I liked the format story within a story. Writter Hannah receives feedback from a beta reader to write her book and we have the letters from her beta reader Leo who also send her advise, for example she should mention the use of masks. We also have the story itself that tells about Freddie an Australian writer in USA who met three people in the Boston library where they hear a scream from a woman and what happens afters that.

This book fell flat for me. The second story interwoven was more interesting than the main story and then didn’t go anywhere. Disappointing.

I finished this book because I really wanted to know how it ended, however I felt rather disconnected. I’m not sure if there was a translation issue or something but it fell flat for me.

The Woman in the Library reminded me of the movie "Inception" because it's about an author writing a story and in that story, the author is also an author writing a story. It was a pretty cool concept! The story follows a murder mystery that happens in the Boston Library, causing a group of individuals to become friends. These friends have some secrets, some more than others and as the reader, we try to figure out who the culprit is in the story. Concurrently, other murders are unfolding in real life and real time, in which the story in the book mirrors the actual story in real life. And without giving away much more, it is a little confusing to describe, however, the author did a great job at making it discernable throughout the book.

Three stars because although the ending really picked up and I enjoyed the premise of the story, I found myself trying to skim and even having to re-read some chapters because of the lack of excitement/thrill. The beginning grabbed my attention, but the middle of the book got a little boring and then the excitement picked up towards the end. The story overall was pretty predictable, I guessed the plot and mystery pretty early on but it was nice to see it unfold. If you like a thriller with a twist and enjoy visiting Boston, add this one to your shelf!

Sending a huge thank you to NetGalley, Sulari Gentill, and team for an e-ARC in exchange of my honest review.

This book sounds like it would be a fun read, a murder in a library and trying to find the killer…but it was just confusing. An email within a book within a book? It was just too much for me and I only made it 1/4 through before I gave up.

I am not generally swayed by the cover of a book. I know there are readers out there for whom the cover is an important part of the joy of a book; not so, me. This book's cover, however, did grab my attention, along with the title and the marketing copy of the story. I'm glad for whatever got me to request an early copy of this book from the publisher and equally happy I was given a copy for review.

The story begins with an email from aspiring author, Leo, to successful mystery writer, Hannah,. They appear to be friends and Leo offers to give chapter-by-chapter feedback on Hannah's latest project. Thus begins the book-within-a-book story as Hannah writes a book by a character named Freddie and Leo supplies comments at the end of each chapter.

Four strangers are together in the reading room of the Boston Public Library when a scream is heard, security is called and all patrons are told to remain where they are. The strangers begin to talk and introduce themselves: Freddie, a fellowship author struggling with her muse; Cain, a published author doing research; Whit, a law student who hates the law and is being forced to study it by his parents; Marigold, a psychology student at Harvard. These strangers and her relationship to them become the focus of the story Freddie begins to write. What seems like a coincidental meeting turns into friendship. Add in the murder of a woman whose body is later found in the library, and the four new friends bond in a curious fashion. When one of them becomes the focus of the police investigation into the death, they come together as a group to solve the murder.

I like the format of the book within a book very much. In "The Woman in the Library", this method is executed perfectly. Also, the pacing, the writing and the slow reveals of each character's part in the novel is excellent. I eagerly read late into the night to find out what was going to happen next. I did have a problem with the ending and felt it was a bit rushed and the rationale behind the murder was a bit weak. Overall, it is an excellent read, however, and I highly recommend it.

Thank you NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for an advance copy of this book. The publication date is June 7, 2022.

3.5 stars
This has such a cool ‘book within a book’ premise and it had some really clever twists (especially the reveal halfway through) up its sleeve. However I felt like the conclusion of both stories left a bit to be desired for me. One of them (and probably the one I was more invested in) was wrapped up very quickly and it felt like it wasn’t really satisfying.

Thank you for the ARC of this book. I had high hopes for it but sadly it is DNF for me. I could not get into it at all, not sure why because from the description I really wanted to love it.

A mystery with the word library in the title is so in my wheelhouse. I thought this was very well done. We have an Australian mystery writer who shares the chapters of her new book with a fan/early reader, who in turn responds with his observations and critiques. Her book is about an author who is writing a book. So a book within a book within a book. It sounds more confusing than it is because Gentill manages to pull it off beautifully. The four main characters happen to be at the Boston Public Library at the same time when they hear a woman's scream. The incident forges a bond and subsequent friendship between these four strangers who discover that a woman has been found dead in one of the library's event rooms. As the story develops, we discover other events in the past that tie these characters together and it is clear early on that one of them is a murderer. This is a good plot with well developed, likable characters, and a few interesting twists. A big thanks to netgalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the ARC.

One of the most interesting and original books that I have read for ages.
We follow a mystery writer who is writing a mystery whilst living the scenario. A highly entertaining read and I would certainly look out for this author in the future.

This one was very hard to put down, especially toward the end. I loved the framing for it: a mystery writer is writing a book about a mystery writer who’s writing a mystery (my brain exploded for a while over that), and between each chapter, there’s a letter from a fan. The fan seems to be a regular correspondent of the writer’s, and he’s giving writing feedback and insider information on Boston, since the Australian writer’s research trip has been postponed by the pandemic. There are no letters by the author included in the narrative, but she is clearly corresponding and sending chapters for feedback, based on what the fan is writing. It’s a clever way to make the setting current without Covid taking over everything about the plot (the fan and the author disagree over whether or not it should be included in the plot of her book). I don’t want to give too much away with more details. I will say, at 91%, I was sure I had figured out the murderer in the novel within the novel (and not that proud of myself since it was so close to the end)…and I was wrong!

Worthwhile notes and a nice interview at the end—I recommend reading them all! I’ll definitely push this once it’s out, and I’m eager to check out the author’s other work.

This is a very clever story about four strangers in the Boston Public Library who meet and bond over hearing a woman’s scream. This is the first book I’ve read by this author and it definitely won’t be the last. The story is easy to follow, despite its being a story within a story. Recommended.

3 Stars

WOW, What a ride!

This book was definitely interesting. I thought that the book inside a book trope would be off-putting or that I'd be interested in one story more than the other, but that wasn't the case at all.
The book is written as chapters from a novel that's currently being written alternating with letters between the author of the novel and an aspiring author, who also happens to be a fan of her books.

<em><b>"And then there is a scream. Ragged and terrified. A beat of silence even after it stops, until we all seem to realize that the Reading Room Rules no longer apply."</b></em>

The novel that the author is writing is about four people who meet at the Boston Public Library, and become friends after they hear a woman's scream in a nearby room. Next day, they find out that a woman was murdered in the library the night before and the murderer was actually one of them. And that's how their friendship starts.

The novel was so good and the pace was fine. To be honest I didn't like how Leo, the author's correspondent commented on her novel as if it were his own.
Throughout the novel there were some weird comments about race. These comments just irked me. for example:

"People who have assumed these people were white may feel betrayed and tricked if they realise that the people they've invested in could be Black. Some folks only want to read about people of their own kind, and even the idea that a character could be black, means he's not white enough."

Really???!!! What does that even supposed to mean?

Thanks to Netgalley and Poisoned Pen Press for providing me with an ARC of the book in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely loved this book. A new, twisty spin on your usual whodunnit, but done so well that I honestly forgot the bad guy was going to be one of the central characters!

It is sort of a “story within a story” which was a little confusing at first but once you get what’s going on, it’s not hard to follow.

The outermost story is one-sided epistolary and I really enjoyed it. My only complaint was that the “author’s” pen pal, Leo, declares quite a few of her details as being either American or Not American, as she is writing a book set in the states while she lives in Australia… I disagreed with quite a few things he said, which made him a little questionable as the authority on Americanisms. We do, in fact, refer to cold weather knit hats as “beanies.”

All in all, one of the better ones I’ve read this year. I’ll be keeping an eye for this author’s work in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for supplying an advanced copy of this book.

Great idea for the main plot but did not care for the dual story line. Two stories in one took away from the main storyline for me. Switching back and forth complicated the reading enough that I did not enjoy the book as much as I thought I would from reading the synopsis. If you are into dual storylines, this would be a great read for you. If you are into a smoother single plot then skip this one.

I loved the story-within-a-story aspect of this book. I often found myself thinking the author was writing about herself.. The idea of an Australian writer setting her book in Boston, with a sub-plot of a stalker/editor helping was just so wonderfully convoluted! I really liked this book and couldn't wait to get back to it every day.

The Woman in the Library was set up interestingly, with chapters alternating between the mystery story, and emails from a man to the author of the story- giving her feedback on the characters, how to make it more US sounding (the author being Australian), etc.

I can't tell if it cheapened the mystery, having it be an actual story in the novel's universe. But both the emails and the story kept me engaged, and I flew through it so I guess it worked for me. But the story within a story genre still isn't my favorite.

And what the heck was that ending??

Thanks to Netgalley for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review!

A scream brings four strangers together and begins a mystery within another story. Mystery writer Hannah is sending drafts of her book to Leo, a reader in Boston, to check for accuracy and give details about the location and terminology because she can't travel to Boston herself due to the pandemic.
The mystery is about a writer named Freddie who is staying in Boston on a fellowship to write her book. She goes to the BPL to write and there she meets 3 others. But are these others really strangers? Where the four of them coincidently there at the time of the scream? Is Leo, another fellowship writer living in the same building, really as kind and considerate as she thinks?
Two mysteries and some letter writing make this a fun to read mystery.

"No...a story is about leading a reader to meaning. The revelation is theirs, but we show them the way. I suppose the morality of the writer influences whether you can trust what they are showing you."

The beauty of writing book reviews is its enabling power bestowed upon the reader to voice out her thoughts and feelings about the book. One may say that a review is subjective much as beauty depends on the eye of the beholder but not one can ignore the inevitable fact that one of the reader's responsibilities is to share her thoughts, feelings, and guarded opinions about a tome. And so, here it is!

I am fond of books that narrate stories involving libraries, tomes, and writers. While other books that have "bookish stories"may seem boring and tied loosely at the end, this book is not. It exceeded beyond expectations.
My mind and my bookish heart were satisfied reading a story within a story.

It is a story about a writer, Freddie, who resonates another writer, Hannah, a famous author who corresponded with a serial killer and the author of Freddie's story. Ironically, Hannah writes mysteries. As chapter after chapter unfolded before her and as Freddie unfolds the mystery behind the woman killed in the library, Hannah sends each chapter to Leo, a self-proclaimed writer with a dark personality. Hannah receives constructive criticims and tips from Leo together with photos and stories of crimes he committed for the sake of 'helping' his writer-friend. It is a riddle you, as a reader, should solve.

Secrets unfolded. Lies confronted. Truth revealed. Freddie was able to solve the crime and protect her beloved friends from the real killer. But will Hannah evade Leo as he sets forth to Australia to meet her and show her unimaginable things?

To those who wants to read another out-of-the-box story, here's the right book for you. Brace yourself and let not your curiosity get the best out of you lest you will finish the book in less than an hour. But it will be a less than an hour of time well spent.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book. It was put on my radar by the publisher and I certainly am glad! The initial premise of a murder mystery in a library was very intriguing. Then you throw in that the 4 strangers get to know each other and find out they have ties that they didn't even know about. THEN the meta moment when Hannah's friend Leo is corresponding to her in real-time, but then is also in her novel. It was so great! The only thing that I did not like was the slow development of the characters and the twists, but i understand to make it a good mystery it needed to be vague and slow. Lastly, I definitely think the title does not do this novel justice. If i was going based off the title alone, i probably would not pick it up thinking it was a mystery. The title comes off as historical fiction.