fell off for me. I really enjoyed the twist of this book, but it felt rushed and did not make much sense to me. I think that there were several plot holes in regards to some of the characters. Overall, the book was not bad, but it was not my favorite either.

This book was different from any other book that I've read. We read chapters of a mystery that Hannah is writing in Australia. They are each followed by an email message from Leo who is in the USA to Hannah with suggestions that he has for her to make her book better. A character in the mystery is writing a book about a murder that took. place in a library. We are led to believe that the murder took place while the author was seated at a table with 3 other people that she didn't know. She makes these people characters in her book. So Sulari wrote this book about someone writing a book about someone writing a book. Twists and turns until we find out who the murderer is. Leo's email messages to Hannah get progressively stranger.

Ok wow! I really loved how this book pulled the along and kept me guessing. At first I didn’t like the secondary story line but then it added a level of suspense to the primary story and I couldn’t get enough. Only complaint is the ending left me with more questions and I just really want to know the answer!

What a nesting doll of a story! A novel about writing a novel about writing a novel! We open with a letter from Leo Johnson to author Hannah Tygone, offering feedback on her most recent work. Their communication continues throughout, chapter by chapter, as events play out in both the "real" world and the "fictional" story. While the meat of plot is contained within that fictional story, the letters exchanged between author and beta reader make for their own well crafted plot.

The meat of the story is so intelligently written. Four unlikely people are brought together when they hear a woman's scream in the library one afternoon, and relationships are forged when she is later found murdered. I highly recommend for fans of atmospheric reads or complex mysteries like the Silent Patient.

First, the cover of this book is great and it makes the whole book intriguing. Overall, this book wasn't great but it wasn't bad either. The premise of the book is this is a story within a story. Part of the story is fictitious and part is about a supposed crime that was occurring, but I found the different plots lines hard to keep straight especially when they crossed over. I think what the writer was doing was clever but ultimately, I found it difficult to get into and follow along clearly. I love the play on words of the name of one of the characters and I did like that the cast of characters was ultimately fairly small.