This is two stories in one (three if you count the fictional Freddie’s story). The first story is an email correspondence between Hannah Tigone, an Australian author and a man called Leo Johnson who lives in the states and gives her suggestions on how to “Americanize” her novel. The second is about four strangers who strike up a friendship after hearing a woman scream during the middle of the day while at the Boston Public Library. The body of a female journalist named Caroline is discovered the next day. Each of the characters has a secret they are hiding and slowly the layers are peeled back. Winifred “Freddie” Kincaid is a Marriott Scholarship winner from Australia who is in America to write a novel. She uses the murder and her new friends as inspiration for her book. Freddie and her new friends Cain, Marigold, and Whit become inseparable until strange things begin happening, leaving them each to wonder who could be trusted and whom of them might be a murderer.

This was a fast-paced and thrilling read that had me on the edge of my seat. I kept wondering who the murderer was and I have to say I was completely WRONG! The storyline was pretty easy to follow once I got the hang of it and I couldn’t wait to see what “suggestions” of Leo’s, Hannah would include in her next chapter. I liked the characters for the most part and was interested in how it was all going to play out. All the little connections throughout the story were well placed.

Thank you to NetGalley, Poisoned Pen Press, and Sulari Gentill for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

I had high hopes for this book because it involved a library mystery, my favorite to read. It started out interesting with a group of four strangers meeting in the Boston Public Library and hearing a woman's scream while they are seated together. When they learn the following day that a woman was killed, they form a friendship united by this experience until occurrences happen that cause them to suspect one of their group.

Along with the main story, there's a subplot about a frustrated writer who corresponds with the book's author sharing feedback on the plot and characters. Some of the feedback involves suggestions on how to improve the story. One of those suggestions involves adding details of the pandemic. The writer, a man named Leo who lives in Boston, is also represented in the book. But when he begins to send details of murders happening in his area, Hannah, the Australian author he is corresponding with, contacts the police who request that she continue to write to Leo to gather more information about him so they can conduct an investigation.

In my opinion, the two plots resolve predictably as the library murder is solved and the correspondence between Hannah and Leo end. Some readers may enjoy the way the main plot and subplot flow together and a few of the Australianism that are used. The characters are somewhat engaging, and there are a few twists that add surprises.

This book was absolutely incredible!! One of the best mysteries/thrillers I’ve read to date. It kept me intrigued and guessing until the very last chapter - and now I’m eager to explore any and all of the other books Gentill has written. She framed the story in a very unique and interesting way; following each chapter, there is correspondence from another novelist/fan (named Leo), commenting on the chapter. Leo does much of the legwork with researching Boston (as our author resides in Australia). The research provided by the Leo gets darker and increasingly more alarming and incriminating as the book goes on and it becomes something of a thriller within a thriller. It was hard to put this book down! I would highly recommend this book to any mystery/thriller fans!

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for my opinion.

Four individuals are drawn together in the Boston Public Library after a scream rips through the reading room. A little confused and shaken the four strangers form a friendship that otherwise might never have happened. The next day a murder takes front page in the news, and the body was found at the library and the scream they heard was that of the murder victim.

Cut in between the chapters of the story are letters from a character who is sending useful bit of research to help make the book more authentic. Thus you end up reading two different stories at once.

Over all it was okay. I like the concept and the two stories together. I didn't really like the characters too much even though they were different they didn't really stand out. I have to say I think the letters were my favorite part. I know I picked this book up for the title alone, and I get why they used it. I was just wishing more happened at the library than just the scene for an off the page murder.

“…and I have my first coffee with a killer.” The last words of the first chapter – and I couldn’t wait to read more! At first, I didn’t understand the letters before each chapter, but it didn’t take long to realize that the author is writing as an author sending chapters to a friend for review and advise. What comes from that is its own story, so you get two stories in one! I had an inkling of who the killer was right from the beginning, but the author did a good job of making me second guess myself a couple of times. There is lots of intrigue in this book and I’m glad I got to read it – it’s an excellent book!

I really enjoyed this story and the premise of the mystery. I also really liked the choice to have a 2nd story thread through the emails at the end of each chapter. The characters were interesting and I definitely felt myself trying to piece together what happened. Would definitely recommend picking this one up.

Four people walk into a library as strangers and walk out as friends. How, do you ask? They get connected by a woman's death scream. It gave me Agatha Christie vibes in the sense of this book does a great job drawing out the mystery and keeping you guessing on the "Who done it?" What makes this story unique is Gentill did an inception on us readers, a story within a story. Gentill writes the main story about the four new friends working together to solve which one of them is a murderer, while framing that story with another mystery involving a crazed-stalker fan. Gentill gave us a 2 for 1, which I really enjoyed. I was hoping for a bigger twist at the end but this book was a solid 3.5 stars for me.

First of all I would like to Thank Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this story. Secondly, The Woman in the Library was such a pleasure to read, from the moment I had started, to the ending. Three mysteries in one could not have been an easy feat for the author, but Sulari Gentill manages to do just that amazingly well. The plots intertwined and made you think about what was going on in each individual story and why. I haven't had this much fun figuring out "Who Done It" in a very long time. Bravo--so well done!

Superb! Excellent! I thoroughly adored this book, and cannot wait to see more from Sulari Gentill. This reminded me a lot of one of my favorite books, The Writing Club by Jincy Willet.

I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

A killer is loose in this whodunit. A novelist is communicating with a friend who is giving her advice on a new storyline. Things get sketchy fairly early on.

A compelling & brilliantly plotted whodunit set in Boston that starts with a scream inside the Boston Public Library, a murder & several potential suspects.

This is the story of Freddie a young aspiring writer hailing from Australia who is the recipient of a writing grant, and her unexpected relationships with the two young men and one young woman who were sharing a table with her at the BPL the day of the murder.....
A scream that will bond the four of them and send them into an impetuous quest for reasons, answers and the identity of the person or persons behind the murder of the Woman in the library.....

But beware Dear reader, nothing is as it seems in this captivating murder mystery and quick and superficial friendships could actually turn out to be too dangerous to really handle......

With enough twists and turns to keep you on the edge of your seat for few a hours, this menacing "story within a story" should definitely leave more than one unexpected reader totally gobsmacked by the end....

Australian author Sulari Gentill has been one of my best literary discoveries in 2021 👍👍and this terrific upcoming release really deserved to be thoroughly enjoyed from start to finish without any moderation whatsoever!

Many thanks to Netgalley and Poisoned Pen for this terrific ARC

** Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. **

It all starts with four strangers...and a scream.

When Freddie sat down in the Boston Public Library's Reading Room to work on her latest novel, she had no idea that the three strangers at her table would become so entangled with her life. But the scream that cuts through the silence of the library binds the group together in a twisting murder mystery where nothing is as it seems.

Even the story that the reader holds in their hand isn't as it seems. In fact, it is a story within a story! The chapters end with the correspondence of Leo, a fan and beta reader (?) to the author of Freddie's tale. As Freddie's story progresses, so to does Leo's correspondence grow more obsessive.

The Woman in the Library is one of those rare books that I neither loved or nor hated. It simply...was. The jump between the novel and Leo's letters was sometimes jarring and I had a hard time switching my brain from one aspect to the other. The concept in and of itself is fantastic...I'm just not sure if it worked. I think, though, that what really killed any chance of me loving this book was mention of the pandemic. I know for some this isn't a big deal, but I just can't get behind books that mention the pandemic when we're still living through it. It's a personal thing and, it just killed my enjoyment of the book. Maybe, if I read it again a few years down the road, I will have a different view.

In all, though, The Woman in the Library, is an interesting tale that keeps the reader guessing from page one.

What a unique, intelligent book this is! An author writing about an author writing about new friends that she just met at the library researching for a book she is writing. Apparently nothing can bring a group of friends together like a harrowing scream in the middle of a quiet library. The concept may sound confusing, and it did take a little thinking at the beginning to figure out what was what, but once it was all settled in my mind I absolutely loved it! As a mystery, it is quite intriguing with a subplot that keeps you on your toes as well. I will be looking for more from this author and will highly recommend it to my friends. Thank you to NetGalley for the advance read copy.

I'm sorry to say this just wasn't my cup of tea. The format didn't work for me and I quickly lost interest. I liked the premise of the story, but this is the kind of format that you'll either appreciate or find annoying. Your mileage may vary.

Four strangers seated at a table in the Boston Public Library's main reading room are united by a woman's scream. Freddie, an Australian writer staying in Boston on a fellowship, had been studying her tablemates as potential characters in her novel and she is surprised at how accurate her guesses are when the four are asked to leave the possible crime scene and adjourn to a nearby coffee shop to exchange life stories.

Friendships are quickly formed but the suspense mounts as the reader learns that everyone has something to hide and nothing is what it seems. Somehow these people are connected to the woman who screamed and whose body was later found and Freddie tries to unwind the threads and trace the connections without endangering herself.

There is a story within a story as each chapter ends with an email to the successful author of this novel from a progressively deranged fan and the tension mounts as the reader waits for another violent crime to happen.

This book draws the reader in and it has a lot of potential but the ending seems rushed as the author's focus shifts from a strong case against one character to an abrupt new direction and the second storyline is quickly and bloodlessly resolved.

Appearances can be deceiving; it’s trite because it’s so true. Four strangers at a table at the Boston Public Library: an Australian mystery writer in the United States on a scholarship, a tattooed goth psychology student, a Harvard Law student and a ridiculously handsome American author. All seem so pleasant, and they are thrown into conversation and then interrupted by a blood-curdling scream. They seem so nice, so concerned, but one is a murderer.

But we soon discover that the foursome are actually characters in a manuscript being written — and rewritten — by a popular Australian mystery writer. A story within another story. Or maybe not. I’ve never seen a format like this one, and I loved it.

While author Sulari Gentill writes a detective series, The Woman in the Library is a stand-alone novel. She laces the novel with so many surprises and twists that I can’t wait to tackle her Rowland Sinclair series. Highly, highly, highly recommended.

In the interest of full disclosure, I received this book from NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press in exchange for an honest review.

The Woman in the Library is a very clever, in a good way, mystery. There are several mysteries to solve in addition to the murder in the library, and there's a story within the story. The characters are interesting even when they are irritating! Altogether a fun romp through the BPL.

I have a love/hate feeling towards this book. Had it just told the story of the four main characters I would have loved it. However, I found the letters from Leo to Hannah to be very disruptive and did not add value. There were also too many connections between Cain and the other characters that didn't make sense given the location of his adolescent crime and that they are all now in Boston. I also wasn't a fan of the pandemic being mentioned half way through the book. It detracted from the story and I felt like it was just added in at the last minute.

Really enjoyed the interesting format of the book- a writer (with a mysterious "colleague") working on a book about a writer working on a book and solving a mystery. The suspense was good and kept me reading to the end. I also thought the way it was written, it could be marketed as YA or regular adult mystery. Would recommend!

I just lost interest as time went on. The fan angle annoyed me, and it felt annoying to have a library setting, only because i’m A librarian. Murders do obviously happen in libraries. One did at my college library long before I went thee, but I just can’t be bothered.