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.

I have mixed feelings about this one. I very much enjoyed at first the idea of a substory or a meta one, it really made it feel original and I was very excited to find out more about the story, but then kind of a third one felt a bit more and it didn’t quite land for me. Some parts felt very long and got me a little confused. Some parts got me really scared! And I enjoyed that.

This is not a bad book and I think this is a perfect book for a book club.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Poison Pen Press for this ARC.

I loved the idea for this book, unfortunately it just did do it for me. The whole story within a story with a story got confusing and there were a lot of moments where I wasn’t sure exactly where the characters were at. I also feel like adding the pandemic/everything else that was happening in 2020/2021 felt off. I’ve read a few books that added covid perfectly, but this one just wasn’t it. It’s such a beautiful cover, and I know lots of people have loved it, it just wasn’t for me.

Thank you to NetGalley for the copy!

i really wanted to like this book and at times i thought i would. it had a interesting premise but it lost me pretty quickly when i realized there wasn't as much of a mystery and more of bored people looking to create problems where they where not involved. i liked the writing at times but in other moments it felt very forced and amateurish. the ending was very watered down and gave me nothing i had been hoping for.

The Woman in the Library was an original thriller with twists and turns that kept me captivated until the last page.

I received a complimentary digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I usually start with the parts I liked about this book. And I think the best part of this book is definitely its hook. From the title to the first sentence, the book asks for you to pick it up. The side characters were entertaining and I felt engaged with them as a reader. The mystery itself was good, which I suppose is really all you need in a mystery/thriller. And even the protagonist could be well-written at times. All in all this book in a normal circumstance I would give 3-3.5 stars, A solid mystery with decent characters.

However, I did not enjoy the story within a story aspect of this book. The random emails every few paragraphs broke whatever tension/suspense the plot managed to have. Just when the story would pick up, it would immediately be disrupted by these emails of the "author"/protagonist. It felt very rough and patchy, especially for a book of this genre. Because I could never get truly into the story, I found myself skimming through it about halfway through just to see what happened. .

When a woman’s scream pierces through the quiet of the reading room in the Boston Public Library, four strangers are suddenly drawn to each other. Who screamed? Are they ok? These are the questions these strangers have and these are the questions that start an unusual friendship between them. Freddie (Winnifred) and Cain are both writers while Whit and Marigold are both students. When the woman’s body is found in the library, these four try to put together the puzzle pieces while getting to know the truth about one another. Simultaneously, another story is unfolding in letters written back and forth to the author from an strange fan who has a dangerous side.

This plot was so original and intriguing, a story in a story. I loved the strange beginnings of this unusual friendship. There were lots of red herrings and I did not see the ending in either plot lines coming. It’s so hard to even try and explain the 2 plot lines going on but this is will be a great summer read. This book has it all!
Romance ✔️
Mystery ✔️
Murder ✔️
Friendship✔️
And much more!

3.5 stars rounded down. I loved the premise of this book, a murder in a library involving writers - it had so much potential - but I didn't love the execution! The main plot was really interesting, however, I found the chapters felt very disconnected because of the e-mails with Leo (the sub-plot). His part was only semi-interesting in the middle and again at the end, but overall it took away from the book instead of adding to it. I did really enjoy the four main characters and found them all interesting and was suspicious of them all at various points.

Thanks to NetGalley & Poisoned Pen Press for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review

Short book, big disappointment. I wanted to love it; the premise was so interesting and I love a good “who done it” kind of book. Unfortunately, the story was confusing and sometimes it didn’t make any sense – I’m no strange to suspension of disbelief (major fantasy reader here) but this was a bit too much for my taste.

The characters were very one-dimensional, they had no depth or charisma – I didn’t care about any of them and this shouldn’t happen when there’s a murder on the loose. Starting with Freddie, she was so naïve for a 27 year old, and she made very questionable decisions (with a ridiculous reason behind it – keeping it spoiler free). Marigold was just annoying and needy, Whit was supposed to be the laid back cool guy but for me he came across as a teenager who wanted to piss off his parents, and then there was Cain. I liked what the author did with his name, very clever in my opinion, and he was the most interesting one by far, but still not very wholesome.

About the plot, it started strong but it didn’t hold up. Although I have enjoyed the letters from Leo and how everything escalated from just a “beta reader” to what the author developed (again, trying to not spoil anything), nothing else held my attention and the ending was a downer.

Hopefully I’ll have better luck with this author in the future.

This book is a lot. The author employs a story within a story structure but I am not sure it is always completely successful - the link between the two pieces seems tenuous at best. The main plot is solid. The characterization feels a little cliched. The pace is off as the first half of the book tends to drag. And the tone fluctuates wildly - it feels like a cozy thru most but for jarring sequences of disturbing and violent imagery. I think mainstream readers will enjoy this; voracious readers will readily identify its flaws.

The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill
Thank you to Poinsoned Pen Press and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. The book will be published on June 7th, 2022.
Writing: 4/5 Plot: 5/5 Characters: 4/5

A three-layer nested story merging a murder mystery, the evolution of friendships, and some fascinating insight into a writer’s process.

Australian Hannah Tigon is a writer, and in a semi-epistolary shell to the novel, she writes a chapter which is followed by detailed feedback and comments from an e-colleague living in Boston where her story is set. These comments get stranger and stranger as the book evolves. In the story itself, Winifred Kincaid (Freddie) is also a writer — trying to get some work done in the Boston Library when a bloodcurdling scream is heard. She — and the three others nearby — form a friendship after the scream as they try to figure out what happened. In the third layer of the story, she bases her characters on these three new friends.

Twisted. Engaging. Quite well written in the spare, thoughtful style that I like. The story is told from Freddie’s first person perspective and her internal dialog is clever, colorful and full of insight into a writer’s thoughts. I found it interesting that she presented some un-PC perspectives such as a white author bemoaning the fact that he never got to benefit from white privilege (see quote) and took an interesting perspective on race — never telling us the race of the characters while simultaneously being harangued for same by the man sending her feedback.

A few interesting quotes:

“I open my mouth to explain, to assure him that I’m a writer, not a leering harasser, but of course this is the reading room, and one does not conduct a defense while people are trying to read. I do attempt to let him know I’m just interested in him as the physical catalyst for a character I’m creating, but that’s too complex to convey in mime.”

“But they all smile while they talk — that’s the difference I think, that’s what makes it American. Australians don’t seem to be able to smile and talk at the same time — unless they’re lying, of course.”

“I write her terror gently, allowing what is unsaid to carry the narrative, aware that overt emotion could well move the story into melodrama.”

“The reality is, I suppose, that I am a straight white man with no diversity disadvantage to offer as a salve for the fashionable collective guilt that rules publishing. I understand that popular correctness demands that men like me be denied to compensate for all the years in which we were given too much. I just wish I’d had a chance to enjoy a little of that privilege before it became a liability.”

“I’m not sure if they have more information or if it is simply an inevitable evolution of sensationalism.”

“Cain smiles at me, and the fact that he’s handsome is again very salient.”

“New, but already beloved, wrapped in the excited crush of friendship’s beginning, untarnished by the annoyances, disappointments, and minor betrayals which come with the passing of time.”

The Woman in the Library has a really cool concept, which will be attractive to writers especially: a writer is working on a novel about a writer working on a novel, all while maintaining correspondence about her novel with another writer. While well-executed, it was not so well executed as to avoid being boring and weirdly bloated. Not enough attention is given to interesting parts, and too much attention is given to Freddie's book about the friends she meets in the library. The characters and setting seem very one-dimensional, and the main mystery is not that intriguing. The element of Hannah's work being critiqued in real-time by her pen pal was very entertaining and unique.