I was unfortunately underwhelmed by this story. It started strong with characters I initially felt drawn to and wanted to know more about. But there was so much jumping around from fictional to real life characters, that I lost interest and had to force myself to refocus. By the time I made it halfway I felt disconnected from the characters and the story.

There were also two twists in the story that weren’t surprising but did make the story more fun. This wasn’t the right fit for me but I’m sure plenty of people will enjoy this unique mystery and the Boston setting.

Thank you @netgalley and @poisonedpenpress for the chance to read and review this arc.

I really don't know how to feel about this book. I really liked the sound of the premise, with a body being found in a library, it was giving me strong Agatha Christie vibes, but the book was far from what I expected. Freddie the protagonist meets three future friends when in the reading room at the college library. They end up bonding over what happens that day when they hear a girls scream. From there they decide to investigate what really happened, especially after a girls body is found. Each of them have a past that they are hiding and that soon comes to light over the course of the book. I really liked all of the characters, they are all slightly more mature college students and that was definitely reflected in the writing. They also had believable relationships, and were naïve as young adults are.
My issue came from the emails/letters within the book. I know that these were there to show that the story of Freddie was actually fictional but I felt that it really lacked relevance and would have been fine without them. I found that it deterred me away from the actual story, and at times was quite jarring.

3.5 stars ✨

They are four strangers. Sitting across each other in the library and then, they heard a scream! As they were cleared with their link to the screams, a friendship bloomed. But soon they realize things are related to them more than it seems, and one of them is a murderer…

The Woman in the Library is a “story within a story” that follows Hannah, a mystery novel writer who is writing a book about four strangers connected by a woman’s scream in the library, and her namesake Freddie, also a mystery novel writer who is one of the four strangers in the book.

I loved the concept of having a story within a story, and it was so captivating in the way it was executed. The plot was well thought out and the correlation between real and fictional characters was remarkable and very unsettling at times. But, I feel that maybe this concept made the pacing of the plot a little slow. I would have loved this book more if the pacing was a bit fast…because there were many moments that I wanted to skip.

We don’t have much about Hannah, the real-life character as the focus is more on Freddie, the book character. Talking about Freddie, she becomes more and more confused about things happening around her. There were many occasions the answers were in front of her but she didn’t look at things rationally.

Out of all the other characters, Cain was the only one whose backstory was discussed profoundly, but that too was not enough to get attached to him. Marigold was annoying throughout the book and Whit was well…Whit, not much is there to him. Leo, the one who interacted with Hannah in real life didn’t have much impact either (but it could have been something else…something better).

The mystery started so well and I was fully immersed in the story. Even the story within the story gripped me with the unsettling way both the stories were connected. But, I’m very disappointed with that finale. The ending Hannah had and the ending Freddie had, both were so anti-climactic. Even though Freddie’s story is finished, maybe Hannah’s story has a little hint for a sequel? But if it isn’t, then it’s super disappointing.

Overall, this book is captivating and very interesting. The story within the story was perfectly executed, keeping the suspense and unsettling feeling constant throughout. But this one lost its charm with such a poor ending. I’ll recommend you read it for it will keep you engaged in the whole process of things being connected and who the killer is.

Trigger Warnings: Death, Murder, Violence, Rape Attempt, Stalking, Gun Violence, Blood.

I first became aware of Sulari Gentill when I read her stand-alone novel, Crossing The Lines, which I loved. In The Woman in the Library, another stand-alone, Gentill has again turned to metafiction, utilising the device of writers corresponding and thus telling stories within stories.

Hannah Tigone, is an Australian crime author. Her opus is about a murder in the Boston Public Library – a typical locked room mystery. Leo, her correspondent, is an aspiring author, as yet without an agent and with no manuscript accepted. He is Boston based and happy not just to beta read for Hannah, but to offer authoritative information on local customs and landmarks.

This book is a lot of fun. The heroine of Hannah’s book, Freddie Kinkaid, is an Australian in Boston on a writing fellowship. She is pondering her latest novel in the Reading Room of the Boston Library when she hears a curdling scream and soon after she, together with the three people sitting nearest to her, are all ushered out of the library.

It turns out that the body of journalist Caroline Palfrey has been discovered and she was murdered in the Library. Over coffee, the four library visitors – Cain, Marigold, Freddie and Whit discuss the murder and bond over their shared interest in finding out what happened.

So Hannah’s novel becomes Freddie’s story of solving the mystery of The Woman in the Library. And to further complicate matters, Hannah writes Leo into the story as a neighbour and helpful friend.

This pleases our correspondent and his namesake. As Hannah finishes a chapter, Leo reads it and offers feedback. Eager to be helpful in the beginning, he soon begins to offer more assertive suggestions and to query the direction of her novel. It seems our beta reader hasstrongly held views about what Hannah should be writing…

The Woman in the Library is a murder mystery but the danger is both within the novel that Hannah is writing and from external sources. Both narratives come together and it seems that everyone in this fictional story has something to hide and our author may herself be under threat.

Verdict: I found The Woman in the Library hugely fun to read. The murder mystery stands up as a good read in its own right and the added layers of a chilling correspondent make for an extra frisson of interest. I especially love the exchanges between Leo and Hannah on what is important when writing her book. Gentill touches on the dilemmas every writer faces – do you include the pandemic in your story? Should you be explicit about the race and colour of your characters, or leave it to the reader to form their own opinions? This is a brilliantly constructed novel. It is great fun, clever, thought-provoking and a joy to read.

This was one of the best thrillers I've read this far. it did slow down at times, but I enjoyed it through and through. Full review upcoming on my blog "Abby's Coven".

I really liked the setting of the novel, a library in Boston. However, the novel did not engage me. I did like format. I struggled to stay engaged with the characters. This book was a miss for me.

What a mind-boggling ride!

Hannah is writing a book and sending chapters to Leo to critique. Her story centres on Freddie, who meets Whit, Marigold and Cain at the BPL after hearing a scream while studying in the reading room. What follows is a whodunit-style mystery that will keep you second-guessing yourself until the end.

It was a very unique and enjoyable read!

I like the flow of the main story. The start was quite engaging and each chapter ended with a good cliffhanger. Enough to make you want to continue reading. How it kept me guessing up until the very end. But, I was a bit underwhelmed at the end. That revelation of who the killer is, yes, eventful but I was hoping for something more.

What I was not a fan off were the messages Leo to Hannah. In the beginning, they were entertaining but as the main story progresses, I found Leo’s messages quite annoying, and oftentimes, ruins the momentum of the main story.

You can read my full book review on my blog.
Here is the link to it:
https://thecatwithabook.wordpress.com/2022/06/06/book-review-the-woman-in-the-library/

Stayed up all night so I could finish this book. It has nothing to do with the fact that this is that thriller genre. Average thriller doesn't keep you awake, especially when you read a bunch of them.
This piece is beyond a great thriller. It is a detailed, well-told story that includes everything you need if it is thoroughly connected. Sulari Gentil takes strangers, events, friendships, romance, jealousy stalking, good food, and dead bodies and with tremendous dedication, she pins it all on her investigation board that is this book. And the part that I like the most is the fact that she's not afraid to judge and comment own work in form of email correspondence that is a part of this book. I felt like she use that for a great story inside of a story but also to show weaknesses that this genre can have.

If you are bored of oh no the husband/wife did it trope that you probably read at least 10 times before, and if you want something more complex pick this book up it is a great read I promise you that might regret it.
4,5⭐

3.5 Stars

This book is a very interesting concept, it’s ‘story within a story’ concept consists of the main mystery story which is in the form of an author’s manuscript and a beta reader writing letters to the author giving their thoughts on the manuscript.

At the beginning I didn’t love the beta reader input because I thought it was slowing down my discovery as to what was going on. The letters were placed perfectly as the tension grew and at times it felt agonising as I just wanted to know what happened next. As the story went on and the storyline of the beta reader grew through the letters I enjoyed these bits more.

In terms of mystery this book did really well, it kept me on my toes guessing until almost the very end, I was literally suspicious of everybody and questioning motives/alibis and aware of what seemed too obvious looking for hints at twists along the way.

I loved the character development and the friendships that formed in this book. I can’t really go into detail about which ones I loved as it would give the mystery away but if you know you know!

Overall, I enjoyed this one however I think I could have done without the story within a story style and instead just focussed on the main mystery. Although as it unfolded I got more into it, I think it only took away from my general feelings towards the book as appose to adding anything. Having said that this book was fast paced and gripping with lovable characters.

*Thank you to Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for providing me with an arc in exchange for an honest review.

The Woman in the Library, Sulari Gentill. 4.5*
The Woman in the Library is a fascinating, entertaining murder and psychological mystery set in Boston, specifically in Boston Public Library (BPL), told from 2 main points of view, as well as a sinister third thread. Sulari Gentill has written a book within a book, an original meta fiction mystery. Sometimes her threads become confused and complicated, as there are two authors at play in the book. Her author is called Hannah Tigone, while the protagonist of The Woman in the Library is Australian – like Sulari Gentill herself – author Winifred (‘Freddie’) Kincaid who is the beneficiary of a writing grant giving her a room in Boston to write her next novel. The second protagonist is, by way of emails, Leo, a would-be author, Hannah's Beta-reader and her fan. This gets complicated when Freddie adds a Leo to her novel; different names would have been less confusing. The third POV is news broadcasts and correspondence to Hannah.

The mystery starts when four strangers – Freddie, Cain, Whit and Marigold – sitting in The Reading Room of the Boston Public Library bond over the scream of a frightened woman within the library. Chancing upon this mystery, Freddie starts a novel based on imagined events. As the foursome become fast friends, Freddie weaves in the other three as the main characters in her crime book.

The scream is followed by the police confirming a murder the next day or two, and the four friends are interviewed. Eventually secrets emerge of the past life of one character in particular, who soon becomes a police suspect. In true murder mystery style, a second murder ensues followed by some knife attacks.

Red herrings proliferate, characters are further interwoven in historical threads, and there are themes about the prison system, ex-convicts who have served their time for their crimes, and homeless people who were noted by society once. The book is twisty and page-turning, always riveting. The characters are ones to root for. Freddie is warm and likeable. Great ending that all the arrows pointed to towards the final quarter.

Sulari Gentill is going to an author I will read again. Strongly recommended.

I love a smart, well written mystery, especially one with a twist in the tale, so this was definitely my kind of book. I have to admit it took a lot of concentration to stay on top of events but the best books usually require participation on the part of the reader.

The Woman in the Library introduces us to Hannah Tigone, a Sydney based author of mysteries. She is writing a book set in Boston and has a beta reader called Leo who lives there and provides suggestions when the text needs adjusting for local atmosphere. Her characters, Freddie, Whit, Marigold and Cain, meet in the library when a young woman is murdered.

The book progresses with excerpts of Hannah's writing interspersed with Leo's replies. Then at his request Hannah writes him into her story. That is the point where I had to start really concentrating, and also when things started to become really tense and I had problems putting the book down just to make a cup of tea!

I liked the way the author (the real one that is - Gentill) included Covid as a sort of aside to the story rather than featuring it all the time. She has added some good notes at the end about the issue that Covid has been to all authors currently writing novels. I enjoyed the mystery, the little romance between Freddie and Cain, Hannah's smart moves regarding Leo and the rather edgy ending. I smiled at the reference to Australian chocolate being superior to American, remembering when I arrived in Australia from the UK and thought it was dreadful. Of course I love it now - it is all a case of what you are used to.

This is an excellent book as I would expect from this author. I still yearn for more from her Rowland Sinclair series though.

. . . ⭑ ⭑ ⭑ ⭒ ⭒
All in all, this was a very middle-ground read for me - I don’t feel like my time was wasted by sticking it out and finishing, but I also don’t feel like this was a particularly memorable read either.

I definitely struggled to get into the groove of the book - the premise was intriguing, but I felt like the initial spark of interest fizzled out pretty quickly. I will say that the pace definitely picked up in the last quarter of the book, and that momentum kept me reading.

I’m somewhat divided on the subplot of the correspondence between Hannah and Leo, perhaps slightly leaning more towards interesting versus unnecessary. If I really dig down deep, I may even have been slightly more invested in how that played out over the fictional characters.

It did feel like both plots wrapped up r e a l l y quickly, a little too quickly even, which left me feeling a bit underwhelmed after the last page.

With that being said, I think there was potential here, and it read a bit like a miniseries - I could see it adapting well onscreen.

Woman in the Library hits shelves June 7th if you’re interested in checking it out!

~ 👩🏻‍🦰

I loved this book! It was so creatively written and I was addicted early on.

The book is a story within a story, about someone writing a story. Freddie, main character in the novel and aspiring author, meets a small group of people at the library after they collectively hear a scream which turns out to be a murder. What seems like it could be a random/isolated incident turns out to bring danger to their own doors. With the quirks of her new friends, you don’t know who to trust.

At the end of each chapter, there is a section where a man 'Leo' is giving feedback on the story to the author, chapter by chapter as he is reviewing it like a manuscript. This adds a really cool twist to a typical mystery- we get someone else's thoughts as the plot unfolds!

I loved this. I am actually really excited to read it again to see what I could have missed the first time around.

This was a clever read. I will describe it as a fictional mystery story within a real story with a fictional story being written in the fictional story. Have I lost you? Surprisingly, it is not confusing if you will read the book. I feel like the author did a great job of making us really care, even though we are told very early on that the main mystery is a fictitious one. We want to know why the author has told us this info, because that must mean something crazy must be happening in real life. I really enjoyed the conversations about how things are said differently in America and Australia. There is occasional language(F-bombs), but not as much as in most thrillers and no smut, for those that pay attention to such things. I feel like this book is what happens if a psychological thriller and cozy mystery where to have a baby. I received this book prior to release for an honest review.

This was a 3.5 for me. It started off good with a scream heard in the library by four people who just met. However, it then became a confusing mess with a plot within a plot and so many characters. By halfway it smoothed itself out and it became a good twisty thriller. I wish we could’ve gotten a lot from the end but it was abrupt. I did enjoy the sun plot of the emails because I had a lot of the same questions and it was thought provoking. All in all an enjoyable read

This is spectacular! Literary genius!

The best-selling author within our book, Hannah Tigone, is writing her book from her home in Australia, set in Boston in the US. The only time Hannah is mentioned is at the end of each chapter when she is emailed by her beta reader, Leo, who lives in the US. The beginning of the book is set in the Boston Public Library, where four strangers are brought together by a piercing scream. While security searched for the origin of the scream, but initially found nothing, the four strangers became acquaintances and then friends.

Freddie (Winifred) is the narrator of the story, and also a writer. She won an award in Australia which brought her to Boston to write her crime novel. Her meeting in the library with Cain (another author), Whit (a student trying to fail law) and Marigold (fixated on Whit) felt right. Freddie couldn’t believe how quickly the four became friends. When the body of a young woman was found in the library, it was just the start of their nightmare.

With the police focusing on the four friends, Freddie and Cain did their best to follow leads to find the killer. When another murder occurred, one of the four was in the frame. Strange text messages were sent to Freddie, odd happenings which were freaking her out – was the killer amongst them? Could Freddie identify the deranged murderer before anyone else died?

The Woman in the Library by Aussie author Sulari Gentill is so incredibly clever – I’ve never read anything like it! I loved the way it was done, loved the intricate juggling the characters perfected, and found the twists delicious! Ms Gentill has always had my admiration for her historical mystery series – Rowland Sinclair – and The Woman in the Library has cemented her place at the top of my favourite authors. Highly recommended.

With thanks to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for my digital ARC to read in exchange for an honest review.

This is a book about someone who is writing a book about someone who is writing a book. It was an odd concept and in the beginning I wasn't sure it was going to work for me. The person writing the book is named Hannah. We know this through a series of messages we read from Hannah’s fellow writing friend Leo, who is reading her manuscript. We are reading it along with Leo and it’s a murder mystery. I liked that we never really get to meet Hannah but just read the story she's writing. It was an interesting way to go about writing the book, and after I got used to the idea, the story grew on me until I was very engrossed in it.

What I liked most about this book is something I can't put in my review because it would be a huge spoiler, so this review will be short. There was a twist in here that I didn't expect in the beginning that made this book unique compared to other books I've read. There was a point that I started to suspect it though, and I wish the author wouldn't have revealed it quite as soon as she did, so that I would have been left guessing for a while longer. I thought the characters were all very well drawn and for the most part likable, although Marigold got on my nerves at times.

Ultimately, I ended up liking this unique mystery, and it's made me want to try other books by this author.

Thanks to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for providing me with a copy of this book.

5⭐️
Firstly, thank you to NetGalley and Poisoner Pen Press for the E-ARC of The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill. The below is my honest opinion!

This is an unputdownable thriller murder mystery. The best part is that this is a story within a story!

Hannah Tigone is writing her next best seller, an almost reversed locked room murder mystery. The story is about 4 strangers meeting in the Boston Public Library and whose lives become entangle with one another after hearing a woman scream. They come to find out that the woman was murdered in the library. The main character on the novel Hannah is writing, Freddie is also an author who was at the BPL to gain inspiration for a novel she is writing. The 4 strangers quickly become each other’s alibi, but as they become closer, secrets are revealed that lead to the woman in the library’s murder and murderer.

Hannah sends drafts of her manuscript to a betareader and almost deranged fan, Leo. At the end of each chapter of manuscript, we get Leo’s correspondence about the chapter and his suggests/comments to help develop her story. However, Leo’s suggestions become increasingly darker as the story unfolds.

I really enjoyed this murder mystery and this bookception take on Inception. The story had a strong start and some plot points I did not see coming. The end felt a tad bit rushed but overall, it was beautifull executed and makes for a fun thriller read.

This mystery about 4 strangers who meet in a library was a quick and easy read. The characters were interesting but I wanted to know more about them all, they felt a bit surface level. The book also contains a story within a story which was an interesting idea but was distracting to the main plot. The device should have been used more or not used at all.