I was so excited for this one, but I made it 20% of the way through before giving up out of boredom. I think I needed a little bit more info about the characters to actually care about them. And the plot didn't keep me. Also there was a lot of telling what americans do or say compared to Australians and as an American, I didn't find them all true. I found that annoying.

Four seemingly perfect strangers–Cain, Whit, Marigold and Freddie–all find themselves in the Reading Room of the Boston Public Library when a scream is heard, startling not only them but others in the library. As the mystery surrounding this scream develops, so does a friendship between these four very different individuals. Soon the four friends find themselves involved in more strange, and potentially deadly, occurrences as the truth begins to come out about not only the scream, but about themselves and their pasts. Can this new-found friendship survive the woman in the library?⁣

The Woman in the Library was a novel that I really wanted to like, and at times I did, but by the end I found that I was left a bit unsatisfied. I really like the structure of the novel, consisting of chapters from a manuscript with letters thrown in. The narrative itself and mystery was pretty good as well. The conclusion, however, left a few too many holes open for my tastes. There were events that needed more explanation, and others that didn’t make sense or were too convenient. There were also certain aspects of Leo's letters that I found irritating, which also took away from my enjoyment of this novel.

This is a multi-layered complicated mystery. There is a woman murdered in the Boston Public Library, and 4 young strangers hear her scream, and all become involved in the story. There is a book within a book, and sometimes it is hard to separate the two. A definite page turner yet I feel unsure of exactly what happened in the end.

I’m such a fan of the book within a book concept and add in a fun library setting, this one had so much potential! While the story within a story was incredibly clever and extremely well done at times, it also slowly became one of my least favourite things about this read as I found myself often confused and constantly questioning what was happening and what story I was in.

I applaud how difficult this one must have been to write as it was extremely multilayered with some intriguing and complex characters. I enjoyed the whodunit aspect and found the twists and turns entertaining.

I think this one’s worth checking out but go in in the right head space and ready to pay very close attention to detail!

What can I say? This book captured me with its mystery, personalities and twists. I haven't read anything by Sulani Gentill before, but I certainly will now. I always knew you needed to be quiet in a library, but in the Boston Library you also need to be careful who your desk companion is! A Really Great Story!
Thank you NetGalley for providing this copy. The opinion in this review is solely my own.

I really like this kind of book. Someone is murdered. All characters have an alibi. But do they? Someone must be the murderer, right? And then the side twist of the author “writing a book and the creepy fan” —it’s delicious! Fun summer mystery! Loved it! Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a free copy. I will recommend this to friends! 4.5 stars!

This review was originally posted on <a href="http://booksofmyheart.net/2022/06/09/the-woman-in-the-library-by-sulari-gentill/" target="_blank"> Books of My Heart</a>
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<i>Review copy was received from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.</i>

<strong>The Woman in the Library</strong> did not have a lot to do with libraries, other than an initial murder taking place there.  It did have a lot to do with books and writers though.   It is also a story within a story.   Each chapter is a piece of a famous author's manuscript following a letter from her American friend who lives in Boston.  Boston is the setting of her book.  The friend comments on various aspects of the manuscript as to location, American typical phrases, and his thoughts about plot.

The story takes place during Covid and that is not part of the book she is writing; it is set in 2019.  The friend thinks it should be incorporated, and also thinks the character's races should be revealed.  The question of race does not come up and I'm uncertain as to the race of any of the characters really.  The main point of view, is the author, Hannah, and in her book, the main character, Winifred, called Freddie.  Freddie is an author, as are two of her male friends in the story.

The letters from the friend become increasingly bizarre.   He is more demanding about her changing things according to his thoughts.   I wonder how she became friends with him in the first place.  Apparently they have never met, but she wrote him to make some inquiries about the Boston setting.

In Hannah's book,  the story begins as four people sitting at a table in the library hear a scream.  They get to talking and become fast friends.  Over the following weeks, they come to know each other further.  As writers, they have some interests in trying to solve the murder and aspects of it which don't quite make sense.  There are continued attacks and there seems to be a connection between them, which put Freddie and her new friends in the watchful eye of the police.

I wondered about various characters as the killer but never really put it together.  There were some creepy aspects like a lost or stolen phone calling Freddie with weird screaming or texting her pictures of people's doors including her own.   There are romantic elements between the characters to add another layer of emotion.  I enjoyed the unique way this story was told.

I had a hard time reading this book. I wasn't interested in the characters because they were characters in a story within a story.

A story within a story. We follow four strangers with a newly formed friendship after a scream is heard in the Boston Public Library. As the four new friends question why someone would scream in the BPL the news reports that a young lady has been found dead with no leads. As past problems become the presents new issue the question they all have, which of the three could be the real murder.

This is the first mystery novel that I have read so I do not know what the status quo is on pacing but I felt like this book dragged in the beginning. Based on the books synopsis I was expecting a 12 angry men situation with each person accusing the next of the murder until all the clues come together. However as the book unfolds, the crazy twists and turns start to make you question each person. Overall I enjoyed this book. The real treat in this book is that this is a story within a story. Written as if we are the Beta readers we see an email exchange between the books “author,” and a fan that adds an extra piece of suspense in the book.

Overall I would give this book 3 stars.

To see/hear our full review of this book please check out our podcast episode that will be available on 6/12/2022 on Spotify and Apple.

Thank you Poison Pen Press and NetGalley for the arc.

This ARC was received with the promise of an honest review. All opinions in this review are ours.

Just One More Page Podcast
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The Woman in the Library (Poisoned Pen Press, $26.99) by Sulari Gentill opens in the Boston Public Library reading room where four strangers—two of whom are writers—meet coincidentally while a young woman is murdered elsewhere in the building. When one of them comes under suspicion, the others rally to get to the bottom of it, but secrets emerge that call everything into question. There’s a dual, metafictional narrative that unfolds in letters to the author of the mystery as it is being written, which is very cleverly executed. For whose who enjoy real puzzler, with layer upon layer of suspenseful plotting, check out this whodunit.

Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review. This story is a book within a book that I think is done very well for the most part. The deeper story within is one that is a bit surface level in its characters and almost reads as a first or second draft of a story to me. Perhaps this is the point and I still enjoyed trying to figure out the twist within that story. The story on top of that one is the one I have mixed feelings about. On one hand I really enjoyed reading the letters and having this be apart of the novel, however I wish there was a bigger reveal or epilogue of some sort to wrap that up into a better bow. I know what happens and the story is resolved but it didn’t feel as impactful as I wanted it to. Definitely recommend to someone who enjoys mysteries and also enjoys writing as this is a story about a story.

Wow. Wow. Wow. This book was absolutely fantastic and I loved the book within a book premise. I went into this one pretty blind after seeing it on a couple of people’s anticipated releases shelf. In this book we follow Freddie, Marigold, Whit, and Cain as they instantly are bonded in a breakfast club type scenario when they hear a woman’s scream in the library. When the woman turns up dead, these amateur sleuths are on the case. What follows is a novel of plot twist, secrets, and a touch of romance.

There’s a secondary storyline interwoven through the chapters of this novel and that storyline is equally if not more interesting. You cannot say much about that storyline without getting into spoilers.

Overall this book kept me engaged. I loved the characters, particularly Marigold, even though some of her decisions are more than questionable. I will say that the secondary storyline at first you are not sure why it even exist, however once you find out, it’s shocking and you are instantly invested. Then that storyline wraps up a little too quickly. This book is really fantastic and I highly recommend!

Incredibly cool and creepy and metafictive, with two interlocking stories: the chapters of the mystery novel of the title, an interesting, expertly done mystery story itself, are interspersed with email feedback on each chapter from the "author's" beta reader, which themselves begin to form a horror/mystery story of their own...

I enjoyed the well-crafted, familiarly titled "woman in the/girl on the/etc." core mystery, and as for the metafictive framing story, I thought it was absolutely terrifying, and just very, very cool. Couldn't put it down!

Book within a book within a book. AND a cozy mystery with Agatha Christie vibes! I have to say I fell in love with the cover, then the book description and finally with the book itself. I inhaled this within 24 hours - I think that says it all in terms of my enthusiasm about The Woman in the Library.

Freddie is an Australian writer on a fellowship in Boston, spending a year working on her novel. While people watching in the reading room at Boston Public Library, Freddie witnesses a woman's scream. The experience leads to a fast friendship with her table mates - Cain, a fellow writer who just happens to be very handsome; Marigold, a psych student with quirky personality and lots of tattoos & Whitt, a law student intent on failing his studies. When a body is discovered, the unlikely foursome gets drawn into the depths of the mystery surrounding the discovery. But could one of them be the murderer?

Hannah, Australian mystery writer is crafting the above described story with the assistance from her pen pal Leo who happens to live in Boston. Leo is a fan and an aspiring writer himself and soon becomes deeply invested in Hannah's story and its characters.

I absolutely loved the concept and format of the story. Each chapter consisted of Freddie's adventures followed by correspondence between Leo and Hannah. And each time the chapter ended I simply could not wait to turn the page and start the next one. If that pesky thing called sleep did not interfere I would've easily finished the book in one sitting! This is definitely one of my favorite reads of 2022!

If you're a fan of cozy mysteries, Agatha Christie, and memorable characters (Marigold with her "Jesus take the wheel!") this is definitely a book for you!

A big thank you to NetGalley & Poisoned Pen Press for gifting me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review! Poisoned Pen Press I'll be on the lookout for your other releases

What most intrigued me about this book were the reviews from others that said it read like the movie Inception - a book within a book.

A woman writes a story about four strangers who are in a library when a terrible scream rings out - and one of them could be the reason why. Friendship, mystery and even romance unfolds as the question of who killed the woman in the library becomes more and more complicated. There were lots of characters in this story (though not too many to keep track of) and I enjoyed (almost) all of them.

I really did love the “story within a story” aspect of this book - a writer writing about writers and being written to (are you lost yet?) - as the double narrative definitely kept me on my toes! I really didn’t know how this book would end and when it did, it felt sudden. I’m giving this one a solid three stars because it’s unlike anything I’ve read in the past!

Thank you to @poisonedpenpress and @netgalley for my ARC!

I had such high expectations for this one, I mean a murder on a library, what more can we ask?

But this one was a let down unfortunately 😢 I don't know why, but I thought the book would have taken place in the library until the end but the characters were in there for the first chapter and that's it.

I didn't understand the point of the letters, well yes I did but it was pointless and not that good of a twist.

I must say that I did read this one really fast, I read it in less than a day, so it's bingable but not amazing 🫢

Thank you so much @netgalley and @bookmarked for the digital arc, all thoughts are my own.

The Woman In The Library by Sulari Gentill is a clever murder mystery that involves a story within a story. It begins with a Bostonian named Leo writing to an Australian author, Hannah Tigone. Leo is a fan of Hannah’s and he describes trying to write at the Boston Public Library. Leo has been unsuccessful in getting his book published. He is thrilled when Hannah decides to set her next mystery novel inside the Boston Public Library and lets him read the story chapter by chapter. Leo then sends suggestions and comments to her, which become increasingly bizarre.

Hannah’s new novel is about an Australian writer, Winifred “Freddie”, who is seated at a table at the Boston Public Library with three strangers when they all hear a scream. Later the body of a female reporter is found dead in the library. This incident bonds the four of them and a fast friendship forms. We quickly learn that one of them is a killer, but we don’t know which one.

The regular email correspondence between Leo and Hannah reminds the reader that Freddie’s story is fiction, but that doesn’t make it less interesting. I was drawn into the intense friendship that was formed out of a shared experience as well as the author’s insight into the life of a convicted murderer. There are several potential suspects and I didn’t figure out whodunit.

4.5-stars rounded up. This book was published on June 7, 2022. Thanks to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for my advanced reader copy.

Pub date: 6/7/22
Genre: mystery, suspense
In one sentence: A scream echoes through the Boston Public Library Reading Room, bonding a group of new friends - but one of them is a murderer.

As a former Bostonian, the setting is what made me request this one! I loved following main character Freddie's adventures throughout the city. The novel is a book within a book, so we also get asides to writer Hannah from her pen pal Leo. The beginning of the book gave me major Agatha Christie vibes, and I was drawn into the mystery. Unfortunately, the mystery lost some steam about 75%, and the ending didn't match up to the strong beginning. That being said, I would be happy to try another book by Sulari Gentill.

Text vs audio: Both have their pluses here - I enjoyed the variety of voices in the audiobook, but it was easier to keep track of the characters with the text.

Thank you to Poisoned Pen Press for my NetGalley ARC and Libro.fm for my ALC.

#netgalley#thewomaninthelibrary

Wow this book is so unique I have never read anything like it. I loved that it was set in a library and I loved the murder mystery. I would definitely recommend this book. 3/5 stars

Four strangers become fast friends at Boston Public Library after they hear a terrifying scream. The next day the body of a woman is found and these new friends find themselves wrapped up in a murder mystery.

I really enjoyed this one and it was not like anything else I’ve read! It’s a book within a book. Hannah is in Australia writing a book which she sends to Leo in the US to be a beta reader. Her book is the story about Freddie, Cain, Whit and Marigold and the murder mystery. Freddie is also a writer taking inspiration from these people she is becoming fast friends with. Some of which have lots of secrets.

I love books about books and that it is set in a library just pulled me in. I wasn’t shocked by the ending but found it was a book I couldn’t put down for long. I wanted to see how it all tied together. It gave me an old mystery feel, like Agatha or Hitchcock or something.

Thanks to @netgalley and @poisonedpenpress for an eARC for review.