I really loved The Woman In The Library. Its unique structure deepened the mystery and shed important light on the characters and their motivation. This is the first book by Sulari Gentill that I’ve read but it won’t be the last.

Murder in a library? Yes, please!

This is really one story inside of another story. And it was a bit dicey trying to remember what was fiction and what was real. A woman in the Boston Public Library sits at a table with three strangers. Each doing their own writing. When they all hear a woman scream, they find themselves in the middle of a murder. And one of them is the killer.

The way this was written is not a style I enjoy. Letters between an author and a reader, everyone with their own point of view. I definitely did not find it thrilling.

I think the point was that words have a lot of power.

NetGalley/June 7th, 2022 by Poisoned Pen Press

A good, satisfying mystery with some great characters and a very interesting framing device. Once I was about a quarter of the way into it, I stopped being able to put it down.

Oh wow. Wow, wow, wow. This was SUCH a great book. I'm a sucker for anything related to libraries so was a touch disappointed that we didn't spend more time in a library but that was 100% made up for by (a) the amount of time talking/writing about writing, (b) the constant intrigue and (c) the cliffhangers. All the cliffhangers. I exaggerate.

Let me go back to the beginning. We learn quite quickly that our main character, who prefers to be called Freddie, is a writer and one day at the Boston Public Library she's trying to soak in the grandiose of their reading room when she hears a scream. Not just any old scream. A really intense, life changing scream. And it startles those nearest to her, the four of them forming a sort of automatic friendship or kinship as they react.

We also learn here that the screamer is the first murder victim of the story, and that someone sitting with Freddie is the murderer. What? How so?

This is just one of the twists, turns and truly terrific paths Sulari Gentill takes us on in her book.

What I really loved about this book (other than all the things I've already mentioned above) is the juxtaposition of the chapters of the prose with letters from someone named Leo to an Ausssie author. There are clear links with the prose, but Leo's story grows and evolves on its own too. He's an aspiring author writing to a famous author and their letters take a bit of a turn, and that's the most I'll say here - just to say that it's a fabulously fun way for the author to fill in a few gaps, keep us guessing, vying for links to the prose, it's fabulous.

4.5 to 5 stars; what an exciting read!

The Woman in the Library is a story about a fictional mystery Australian author named Hannah Tigone writing about a fictional mystery Australian author named Winnifred "Freddie" Kincaid who lives through a mystery of her own when a scream in the Boston Public Library unites her and three strangers. Lost yet? No? Good.

The story bounces between emails that were corresponded between Hannah and Leo, a fan of her work who lives in the U.S., and the story of Freddie and her newfound friends Cain, Marigold and Whit as they wonder about the mystery of the scream and eventually, the murder of a woman in the library.

While the email plotline influenced the Freddie plotline through the inclusion of a Leo and Hannah's doubts about email-Leo, they ran parallel to each other. Nevertheless, as time went on, tension rose to addicting heights, albeit with some floundering here and there.

It was quite interesting to read TWITL knowing that it's fictional to the real narrator of the story, Hannah, as the emails made it clear. I was at first unsure of how the email plotline would progress, but fortunately, it was adding another layer of mystery and tension to the story. As time went on and as Hannah continued to write Freddie's story, Leo became more tense and irritable and very insistent on getting Hannah to listen to his suggestions, inciting not only fear (and annoyance) in me but in Hannah as well.

Several great questions rose from this subplot, linking to the real-life dilemmas of writers. One of them is the dilemma of mentioning the pandemic in contemporary stories. To acknowledge its existence means to stay true to the idea of "contemporary" stories, but to ignore it while setting the story in the near future is to be ignorant of current events and the consequences of the pandemic. A similar dilemma was describing the characters' appearances: should you be concrete and detailed or be sparse with details to allow the reader to fill in the blanks? This is a more crucial dilemma for contemporary writers as they can't ignore the socio-economic effects of being of a certain race while living in our very flawed world.

No matter how interesting the email plotline was, it was merely a subplot to the main story of the book: Freddie's. Despite knowing that Freddie is more fictional than Hannah, it didn't really change my experience in reading the book; I just treated Freddie like any other protagonist and interpreted her words as hers, not Hannah's (even THOUGH...), and that the story was unfolding in front of our eyes.

Quickfire notes about the cast & other miscellaneous things:
- Marigold is such a warm fuzzy name, and I would say it kinda fits with her mama bear-ness over her friends! Don't let her tattoos, nose piercing or stalking tendencies scare you away! She's a little shy. Her background in psychology made her a valuable asset in delivering clues (to aid or deceive the reader, well...)
- Of course, we must have a debonair as part of the dynamic, and that role fell to Whit. He had me charmed... Despite his lazy personality and insistence on failing Harvard Law, he does have the brains.
- And we mustn't forget about the "person with the tragic/troubled past", Cain. I like the religious connotation with his name... or names... quite symbolic. He needs a hug. He probably packs the most punch in terms of his experiences.
- Freddie may be a mystery writer but something that wasn't a mystery from the get-go was her crush on Cain. When she believes in something, she sticks with it (with the occasional sense of doubt because she's human), may it be someone's innocence or the scream being related to the murder.
- If Oh My Cod, that restaurant with all the evocative names for their menu offerings, existed, it would certainly be considered a must-visit by Cosmopolitan magazine.
- This book makes me crave doughnuts.

I regret to say I didn't keep my detective hat on during this reading, DESPITE knowing this is a mystery novel that. is. begging. to. be. solved. Needless to say, I enjoyed the thrill and can't be mad at who's the killer; the biggest hint was there from the beginning but it was a matter of deducing if the hint was a ruse or not (especially since we're made aware that Freddie's story is being written by Hannah) and collecting the puzzle pieces (which I did not do, oops.)

To anyone that would like a hand in figuring out the clues, here's one for ya: watch out for the monikers.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book.

Thanks to Netgalley and Poisoned Pen Press (Sourcebooks) for providing me with the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Dnf @35%

I simply did not care for the characters, the plot is just written in a bland manner, the characters are flat. Story within a story? KMN. Y'all made it seem like such an interesting read, but am sorry it just did not work for me. I found myself skimming through it and I just had to stop.

Also, the author being an aboriginal person, you would think she would pay attention to stereotypes but no that wasn't the case. It was disgusting to read and had no place in the book. I take it as a reflection of her own thoughts and her or anyone making excuses for the "characters' personality" is not a good enough excuse❌ Honestly, it does make me question how y'all chose to ignore that. I will not be reading any books by this author in the future.

eARC provided by Netgalley for an honest review.

It isn't until you find a book like this that you realize that most of the other books presented to you as of late just weren't that good. I went into this knowing nothing about the author, and was very pleased with what they created. I do admit that I am writing a book as I write this, and the shared struggle was heartwarming for me. I also love grand old libraries, so the Boston Pulic library was welcome setting.
At first I wasn't sure how this format would pan out, but it worked well in weaving the tale.

The Woman in the Library
by Sulari Gentill
4 stars
Hannah Tigone is an author from Australia who has a beta reader named Leo in America who is in Boston where her story is taking place at.
Freddie is a writer and she's getting new character ideas put together from the other 3 people in the reading room at the library. Cain is the handsome man, Whit is Heroic Chin and Marigold is Freud Girl. After hearing someone scream, the four started talking and thinking about what could have happened so they decided to discuss it more over coffee. After talking for a bit they all exchange numbers and go their separate ways. As the story slowly progresses random stabbings happen, and secrets of the past come to light all around them. It's up to them to figure out who made the woman scream and what happened. All the while Hannah is living in her own nightmare as the beta reader starts to creep her out.
This book started out so slow for me, the pace wasn't working in the beginning. About 50% in it was getting better and the pace was moving along nicely. I like how it was a story inside a story. How Hannah had to deal with a creepy stalker while writing her book about a murder. The ending was good and I actually didn't see it coming I was thinking it was someone else completely.

Thank you, Net Galley and Poisoned Pen Press for this ARC for an honest review.

"In every person's story, there is something to hide...

The ornate reading room at the Boston Public Library is quiet, until the tranquility is shattered by a woman's terrified scream. Security guards take charge immediately, instructing everyone inside to stay put until the threat is identified and contained. While they wait for the all-clear, four strangers, who'd happened to sit at the same table, pass the time in conversation and friendships are struck. Each has his or her own reasons for being in the reading room that morning - it just happens that one is a murderer.

Award-winning author Sulari Gentill delivers a sharply thrilling read with The Woman in the Library, an unexpectedly twisty literary adventure that examines the complicated nature of friendship and shows us that words can be the most treacherous weapons of all."

THE BOOK everyone is talking about right now, probably even those four strangers in the library!

This ARC was provided to me via Kindle, Poisoned Pen Press and by #NetGalley. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

Interesting story, well written, thrilling, clever and exciting.

Loved this very unique writing style and format for The Woman in the Library.

Author from Australia is writing a book about a murder in Boston. As the author is writing the book, a reader from Boston is reading and commenting on each chapter. There is a lot going on in this book. In my opinion this format really worked well for the book and I enjoyed how original it was.

Once again, I thank NetGalley for introducing me to this "new to me" author who is well published with many other mysteries. I'm sure that I'll be reading some of her other books. This review of the advance read copy is in exchange for an honest review. Also thank you to Sulari Gentill the author and to Poisoned Pen Press the publisher. Publication date is 07 June 2022.

Lots of buzz on this one and initially The Woman in the Library lives up to the hype. Great premise: four strangers hear the dying scream of a murdered woman in the Reading Room of the Boston Public Library. The quartet soon bonds and almost immediately the group begins to experience the the strange machinations of a stalker and bodies begin to pile up. Which one of the quartet is responsible? Lots of twists and turns in the plot, which is given added complexity because it is framed as a manuscript with the "author" receiving advice from a fellow writer who seems a little too fascinated with the concept of murder, both literary and actual.

Unfortunately, the plot bogs down at points and the reader's patience is tested. Aside from pacing issues, the writing is often clever and the clues are there for the careful reader to solve this mystery.

Full Disclosure--NetGalley and the publisher provided me with a digital ARC of this book. This is my honest review.

This review will be posted on June 2, 2022 to: https://instagram.com/amandas.bookshelf

I thought this was a pretty clever and a different kind of thriller. In one timeline, a famous female author maintains a correspondence with an American male fan and fellow author. Interestingly, we're only privy to his replies to the author. In another timeline, a group of strangers in the Boston Public Library become friends after a dead body is found in the museum. In a move reminiscent of the Scooby gang, the library quartet gets sucked into the murder and start their own investigation. It becomes clear early on how the timelines are related, but it's a fun realization to have on your own (so no spoilers!). I enjoyed the unique plot and the mysteries in the two timelines. The only letdown for me was the sort of deflated ending. It felt anti-climactic (especially the timeline with the author and her fan, but that might be because of its epistolary format). But overall, this was enjoyable and mysterious. #TheWomanInTheLibrary Rating: 🙂 / liked it
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This book is scheduled for publication on June 7, 2022. Thank you @poisonedpenpress for providing me this digital ARC via @NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I received a free e-arc of this book through Netgalley.
I'm always drawn to books about libraries or bookstores and this one pulled me in pretty quickly. It was a little slow at times, but then as the story develops into a story within a story, it grew on me. In the end, I wanted a little more, but it was a unique twist.

The premise of this one was so interesting, but I just couldn't get into it. DNF at 35%, unfortunately. I found the dual story-within-a-story a little problematic.

Winifred (Freddie) Kincaid is at the Boston Public Library studying the three people at the same table. The Australian, in the U.S. on a scholarship that enables her to work on a book, considers "Freud Girl", "Heroic Chin" and "Handsome Man" as characters. They've seen her notes, and joke with her about them when they hear a woman's scream. They go to the Map Room for coffee, and that's when Freddie says one of them is a killer. The subsequent story is Freddie's account of her growing friendship with those three, attacks on two of them, and the growing awareness one is attacking the others. But, Hannah Tignone, a bestselling Australian author is actually writing the story of Freddie and her new friends. The story within a story alternates Hannah's writing with letters written to her by a wannabe author, Leo, who suggests changes to Hannah's plot and characters. Freddie's account of trying to discover which of her new friends is a killer, is an engrossing mystery. At the same time, Hannah's communication from the FBI allows the reader a glimpse into the life of a writer with a fanatical correspondent. Hannah might be grateful that Australian wildfires and COVID can keep Leo halfway across the world.

The Ned Kelly award winner for Crossing the Lines relates a complex, riveting story within a story. The fictional story of an author writing about another writer with messy, complicated friendships and suspicion is an innovative literary mystery.

Many regards to Poisoned Pen Press for providing me with this advanced copy via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

This book is a thrilling and accessible murder mystery, involving four strangers-to-friends, and a woman's mysterious scream, which takes place in the Boston Municipal Library. However, we soon discovered that this story is a book-in-progress by a bestselling mystery writer, Hannah Tigone. As a consequence, alongside the fictional murder mystery, we also follow Tigone's writing process throughout her correspondence with a mysterious beta reader, Leo.

From the beginning of the book, I was very hooked on the creativity of the dual narratives which the author executed fairly well (aka it is not confusing to understand or follow the two plots at once). Both of them were appealing to read, as the storytelling was thrilling and easy to follow. At one point I was completely absorbed in the pages. I love seeing the mystery playing out with every development and the characters' involvement in the story (for once, they seem like people you can cross in your daily life) because it was very fluid and natural. The other plotline is also very captivating to read about because while the main point is the mystery surrounding Leo, I was extremely interested in the way a beta-reader can effectively change an author's tone on a story, to the point where Leo became the one dictating what to write and what not to.

The point where this book disappointed me is the ending of both plotlines. For the murder mystery one, the bad guy was so obvious (at least for me) because at one point the author suddenly dumped a bunch of information about this one person that I immediately guessed who the murderer was. On the other hand, the plot about Hannah Tigone and her beta-reader was resolved in a very anti-climactic way as I feel like all the build-up and the tension were gone in a matter of seconds.

Overall, this book was a satisfying read although it wasn't the best mystery ever (I wish it was though because the potential was high). Despite the disappointment, I still enjoyed most of this book and I hope someone else will love this more than me. <3

The Woman in the Library is an incredibly fresh take on a murder mystery which intertwines the lives of four strangers, one which is a murderer. The characters are two would want to be writers a best-selling Australian author (whose novel we are reading) and a psychology student, as well as another would be writer who gives notes to the author at the end of each chapter on American/Boston jargon and places in the Boston area.

The story begins with four strangers noticing each other as they sit at tables in the Boston Public Library. Hannah, the writer of the novel imagines what each of their lives could possibly be. Suddenly there is a chilling scream from some part of the library. As the security guards run by to find out what has happened, the four strangers begin to talk amongst themselves about the situation and move to sit with each other. Nothing is found and the scream has been thought a prank. Thus begins the group’s friendships.

Cain, who is an author, spent time on the streets when he was young. Whit writes for a local magazine and is happily flunking out of law school. He comes from a wealthy family. Marigold, decked out in tattoos, is the young student. As they ponder what could have happened, they end up going for coffee and agree to meet again at the library the next day. But let’s not forget Leo. Leo’s sends notes to Hannah at the end of each chapter giving her the American version of what she may be trying to say or giving her notes on her characters as he too tries to figure out who the murderer could be.

But the next morning they discover that the scream was anything but a joke. There has been the body of a woman found murdered in the library.

As the group begins to investigate the killing, mostly for pure selfish reasons, meaning they want to use the story somehow in the books they are writing, and Marigold is just there out of curiosity, and perhaps a crush, they begin to discover coincidences some of them may have had with the deceased. But they were sitting together when the scream occurred so none of them think anything of them. Until one of them is brought to the police station and becomes the prime suspect!

Little by little they begin to learn about the secret lives each of them led and the lies each of them has been keeping. Then another body is found murdered and the four begin to suspect each other. This can be no accident that someone in the group was involved. But how? And why? Then of course, they begin to turn on each other, their paranoia beginning to get out of control. Until one mistake will reveal the truth.

In this wonderfully crafted novel with amazing character development, and a plot which reads like an Agatha Christie story, the reader should just relax, enjoy and realize they are being taken on an incredible imaginative journey full of intrigue and suspense and yes, even romance.

Thank you #NetGalley #PoisenedPenPress #SulariGentill #TheWomanintheLibrary for the advanced copy.

Four strangers meet on a fateful day in the Boston Public Library. Seated near each other when the silence is shattered by a woman’s scream, the four start chatting while security guards search the building. Before long, friendships and even romances are budding, which would be lovely… except that one of them is a murderer.

The clever thing about “The Woman in the Library” is that the plot detailed above is a story in a story. Hannah Tigone is an Australian author working on a manuscript about the library murder, and Leo is reading and critiquing her chapters as she writes them; their interactions are told through Leo’s letters to Hannah. Oh, and did I mention that Leo is also a character in the plot with the four friends from the library? It was a really fun and creative approach that kept me more engaged than I think the single mystery would have on its own.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for providing me an advance copy of this book.

I thought this book was decently interesting, and written in a creative style, but it just wasn’t one of my favorites. It started so promising, beginning with a scream in a library, leading to the discovery of a dead woman. As this was all happening, four strangers who were sharing a table formed an unlikely friendship, though they are all wondering if they are now friends with a killer.

With kind of a “Clue” scenario, I was interested to see what would happen with these people, and how the murder would be solved. That’s when it turned into a story being written by an author, as given to a friend/fan who is helping with technical details in the book. The book was no longer about who was killed in the library, it was more about the group of friends.

I think this was an original way to write a thriller, and I enjoyed the letters of advice from the friend, Leo. Overall, this just wasn’t a book I loved, though. I’m not sure if it was the writing style, or that in general, it was a relatively formulaic story with a very predictable twist and abrupt ending. The story definitely kept me interested, and the writing was good, but this will go in my three-star rating category; I probably wouldn’t read it again but others may like it much more.

(Thank you to Poisoned Pen Press, Sulari Gentill, and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my review.)