It's a closed room mystery - a group of 4 strangers sit at a table in a library and hear a scream. Someone is murdered in the stairwell. Who did it? As they are held for questioning, confidences are shared and friendships are formed. But one of them is a murderer. Who did it?

I did not see the killer coming in this one and really enjoyed my reading experience!

While sitting in a library a group of 4 strangers are brought together after hearing an ominous scream. The group finds out the scream was from a woman that later her body was found hidden in an upstairs room in the library. The group formed friendships from the time they spent together while waiting to be cleared to leave the library.

This is a well-written roller coaster of suspense. The characters are realistic and interesting. The story is full of twists and turns and red herrings. Every time I thought I figured out the killer I was surprised by another twist. I recommend this book to mystery lovers.

All thoughts and opinions are my own, and I have not been by anyone.

I started reading The Woman in the Library expecting a take on the locked-room mystery: a body is found in a locked room with no way in or out. Who is the killer? I thought the mystery would be pretty easy to solve, as there are only four primary suspects sitting around a library table when the murder takes place. Of course, I was wrong on all counts: not a typical locked-room case, not easy to solve, and not just one mystery.
Author Sulari Gentill starts with a straight-forward murder mystery and weaves a complex meta-mystery, a crime writer on crime writing. Australian writer Hannah is writing the locked room mystery from the point of view of Freddie, one of the four library patrons. The story is set in Massachusetts, so to give her some inside tips on Americanisms, she turns to local Bostonian Leo, himself a would-be writer. The mystery chapters alternate with emails from Leo where his helpful critiques of Hannah’s work gradually become less helpful and more disturbing.
I love this kind of meta-fiction, writing that is about the writing process, and Gentill constructed this narrative so well, with multiple layers to enjoy. I learned afterward that Gentill has written another stand-alone meta-mystery as well as a series, and I plan to check out more of her work. Read this book if you love Anthony Horowitz’s Magpie Murders or Hawthorne & Horowitz mystery series (both of which I also strongly recommend).

Ugh I HATE to DNF an ARC, it is so kind of the publisher and author to provide it. Unfortunately, I must be honest to maintain my integrity as a reviewer and book lover. I found this particular novel to be a chore to read and I wasn't not invested enough to finish. The instant "friendship" of the characters was unbelievable to me, and I so so wish I liked it more or at least enough to complete. Sorry, friends. This is a no-go for me.
1 star

This one keeps you guessing! The story is set up on an unusual framework. The main story involves an author called Hannah who lives in Australia. She is writing a mystery novel set in Boston. Since this is taking place during covid lockdowns, she is unable to come to the US to do any research about where her book is set. It's good that she has a writer friend, Leo, who lives in Boston. As she completes each chapter of the book, she sends it to Leo for his comments. So the book is one chapter of the story being written by Hannah, followed up by Leo's comments. He is also an aspiring writer and is not shy in asking Hannah to help him get some contacts in the industry.

The mystery centers around Winifred "Freddie" Kincaid, an author from Australia who has received a grant to write a book while based in the USA. She goes to the Boston Public Library one day for a change of scenery from her room and while observing some other patrons nearby, everyone is startled by a woman's scream. The four people seated near each other when this happens form an instant bond and begin meeting to discuss what happened, especially when they learn a young woman's body has been found in the library. Aside from Freddie, the other three are: Marigold (Freud Girl in Freddie's novel), a young woman with many tattoos who is studying psychology (and frequently remarks in passing that she's a genius): Whit (Heroic Chin) a young man from a wealthy family who is trying hard not to succeed at Harvard Law School; and Cain (Handsome Man), a published novelist working on another book. The four of them begin an unlikely friendship that involves meeting frequently and investigating the case. Of course, secrets come out about everyone, and Freddie begins to realize that no matter how much she likes these people, she really doesn't know much about them.

I really enjoyed the unusual way this novel takes shape. The "helpful" American friend, Leo, who is offering advice and suggestions to Hannah the novelist also becomes a character in the book, which Leo comments on in real life. There are many mysteries to sort out, and it's a lot of fun following the dual stories to the end!

This was a great thriller that built up and up. Layers upon layers and hey if you love books it's takes place among books and is about a character writing books!

I enjoyed the main character Harriet and this reminds me of "Only Murders in the Building" as they work to determine who the murder was and why.

Thank you NetGalley for this opportunity!

The Woman in the Library is a story within a story, within a story, which was one too many stories for me. I think the third story could have been dropped without any impact on the plot.
I was drawn to the premise of the book - woman murdered at the Boston Public library. Four people sitting at the same table hear the screams which leads to them forming a friendship. I think a friendship that happened rather quickly. I can’t say this was a fantastic murder mystery - I think, as I said before, the three books added to my confusion, actually it wasn’t so much confusion as a little bit of boredom. It didn’t move along as quickly as I would have liked and I found the end a little disappointing. Sorry but this wasn’t for me.
Thanks to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for this ARC

That was extraordinary! The way the story is presented is awesome, because that way we have two separate plot lines at the same time.

The woman in the library at first seems to be like any other thriller. The scream which break the silence in the uni library is a sign of something sinister what is happening there. We have four strangers who are later on trying to solve the mystery who this scream belong to. But it is just a first layer of the story.

Then, we have something more inside. The characters are not so simple as we though at the beginning. Story is magnificent cause crate a multidimensional universe with unexpected plot. The tension, emotions and unforseen twists are making this book even more interested and worth to be spend time with.

Suprisingly great thriller for autumn.

Gentill levels-up the Agatha Christie-style murder mystery with incredible, scary storytelling and an inventive secondary, meta-narrative. It features a twist that was one of my favorites I’ve ever read.

I included this title in my summer/fall preview for Book & Film Globe: https://bookandfilmglobe.com/fiction/nine-books-to-escape-with-for-fall/

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy.

Ebook/Mystery:. I really liked this book. I had been hearing the buzz about it and then I read the locked room plot. This book is a book inside of a book. Freddie is writing a novel, while at the same time, her friend and editor is giving her notes on her drafts. Of course I didn't guess the murderer.
I want to thank Netgalley for a copy of the book in lieu of an honest review.

Sadly, I had my 300+ word review written on my Kindle and I went to send it.....and I had no WiFi! It's lost and as I create it as I write it. Very frustrating and disappointing. Sooo, I'll try again, a shade briefer.
The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill is a unique and original mystery told in an unusual way.!
Our storytelling host is Hannah Tigone, an accomplished Australian author telling her tale of four mates; Winifred/Freddie, an Aussie writer who's our protagonist; Whit Mettens, a law student; Marigold, a psych student; Cain McLeod, an author. Our starting location is the Boston Public Library-BPL, where the four first meet in the Reading Room. While on their first encounter at BPL they hear a SCREAM! So begins Ms. Gentill's twisted murder mystery. Along their way to attempting to solve it, the new friends pair up. Whit + Marigold and Cain with Freddie. Meanwhile, Hannah, remember our host? At the end of each chapter, she gets emails from an American, Leo, who critiques Hannah's chapter and gives her his opinion/advise along with American terms to substitute for her Australian words in order to clarify. Back to The Scream! Yes, this is the murder, er, first !murder and our friends decide to solve it. The Murder of Caroline Palfrey! And the true story begins! You'll discover murders, accusations, intrigue, love, backstabbing, twisty twists AND ONE GREAT STORYTELLING EXPERIENCE!!!
I highly recommend this outstanding murder mystery told very uniquely by Ms. Sulari Gentill!

3.5*

“Perhaps my muse is fear.”

Thrillers to me tend to all seem quite the same, but this one stood out with its unique storyline of having a thriller within a thriller.
I was hooked right away with this interesting concept of having a character write a story, reading that story and reading another character critique it. Though if you are reading and get really invested that you start to forget it’s just a book, it sometimes threw me off when the letter of criticism came at the end of a chapter. But then the writing style made it pretty easy to fall back into the story.
This book definitely had a lot of twists and was quite unpredictable. I was suspicious of the killer yes, but the story led you to think of everyone in that way.
Although the smaller twists surprised me a lot more than the big reveal which even thought was still pretty good seemed therefore kinda underwhelming.
I also expected a bit more of it. I had a couple of theories that would’ve been interesting to see and i feel like the opportunities of those have been missed. But maybe that’s not an actual critique point and just the writer in me. By the way, this aspect of myself obviously also made especially the main character Freddie relatable right from the start with all the aspects of writers block, taking people around yourself in to help you write your story ect.
What i also found to be an interesting detail in this book is how we never get a perspective of the character the story evolves around. (Hannah Tigone aka the writer of the story within the story)
Overall, this book is definitely worth a read.

(Thank you, netgalley, for the e-arc)

I may be in the minority here but this book was just OK for me. The synopsis reads as something right up my alley - Agatha Christie vibes, small cast of characters, interesting setting and a dash of humor. There are elements of story within a story which is both unique and frustrating. It felt hard to follow in parts and I needed to re-read certain lines or paragraphs to understand what was actually going on. Perhaps the meta element that just went over my head in the end. I absolutely think this book will appear and be loved by many readers, it just wasn’t for me.

I enjoyed this book, it was easy to read and held my attention. I will be reading more from this author :)

The Woman in the Library A Novel by Sulari Gentill has a great murder-mystery with a set number of suspects. The premise is set early so you "watch" all the characters carefully. Unfortunately, it does use a unorthodox narrative style of a story within a story, with extra commentary by an unknown acquaintance of the super-story's author. For a relatively short novel it seemed much longer.

I had such a difficult time getting into this book, and by the end, I was unsatisfied and even annoyed. The premise of this novel is something I’d typically enjoy but it was just too slow moving and disconnected for me.

Wow. This was a great mystery! So much going on but never hard to follow. Only complaint I had was the main character started as a strong, I dependant woman but soon turned into a whiny "he's my man, he can't be guilty", needy chic. Felt she was let down on that part but otherwise A+. Thanks to @netgalley for the opportunity to read this in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion.

I think this might be one of the cleverest mystery books I have ever read. Confusing, at times, but so cleverly constructed.

Sulari Gentill presents us here with a mystery novel she has written, about an author (Hannah) writing a mystery novel, about an author (Freddie) writing a mystery novel about the people she meets at the start of her story (creatively named Heroic Chin, Freud Girl and Handsome Man, but who Hannah has named Whit, Marigold and Cain). A series of letters from beta reader and fan, Leo, to Hannah form the outer structure of their mystery, which is told through the one-sided correspondence and the chapters she sends him in return (and I was surprised how pointed her responses managed to be in the format of her fiction!)

Then there is the mystery of the scream that Freddie and her new companions hear in the library – the scream that prompts them to speak to each other and sets the little ‘Scooby Gang’ into action, and turns out to have come from a woman whose body is found after they leave. As nosy writers, journalist and psychology student respectively, how can they resist a little bit of informal investigating?!

Luckily, the story Freddie is also writing stays mostly in the background, as I think there was plenty of mystery already without adding another layer to the already-complex network of plot threads. Because Hannah’s story and Freddie’s story weave in and out of each other, with Hannah borrowing from real life events and Leo’s letters when writing her novel, blurring the lines between the two different fictional threads.

I was initially thrilled by the beta-reading observations in Leo’s letters, as I don’t see as much of my own craft in fiction as I would like, but my excitement turned to discomfort and then utter horror as he began to impose his own ideas on Hannah’s story – insisting on his choice of murderer, insisting she address the pandemic in her work, and eventually even rewriting her chapters to his own preferences! I think I was slightly more horrified by that than any of the murders! (I take my editing duties very seriously!)

The whole meta-story within a story about the story concept is an incredibly clever hook and is very well-executed here, with the plots bouncing off each other and enriching each other’s details right up to (and past) the final reveal. The only slight drawback I found was that I had to concentrate so much on keeping the characters and threads distinct in my mind, that I was never able to forget that I was reading a novel. Still, what was lost in immersion was definitely made up in entertainment and innovation, so I thoroughly enjoyed this read.

I would say this is the ideal book for anyone who loves a twisty murder mystery but is looking for something fresh and unusual, focused more on plot than character, and with a very clever hook. Did I already mention how clever it is?!

I couldn't get into this book at all. I thought the premise of a murder inside a library with a limited number of suspects would be really enjoyable but it was not. The mystery within a mystery is also something I enjoy but everything about this book fell flat.

This is a thriller that follows 4 people who are brought together by a woman’s scream in a library. Freddie is an Australian author who secured a fellowship in the US. Now she is in another country and she doesn’t know anyone. This makes character development very difficult. Will her assumptions about her three fellow library squatters be correct? Do you really know your friends or those who you call friends? What happens when an unknown killer starts stalking you?

I really enjoyed this story. The author does a good job of interweaving two different stories into one novel. Not only do you get to follow the journey of Freddie, the fictional author in the story but you also get to see the relationship between an author and very passionate beta reader. This story really makes you ask yourself, “How well do I really know those people I let into my life?”

The pacing throughout this story and the hooks that the author uses at the end of the chapters do a good job of providing adequate pacing throughout. These things help keep the reader engaged as the author jumps between present time and a fictional time period. I feel the character development was consistent and good throughout the story however, I would have loved more backstory on Freddie. I felt that there were some parts of the story that were a bit repetitive but it did not take away from the story. While I guessed the twist at the end, I wasn’t fully correct and that made me happy. I love when an author surprise slaps me across the face.