Thank you to the author, Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley, for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The elements "library", "murder" and "writers" caught my interest - unfortunately, I found the narrative pretext of a story within a story within a story confusing and irritating. This disrupted the flow, and didn't add anything to the story. The characters were neither credible nor likeable - at least one of the two should be the case, to keep the reader engaged. I finished it, but only because I felt a sense of obligation, due to having received an ARC.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill!

I really liked this story! It has a book within a book layout which I was confused about at first, but the more I read, the more it made sense (naturally lol). I kind of thought the characters would be locked in the room together until the murder was solved, but that wasn’t the case. I love murder mysteries, so this book is right up my alley.

The last Sulari Gentill book I read left me shook and this was no different. Hannah is a bestselling author working on her latest murder mystery. We along with her pen pal Leo are exposed to this mystery chapter by chapter and try to figure out who the murderer is. The plot in itself is very intriguing and thanks to the author's beautiful writing and good flow, everything is a delight to read. Trying to solve this mystery felt quite meta because we often saw Leo's suggestions on the chapters, his speculations and often inputs as well. Not only did the Gentill successfully create a suspenseful mystery through the book within this book but even the exchanges between Hannah and Leo start to build up into something more sinister, adding yet another layer of exhilaration and anticipation for me as I read ahead.

I simply couldn't tear myself away from this book. All the characters were quite captivating and different from each other. My personal favourite was Marigold, the enthusiastic psychology student. Partly because I could relate to her the most but also because her lively nature and detective skills brought life to the story and kept everything going. Seeing these characters occupy the same spaces and engage in different relationships was fun as I tried to dissect their personalities and motives from them. The book literally tells us that the murderer is one of the four but for the love of my life I couldn't pinpoint the murderer until very close to the end. But then maybe that's just me. Either way, this is a very atmospheric, meta and overall gripping mystery that I would 100% recommend!

A murder mystery where the actual murder is the sub-plot.

What makes this book intriguing is the story within a story plot, which I had expected to love, but something about the writing just didn't work for me. The characters felt "too much" which pushed them out of realistic people, and the intensity of their first meeting to inseparable friends was a bit much.

The Woman in the Library is a newly released thriller that will have you on the edge of your seat from beginning to end.

When I first started reading this book I really thought it would be some sort of light hearted romance, the cover looks so magical in that sense. What I got instead? A mystery of a killer & a story within a story that has kept me near biting my nails wondering just WHO the killer truly is. When I tell you that you will not be able to figure it out.. the author does a fantastic job of setting up the mystery so by the end you’re doubting even yourself.

The Woman in the Library may just be one of the best mysteries I’ve ever read & trust me when I say, you do not want to miss out on reading this book!

Thank you SO much to the author and publisher for sending me an early copy of this book!

I usually enjoy story-within-a-story novels, and this one was definitely a fun read. As in Gentill's earlier novel, After She Wrote Him, it's a little difficult to tell at times which story is the real story and how exactly the stories and characters overlap and interact. If you think too long and too hard about it, it might not hang together and make perfect sense., but, if you just go along for the ride it is clever, twisty fun.
Would recommend. 3.5 stars

I received a free ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book was confusing. I understand what the author was trying to do, but the execution of it didn’t seem to hit the mark. And, I hated the ending. It was so abrupt. There were things that just didn’t add up.

Thank you NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for this e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Wow! This was certainly interesting! When I was reading the description, what really caught my attention was "a mystery within a mystery." I've never read a book like this one. This book was such a great read! So many twists in this book --- I LOVED IT! I really enjoyed the relationships between the four main characters. I could not put it down and kept me guessing all the way until the end. This is one clever book! I highly recommend to all mystery lovers out there!

4.5 stars/5 stars

Wow. This book was not what I was expecting going in. It was so much more layered and complex than the mystery I was thinking I would get. I loved, loved, loved it! The reveals and twists were well timed great. I will be recommending this one to anyone who will listen.

I voluntarily read and reviewed a copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The Woman in the Library, by Sulari Gentill, is a thriller around a novelist, working on a thriller that might have a novelist in it… It gets a bit confusing at a few moments, since there’s the book I’m reading by Sulari Gentill, which contains the book written by Hannah about Freddie, which contains the book written by Freddie, about three characters who strongly resemble her friends… After each chapter of Freddie’s story is written, by an author called Hannah who we never actually meet, a letter from Hannah’s American friend Leo arrives, commenting on and critiquing the story, and then there’s book-Leo, a friend Hannah’s given her character Freddie, inspired by her penpal. (And then there’s the author’s note, in which Gentill mentions her real American penpal…)

Freddie, an Australian writer with a fellowship in Boston, is daydreaming and trying to write in the Reading Room. It’s gentle, casual writing, where she imagines backstories and brainstorms connections for the three people near her: Freud Girl, Heroic Chin, and Handsome Man. When they hear a scream from the next room, Freddie and the three strangers she was writer-stalking all start talking and speculating about it. This sparks an insta-friendship, and the first chapter ends with the ominous note that Freddie’s just had a coffee with a murderer.

After each chapter, Leo writes back to say what would make it sound more like American English, or suggest interesting parts of Boston for settings, including a list of hidden real-life locations for Hannah to set her fictional murders. One of his suggestions is that Hannah include the pandemic in any fiction she writes. I found parts of this eerily familiar, since I spent lockdown in Boston, mostly reading thrillers and taking night walks. I did see new sides of my neighborhood on my pandemic walks, but I mean more like discovering which of my neighbors are secret smokers, not stumbling onto crime scenes.

The Woman In The Library asks interesting questions about fiction in general. There’s one character in Hannah’s novel who refuses to go to the police (Is that a mild spoiler? I think the decision about whether to involve the police is a thriller/suspense standard.), and Leo insists that means he’s Black. Why else would a character avoid the police? He begins to badger Hannah about spelling out characters’ races, which is interesting development of Leo’s character and his relationship with Hannah, and also encourages readers to think about how they’ve pictured the characters so far.

Without giving away anything else, I’ll just say that the stories both (all?) build nicely, with misdirections and increasing tension. Because the reader is always aware that Freddie’s story is a novel, and a novel in critique, too, I completely accepted any required coincidences, and always felt like tropes were being using intentionally, as a wink and nod to mystery readers.

I really enjoyed reading this one, I found the ending — literally the final paragraphs — confusing and weird.

I found it difficult to engage with this story, so I ended up stopping at about one-third of the way into the book. This may be a very enjoyable read for some, but it didn't resonate with me.

This book went back and forth so many times that it lost my attention real fast. This book was just not for me.

2 1/2 - 3 ⭐️ The Woman in The Library had great promise when it started with a scream in the Boston Public Library that brought four people together. Our lead narrator is a young Australian writer, Winifred who goes by Freddie; who becomes fast friends with Whit, Cain, and Marigold.

While Freddie is writing her own book; there is also a writer Hannah Tigone, who is sending the chapters of the novel where Freddie stars, to her colleague Leo. Leo’s correspondence is between each of the chapters and these emails create a book within a book feel that I tend to enjoy. Sadly, here it falls flat. Leo’s messages are bizarre, and they into a secondary mystery. He also brings up topics that Hannah leaves out of her novel; such as COVID and race. None of this makes any sense; these topics could have been incorporated if Gentill had wanted and the correspondence doesn’t add anything there. As for the mystery in the emails; it’s also not very intriguing. We never get any actual closure in that second story line.

In the main plot, certain characters were pushed too hard as being the possible guilty party that it made it a bit too clear who the killer had to be. I was slightly disappointed when I was right; but the motive was even more boring. It was a fun ride to get there, and I liked following Freddie; but the ending was a bit confusing. All in all, this was a decent read, and a good debut.

Thank you to Poisoned Pen Press and Netgalley for this A

Fans of The Silent Patient will devour this mystery set in the Boston Public LIbrary. Unreliable narrators and a great parallel story line make this a book you cannot put down. The characters are very well developed and likeable. Here's to hoping there is a sequel!

Hmm, I'm not sure about my feelings about this one. I think I was expecting more out of this because I loved the premise. I'm a huge fan of Clue and got major Clue-like vibes from reading the synopsis. I loved the story within a story aspect, but for some reason, this fell flat for me.

I was deeply invested in the store until about the 65% mark, and I stopped caring about the killer's identity. I did enjoy the limited mention of the pandemic and that it didn't overshadow most of the book. I think it did add an additional barrier for the killer to get close to our main character. Despite this being a quick read, this didn't 100% work for me.

Thank you to Poisoned Pen Press for providing me with an earc via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I haven't read a framing story quite like this one. The novel tells of four people who bear witness to this strange scream and a subsequent murder in a Boston Public Library. I think that the dual narratives, the main story and then the authors sharing their work, made this a really captivating read. I think I would classify this as almost like a mixed media type of story and I really really loved it. I think some of the twists and turns weren't necessarily shocking, but the novelty of the story itself kept me really engaged with the story. Overall, I really enjoyed this!

This murder mystery that begins with a scream in a library is a brilliantly and tightly constructed story within a story. Winifred, a novelist, is in the Boston Libary carefully observing the three people sitting at her table who become characters in the novel she’s writing. When they hear a scream the group starts chatting and over time become friends. This is the main storyline and presented as chapters but at the end of each chapter is a letter from Leo to Hannah the author of each chapter. He’s in Boston, she’s in Australia so he’s reading each chapter to check for locations, corrections etc. I enjoyed this aspect of the story more than the main one, I think, clever, humorous and kinda creepy, it builds to its conclusion in a more satisfying way. The conclusion of the main storyline felt anticlimactic to me but it’s still a very entertaining mystery although it does require some concentration, I did get a bit confused in the early chapters getting my head around the characters.

The Woman in the Library tells the tale of four friends who meet at a library. Once they arrive, a murder occurs and one of the four is the murderer. It was really fun guessing who the murderer was. It was a very fast-paced and suspenseful read! I also love the library as the setting! Therefore, this is a must read for fans of mysteries!

Four people sit in the reading room of the Boston Public Library. One, an Australian mystery writer, is in Boston for a year on a writing fellowship. Two others are college students. Another is an author from the Carolinas. They are strangers who have never met.

“The Woman in the Library,” a mystery written by Sulari Gentill, opens with this. The four are quietly observing yet ignoring each other. When a woman screams outside the reading room, library security asks them to remain in the room while they investigate. Nothing is then discovered, and they are told they are free to go.

The incident breaks the ice. They start talking to each other while waiting in the room, then decide to go for coffee together. Soon they bond and become friends. They agree to meet again. When they do meet the next day, they learn a woman’s body was discovered hidden in a room near the reading room. She was murdered. At the urging of one of the four, a psychology student they decide to investigate the murder. The four soon quickly discover their investigation has led them into danger.

This tale is one of two within the novel. Gentill wraps this story within a second one. The book you are reading is a novel in the process of being written by an Australian novelist, Hannah Tigone. It is set in Boston. Tigone’s protagonist, Winifred Kincaid is spending a year in writing a novel for the “Marriot Scholarship.” Real authors rarely get that type of opportunity. Tigone is stuck in Australia, writing a novel about Boston. A fan, unpublished author Leo Johnson, lives in Boston. She exchanges emails with him. She sends chapters as she writes them. He responds, providing her local flavor about Boston. Their emails precede or follow each chapter. Tigone writes Leo into her story (commonly done as thanks) as another visiting writer on a fellowship. Leo’s responses yields its own mystery.

The result is a deeply layered and richly textured story. The two mysteries, the one written by Tigone and the one revealed by the emails intertwine. The main mystery takes increasingly complex turns. It involves readers in the lives of the four main characters, and takes them through a pre-pandemic Boston that seems real. “The Woman in the Library” is an absorbing and engaging mystery. It breaks the third wall, offering readers a marvelous and engaging adventure.

“The Woman in the Library,” by Sulari Gentill, Poisoned Pen Press, June, 2022, 288 pages, $26.99 (Hardcover), $16.99 (Paperback), $9.99 (Ebook)
This review was written by Mark Lardas who writes at Ricochet as Seawriter. Mark Lardas, an engineer, freelance writer, historian, and model-maker, lives in League City, TX. His website is marklardas.com.

The woman in the library is very unusual book, we have plot arc into the plot arc. The Australian bestselling author Hanna is writing a new detective novel, and share new chapters with starting writer Leo. We observe emails of Leo and the new book of Hanna. Both of stories is interesting, fresh and thrilling. I really love the way letter from Leo is changing the direction and language to show as that is something wrong. How his aggressive behaviour started to dripping from the letters. And what the ending of this arc, how scary it’s to be Hanna in that moment. If talk about Hanna’s novel, this is story of four strangers and the scream, and don’t thin that you will need more information. Great book, first of all because, till the very end I was really confused who the killer is. Secondary I love the fact that two main characters are writers, how they discuss the writing, the strategy, everything in this book is on its place. The woman in the library great detective story, very gripping I read it in one sit! I had a lot of fun, that why I can honestly recommend this novel.