"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.)

I loved how this book was constructed!!
While one author – Hannah – writes a mystery novel set in Boston (though from Australia), another author – Leo – is her local guide and helper to get all the details about the city right.
We get to read her manuscript chapter by chapter and immediately after each one Leo's commentary with feedback and further suggestions... and some conversational details about himself, which seem to escalate to something shady and sinister.
(So basically, we get a crime story within a crime story!)

One of the major things I liked about this book is the humour mixed into the story. I loved almost every joke, how it sometimes manages to not take some things too seriously and still be nerve-racking.
The story itself actually progresses quite skilfully. As soon as you get a puzzle piece to form a suspicion in your head about the whodunit, a character seems to voice something similar in the story. I don’t know if it was a coincidence or done deliberately, but I loved it because (for me) it gave everything an extra edge.
I also noticed some writing errors here and there, but I'm not sure whether they’re –again – intentional because the chapters are supposed to be unpublished drafts or if they escaped the actual editing process. A mystery in itself, maybe solved when the official book comes out.

All in all, I had a great time reading this and would definitely recommend!!

This was utterly unreal; probably one of my favourite reads this year and potentially my favourite Crime book ever.

‘The Woman in the Library’ is a story within a story; the chapters are enclosed in letters to the authors friend and, as the story unfolds, so does the story of the two authors.

The characters are united by witnessing a crime - you have Freddie, the narrator - a talented, aspiring writer from down under. Cain, your typical handsome guy with a dark past. Marigold, the baby of the group, an over enthusiastic Psych student who loves a little too hard. And Whit, a privileged kid who will do whatever it takes to flunk Harvard Law.

It was an utterly compelling read - the story is weaved together effortlessly and with such thought behind it; I pride myself on being able to guess such things but I truly had no idea in this one. Each character is suspicious at one point - the person it seems the most obvious you cannot help but question your judgement, but then also; is your judgement being clouded because of the biased narrator? Is the person whose the least suspicious actually the genius behind it all?

A mystery, who-dun-it book of the very best kind. I would love a physical copy to tear apart each motive and scene.

Also, Cain is the precise type of man I always love in books and if you need a morally grey, dark haired brooding villain type with a tragic past - couldn’t recommend enough xxx

Thank you so much to Netgalley for the ARC.

Hanna Tigone, Australian living in Boston. A writer that seems to be at a loss for writing goes to the BPL and sits in the reading room and watches the people reading there. She starts to figure out what and who they are, getting ideas for her next book. They all hear a scream from the next room and she becomes friends with three of them wondering who screamed getting involved with them and decides to put them in her book and starts writing. Her friend reads the chapter that she writes by email and lets her know how good they are. And there comes ideas for her book that has lots of twists and turns about the Woman that screamed to a surprise ending.

Such a quirky little mystery. The author of this book is Australian who is writing about an Australian writer writing a novel set in Boston and receives notes from an American throughout the book. The protagonist of that book is an Australian writing a novel while physically being located in Boston who befriends a murderer (though we don't know who it is) all while incorporating the murderer friend into her own novel. Got it??

It's actually much easier to follow than it sounds and quite an interesting way to set up a murder mystery. All in all, lots of fun to read and sort through the layers.

From the brief description of this novel, I knew I wanted to read it. A library, a murder, and unexpected friendships abound in this read. I was hooked. I adored every page and did not want it to end.

I can not say too much without giving anything away but it was delightfully twisted with just the right amount of character development that made me care about each of them. I can’t wait to dig into this author’s backlist.

*Spoilers ahead!*

Four strangers sitting at the same table in the Reading Room of the Boston Public Library strike up a conversation and become friends after a woman's blood curdling scream is heard throughout the library. After her body is discovered, the group investigates and finds out that one of their new friends may be a murderer.

This book was very fun to read! Odd thing to say about a murder mystery, but I did find it enjoyable. Mainly because it does what all great mysteries do. It allows the reader to play detective. To question everything the author has put before them, and to arrive at their own conclusions. "The Woman in the Library" is an engaging and entertaining page turner. It's structured well, the plot flows and I can see it being a very good choice for a book club. Author Sulari Gentill has created an interesting group of characters, giving them all their own moments to shine. I especially like the characters Whit and Marigold. They had such big personalities, yet they didn't feel over the top or cliched.

As much as I enjoyed this book, there were a few things I wasn't a fan of. The first was the choice to have the subplot of the emails between Hannah and Leo. At first, it was so jarring to have every chapter be interrupted; it seemed to ruin the flow. For the first few chapters I actually skipped over the emails for that reason. I am glad I went back though because I would've missed something important going on. I wish we could've seen Hannah's emails back to Leo. I feel like we weren't able to connect with her, or him much for that matter. Him being a killer himself felt like it was abruptly brought up, forgotten for a bit and then wrapped up at the end quite quickly. Because I wasn't able to really connect with either Leo or Hannah, frankly, I asked myself why does this even matter? I would've much preferred if the subplot had been it's own novel, and given more time to develop.

Also, as much as this was a fun mystery, I think the execution of the investigation itself could've used a lot more work. I felt like the group didn't look into Caroline's murder enough. And they started looking into it WAY too late. That should've been their first move. I also wish they had actual hard evidence of any of the theories they brought up throughout the story. I feel like all the information they got was just hearsay from other people, and any time someone would say something suspicious about someone, Freddie would immediately believe they were the killer, yet she had no actual tangible evidence. Speaking of Freddie, I wasn't quite sure why she was the one who was chosen to get the phone calls with the scream or the door pictures. It all felt a bit "lets haunt the pretty girl" cliche and the only way to keep her relevant in the story.

Overall, even with a few misses, I still think "The Woman in the Library" is a hit, and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a fast, engaging locked room mystery in reverse to exercise their detective skills. Thank you Poisoned Pen Press and Net Galley for giving me an advanced copy.

This was a fun little book! I was instantly grabbed by the premise and loved the letter additions, especially as they were revealed to be more sinister. My only gripe would be that this lost a bit of steam in the last third. Too much emphasis on instant love and I’m still confused why Leo (the book Leo) was so damn pushy and creepy.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Ooof. A very overwrought piece of meta fiction. The ultimate unraveling at the end, did unfold as planned, but reading through the novel to get there didn’t feel worth it to me.