I really liked this book. The beginning was a little confusing because I was trying to distinguish between three story lines. However, I really loved the ending and the character development. I couldn’t put this one down at times!

Wow, what can I say! I really enjoyed this book and even the sub story........

Winnifred (Freddie) is visiting Boston on a Marriott Scholarship from her homeland in Australia and spends most of her days trying to write her mystery novel in the Boston Public Library.

Whilst sitting there, Freddie takes note of three people sharing her table, Freud Girl, Handsome Man, and Heroic Chin, as she decides how best to write them into her book, a huge scream rings through the air. Security asks everyone to stay in their seat while they investigate. The group started chatting and eventually when cleared by security, they head for coffee, the first of many with a killer.

In between chapters, we have an email exchange between the author Hannah and Leo, who is a super-fan, and who insists on reading each chapter as soon as it's written.

Brilliant and highly recommended

An Australian mystery writer, who can’t travel because of the pandemic sends chapters of her latest WIP to a fan in Boston. At first, Leo is oh so helpful, providing location details and insights into words that aren’t used in Boston. But as the book progresses he reveals some rather disturbing information and he seems taken aback when Hannah(the author) isn’t more grateful for his suggestions.
The 'book' is about four people, Freddie, Whit, Marigold, and Cain who meet under rather unusual circumstances. They are all in the Boston Public Library and would most likely have never spoken if they didn't hear a woman's bloodcurdling scream. They become fast friends, but one of them has a background that will make the others question whether or not he can be trusted. Before you can say, isn't it nice to make new friends, the body count is on the rise, and their chance encounter might have been anything but chance.
Each chapter is one from her book and they all end with Leo’s ideas. So you have the mystery that the author is writing and also are trying to figure out what’s up with Leo. There were times when I forgot which characters were fictional from the book and which were “real” My first book by this author and I enjoyed it.

The reading room at the Boston Public Library is where people go for quiet and to get things done in peace.

That peace is shattered for all patrons when a blood-curdling scream echoes through the building. The next day the body of a young woman is found in one of the conference rooms.

Four strangers who were witnesses to the scream - Winifred (Freddie), Cain, Marigold, and Whit - form a fast friendship and band together to try to solve the mystery of what happened, except the murderer might be one of them.

The Woman in the Library is kind of this twisting story within a story within a story scenario. At the end cap of each chapter, we see struggling author Leo corresponding with renowned author Hannah as Hannah sends along the latest chapters of her work in progress about four strangers meeting in a library and becoming embroiled in a murder mystery.

Similarly, Freddie and Cain are both writers currently in varying phases of writing their own stories, drawing inspiration from the mystery happening around them.

Honestly, I love this whole idea and the rabbit hole it drags the reader into, but I have to say that I don't know if the execution was entirely on point. I think the "real world" portion involving Hannah's correspondence missed the mark in truly pulling me into Hannah's story. There was just this lack of depth that I felt these sections instead of adding more to the overall story, ended up pulling a bit away from Hannah's work of fiction within the story. There is a breath-catching moment close to the middle of the book where things kind of take a turn and I was super excited about this turn, but I don't think the book took things to where they needed to go. I think things could have been better if the focus was kept more in one section or another, either "book world" or "real world".

I did like the juxtaposition of events happening in the "real world" as Sulari Gentill does reference and brings the pandemic into focus, whereas the "book world" seemingly happens outside of this or within a world in which the pandemic is not happening. To see the two sides is interesting as well as the idea of whether or not authors have a responsibility to accurately represent world events within the pages of fiction.

I enjoyed the various twists and turns that we get throughout the "book world". I think that Sulari Gentill builds up that anxiety of questioning our judgment in how well we truly know those around us but shows us the strength it often takes to believe in your convictions even when information tends to point in another direction.

This is the first book by Gentill's that I've read, but I'm very interested to see what other things the author has to offer. I love the idea of the story not following a familiar path in terms of how a mystery is supposed to play out.

3.5 stars for this one!! at first i was lost with the letters from Leo and i took me a while to really grasp is this a real story about people or one "Hannah" was writing. But it was one about Hannah was writing and she was sending the Chapters for Leo to read and through his letters back we get a creepy sense. The way he goes and finds crime scene to take pictures of for Hannah's work, and i can't stand how he is always correcting her Australian terms and as the novel goes on his letters seem more angry and personal and getting very upset with how hannah is taking the story. Than we have the characters in Hannah story, Freddie the main character was my favourite and how she never gave up on Cain even though all this evidence was coming up against him. Marigold was kind of annoying and i felt her to be pushy and annoying and stalkerish. Whit was kinda not really memorable either way, he didn't stand out to me but i think that was on purpose and it worked with the story line. Cain was definitely mysterious and had you guessing throughout the whole book. The twist in the end got me, really this whole book got me i thought i was reading a story about a murder in the library and these 4 people would be stuck together in till its solved type of story line but it took a different turn and was really good! the only thing i didn't like was how it ended! i felt like it ended it quick, and left alot of questions unanswered and i guess i just wanted to know more about both story lines!

This is a story within a story. A mysterious scream by strangers are heard which pulls this group together. Strange things start happening and they are trying to figure out if one of them is a murderer.

What began as a cozy mystery became true terror at moments.

This is a story-in-a-story mystery about a set of pen pals and four friends who are tied together by a scream in a library. How does it get better than that?

Although it was very difficult to parse the layers of storytelling in the first 2-3 chapters, I felt there was something magnetic about this story from the very beginning. Perhaps it is the mastery with which the author flows from the conversational tone of the pen pals to the narrative voice of the central mystery. Throughout the book, you’ll find a cast of mostly well-developed characters and friendships that feel like a cozy sweater. It is dark and warm and written in a book lovers’ landscape.

A notable content warning and critique: There are mentions of both child and adult sexual abuse that absolutely weren’t necessary to the plot or character development. (I wouldn’t have read it at all if I had known this in advance.)

P.S. Read the authors note after you’ve finished the book. There’s some fascinating info about the inspiration for the story.

This book blew me away! I loved the concept of a novel within a novel. The characters were bold and brilliantly written. The plot kept me guessing. I would recommend this to all mystery lovers. A wonderful book from front to back.

A lovely whodunit with a twist, this is a mystery within a mystery. It begins with a letter from Leo, a fan, to Hannah, an Australian renowned mystery author who seeks to give advice on her new manuscript that she is writing. Due to Covid restrictions, she is stuck in Australia and unable to travel to Boston. As the setting of her story is set in Boston, Leo offers to give her local research for her book and untold advice. As the story progresses, however, it seems as if his advice becomes a bit obsessive and intense. The real mystery story that we see unfold takes place in the Boston Library that begins with a scream. Heard by four people together in one of the reading rooms, they are drawn together by this event becoming fast friends to unravel the mystery when a dead woman’s body is found the next day. Hannah has created her nemesis, Freddie, as also an Australian mystery writer, who seeking inspiration for her next book hunkers down in the library and observes those around her for characters in her book. There is Freud Girl (Marigold) who is a psychology student, Heroic Chin (Cain) who is a published author, and Handsome Man (Whit), a failing law student. Each have their own back story that slowly unfolds as the mystery story by Hannah is written and shared with Leo. However fast friends, could one of them be the killer?
I loved the different premise of the story within a story as Leo writes to Hannah. The characters are multidimensional and complex. What you think you know, makes you second guess yourself. That she chooses to add a character, also named Leo, into the actual mystery at the library is clever and unnerving. There are lots of twists and turns and one that will leave you at the end saying…whaaat? It does get a bit creepy but in a delightful way. This book makes you think, as you try to decipher reality from fiction because at times they seem to cross over. This great whodunit is worth the read.

Many thanks to #netgalley #thewomaninthelibrary #poisonedpenpress for the opportunity to read and review this book.

"Dear Hannah, what are you writing?"

From the beginning, you know that Gentill's novel is a story within a story. We start with a letter from a mysterious "Leo" who is giving advice to Hannah, the author of the story we are going to read. I have to say that this immediately intrigued me - Leo came off a little desperate (I almost thought he was a fan, at first), and almost creepy when he writes "I so regret that I was unable to come to New York when you toured last fall." And if beginning the book with a letter wasn't interesting enough, I was quickly sucked into the quicksand of the story itself.

Four strangers (two of them who are writers themselves) are connected by a woman's scream in the Boston Public Library and find themselves in the middle of a murder and, more thrillingly, a whodunit. As friendly as they became, little did they know that one of them was the killer. Our main character, Freddie, uses her new friends - an ex-convict novelist, a psychology student stalker, and a trying-to-fail law student - as inspiration in her own novel, and as the mystery unravels, the plot becomes more thrilling.

Each character is complex and believable, to the point where I forgot which characters were fictional and which were not!n The story within a story also got increasingly dark, as our "friendly" Leo's input becomes unnatural (in the form of pictures of actual murders). I thoroughly enjoyed this novel, as it was clever and did not have to rely on supernatural twists to keep the plot compelling. Well done!

We Heard Her Scream…

Addictive. This book was hard to put down! And the subplot was chilling. I didn’t know which one I was more excited to continue reading. I’m proud to say that I picked the murderer early on, but that’s not due to the mystery being easily figured out. There’s so many twists and turns and information dumps that it just continues to get more interesting with every page. I loved the characters and character development to the point where I’m a little sad that it’s a stand alone book and not a series (although there is potential for that to change). The author has such a great writing style that makes me want to read everything she’s written! It’s a must read!

x Sarah - Anneoftucson Reviews

The Woman in the Library is a clever murder mystery on its own, but the supposed author of the book has her own story which is revealed by an ominous fan of her work. After getting used to the story within a story, I was able to enjoY this book and finish it in one day. Great plotting and fine description of restaurants that I plan to discover on my next visit to Boston, the setting of the story.

I was eager to read this one since the premise was so interesting: murder, library, writers... It really seemed like my type of book!

Unfortunately, I wasn't engaged in the story at all and I finished it only because I had receiced an ARC.😕 I wasn't really curious about the identity of the murderer nor in the different relationships between the characters.

One thing I did enjoy was the concept of a story within a story with the letters from a fan to the author. On the other hand, I feel like this idea could have been more elaborate.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the ARC.

Publication date: 07 Jun 2022

The idea of a story inside a story, Strangers meeting in a library and a murder in the library. These are all intriguing aspects of the book. However, the story moves slowly and at times is confusing. The plot falls flat and there are inconsistencies. I liked the setting of the strangers becoming friends so continued reading but it was not unputdownable.

I was excited to read The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill because the premise was intriguing: a woman is murdered in the Boston Public Library as four strangers sit at the same table not knowing that one of them is the murderer. The blurb led me to believe this would be a locked room mystery, but that was not the case.

I give this book kudos for its clever use of the "story within a story" tool. My favorite parts were reading the letters from the fan to the author and then seeing his character in the main plot. I was afraid this aspect might be confusing, but the author explained things clearly.

The mystery itself wasn't that exciting, and the pace was too slow to call it a thriller. The characters fell flat for me, as I didn't care about any of them all that much.

While this book didn't live up to its potential for me, I liked it well enough that I will recommend it to readers who appreciate the story within a story trope.

Thanks to Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for the e-arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

A book within a book! I really enjoyed reading The Woman in the Library. The way this book is written is so fun and unique and I found myself drawn to both storylines. I was hooked from the first couple chapters as the characters have dimension and the prose is smart and concise. Definitely recommend!

As a librarian who works in the next city over from Boston and had been to the BPL many times, I really enjoyed this intricate, "Whodunit" book based at the BPL! Fun, quirky and very entertaining, The Woman in the Library delivers a thrilling mystery packed novel that is sure t keep you guessing and on the edge of your seat!
Enjoyable.

This was a fun mystery inside a mystery! The pages turned easily and quickly. There were a couple ideas that seemed a little off topic in the book, but they did not distract too much. Readers will have to pay close attention so as not to confuse the two mysteries. It kept me guessing!

Thank you very much to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the advanced reader’s copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I really enjoyed this story. I really liked the storyline and the characters. I was excited to turn the pages. What’s not to love about a book about books!

Although this is not the first book to use a twisty plot or unreliable characters, it is the first I've encountered that has a twisty character attempting to influence an unreliable plot.

Gentill uses the frame of the book's narrator/writer corresponding with a possible character who advocates more violence, explicit references to the characters' races, and acknowledgement of the pandemic. That frame allows her to do all the things her character advocates while pretending not to do so. It also allows her to play with fact/fiction, illusion/reality, and do so under the reasonable guise of ending each chapter with a letter from her off-stage writing adviser.

I found the book entertaining and captivating with good characterizations and enough to plot “reveals” to keep me reading well after time to turn off the light.

I hadn’t expected to enjoy it nearly as much as I did — highly recommend.