While I was drawn into this due to it being historical fiction I found it to be fairly slow paced. In addition I was confused as to the storyline of parents as I didn’t feel that was clearly presented
For me the way the past and present was presented was not clearly defined and I had to stop reading.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC and the opportunity to read this for my genuine review

This was my first time ever reading a historical thriller and I really enjoyed it. It added some flair to a genre I'm becoming very accustomed to. I really enjoyed this read and I'd like to thank Poisoned Pen for the ARC.

Can a family’s dark history repeat itself? That haunting question lies at the heart of The Dark Library, a suspenseful and emotionally charged novel by acclaimed author Mary Anna Evans. Set against the brooding backdrop of Rockfall House, this story weaves mystery, memory, and identity into a compelling psychological tale.

Estella Ecker returns reluctantly to the place she once fled—her father’s imposing home and the college where his influence still lingers. With her mercurial mother missing and her father long dead, Estella finds herself surrounded by whispers, rumors, and the legacy of a man she never truly understood. At the heart of it all is her father’s forbidden library—an eerie collection of rare books that may hold the key to unlocking decades of secrets.

Evans crafts a richly atmospheric setting, where the house itself feels alive with memory and menace. The narrative explores weighty themes of inheritance, both literal and emotional, and the inescapable pull of family ties. Estella’s journey is not only about solving a mystery but also about confronting the truth of who she is and the shadow her parents cast over her life.

Suspenseful and unsettling, yet ultimately triumphant, The Dark Library is more than a mystery—it’s a story about the courage to face the past and reclaim one’s future. A perfect read for fans of gothic suspense and deeply personal, character-driven mysteries.

I am not usually one for historical fiction, but I really liked the premise of this book and it definitely did not disappoint. This book was well written, almost lyrical and perfect for a cozy day.

Family drama, mystery, multiple deaths, all with a war going on.

E has returned to her childhood home out of necessity. Her mother has disappeared and her father has been stricken with multiple strokes, rendering him without speech. Her father lasts a short time after E’s return, mumbling something that sounds of importance but can’t fully be deciphered. A woman, falling over the cliff….

Months have since gone by, E’s father has passed but her mother is still missing and E has taken a job at the local college. You would think the college that her father was Dean at would bend over backwards to welcome his daughter, but sadly she is still a woman which means she is unworthy of equal pay and title. Desperately trying to make her meager paycheck stretch in times of war, E has continuously looked at her late father’s lawyer, John, for advice. She just can’t bear to loose the house and put her beloved homemaker Annie on the street.

The plot twists when the current Dean (E’s boss) jumps from his office window to his death. E and her two closest friends are the first on the scene, followed by newly acquired professors. Everyone willing to call the shots but none know exactly what happened.

E must soon put the tragic event of the Dean’s passing aside to deal with the constant money woes, continuing the search for her missing mother, and now a proposal from her father’s lawyer. She soon finds out that the childhood she remembers is built on a pile of lies and it is up to her to determine who is truthful before it is too late.

This story added so many different elements and side facts, I wasn’t exactly sure where it could go and what was important to remember. That being said, I thoroughly enjoyed the ride and it all was sorted out beautifully at the end! This is definitely a mystery plot with a historical time period. With the time period in World War II, I thought the author did a wonderful job at E’s character development especially. The drive she had to pursue her education while unfortunately still being judged and held back for being female was easily recognized.

This is a great read for book lovers of history and mysteries!

First of all, thank you to Poisoned Pen Press for sending me this ARC, I am always grateful to provide my honest review in exchange for a free book (because who doesn't love a great story for free??).

Thrillers/Mysteries is almost always my go-to comfort genre. You know what you're getting and it's almost always delightfully predictable. Lately I've been dipping my toes into the Historical Fiction genre, and I've been pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoy it. So imagine my surprise when I received this little number!

The Dark Library by Mary Anna Evans was such a wonderful, twisty, edge-of-your seat Historical Mystery! The writing was enjoyable, and I felt as though the pace of the book was perfect. More often than not, mystery-type novels feel very rushed at the end with a perfect bow to finish it off. This was not that, the timing was great, leaving a nice satisfying feeling at the conclusion with the juxtaposition of being pleasantly shocked by the twist!

I absolutely recommend this read.

3.75/5

Holly Collins

This story took me a bit to get into, but once everything started to unfold I was intrigued and needing to know more. What happened to her mother? I loved that it took place during WWII as I’ve really been getting more into war novels lately. The twists and turns had me on the edge of my seat and just when I would think I had it all figured out we’d get a little more thrown at us. Definitely recommend if you’re looking for a thriller with just a smidge of romantic elements.

I was attracted to this title because: DARK LIBRARY. Oooooh!

It’s 1942, and Dr. Estella Ecker has just come home to her childhood house after her father, a prominent community figure and domineering Dean of the local university, died. Her mother is missing, and no one knows what happened. She tries to get into a semblance of life, a life left behind by her parents, especially her father, shrouded in secrecy and the town’s dislike and fear towards him, which is now projected on her. She herself is a brilliant but underappreciated academic, but is sidelined every step of the way. One day, she asks for a bigger office but was refused. To tantalize her new Dean and in an attempt to get into his good graces, she mentions that she’s been relishing and going through every page and every book in her father’s most prized library in the house – a library known to keep the most rare books and editions; coveted by the local academia circle, and where parties were thrown sparingly and exclusively to let them have a look at the books. A library which she as his daughter was forbidden to enter, forbidden from touching any of the books.

The new Dean jumped off the building after that.

Dr. Estella is puzzled. What was in her father’s library that the Deam would take his own life for fear of discovery? What is the enigma surrounding her parents? She maneuvres her father’s legacy, navigates a male-dominated academic world that stifles her ambitions, while nagivating the after-math of World War II and a crumbling estate, all while trying to be kind to her housekeeper.

I liked that Dr. Estella was such a strong opiniated character with a will of her own, but I found the first half of the book too slow for my liking. She seemed bitter (rightfully, I suppose) but strong and does not take easy ways out. She also doesn’t make it easy for the people around her. The ending tied in nicely, and I liked it. The whole story had a moody, suspenseful tone, with the old crumbling mansion of a house thrown in with a dark library, it gave abit of a haunting, gothic feel to it as well. Also loved that this was dedicated to all librarians out there.

This was very intriguing and I enjoyed the read.

Giving it 3.5/5 stars!

Thanks to Poisoned Pen Press & Net Galley for the ARC.

The Dark Library will be out on 24th June 2025!

Historical fiction is not my typical genre but the description of this book intrigued me. I felt it was well written and timed. The characters were written in a way that made you feel close to them.

Book Review: The Dark Library by Mary Anna Evans
Rating: 3.5/5 Stars

The Dark Library by Mary Anna Evans offers a fascinating glimpse into the life of Estella, a woman in the 1940s struggling against the limitations imposed on her by a society that doesn't view women as fit for positions of power. The novel explores both her personal and professional struggles, creating a relatable narrative that keeps readers engaged.

One of the key themes Evans brings to the forefront is the inequality faced by women during this era. Estella's frustrations with being relegated to an assistant rather than the professor she deserves to be resonate strongly throughout the book. Evans does a good job of showing how society's bias against women made them feel as though they lacked the same worth and potential as men.

However, while this theme is clearly highlighted, I found it somewhat tangential to the main plot. For example, Estella’s father forbidding her to touch his books initially seems tied to her gender, but the truth behind it – the secrets her father was hiding – shifts the focus away from gender inequality and adds an interesting layer of mystery. The discovery of photographs, notes, and a web of blackmail that Estella uncovers re-energizes the story just when it needs it, offering an intriguing plot twist that elevates the narrative.

In addition to the main mystery, Evans includes a bit of personal romance, which is a nice touch but never overshadows the central plot. This balanced approach keeps the focus where it needs to be while still adding emotional depth to the characters.

The ending felt fitting and appropriate, wrapping up the story without unnecessary embellishment. While I rated the book 3.5 stars, it’s still a compelling read, and I appreciated how Evans wove in historical context, emotional depth, and suspense.

I had a hard time getting into the book at first, but once I was hooked, I couldn’t stop turning the pages!

That said, I have mixed feelings about this read. I started it as a thriller I was really enjoying, but the thrilling tension unfortunately faded in the second half, which was a real shame.

The protagonist left me feeling a bit puzzled. I didn’t really feel like there was any character development.

And even though I didn’t see the plot twist coming, as soon as a certain character was mentioned, I had already guessed what was going to happen.

By the last few pages, I suddenly found myself reading… a suspenseful romance! And I have to admit, I was a bit confused.

As a longtime fan of her Faye Longchamp series, I was excited to see a new book by Mary Anna Evans. As I began reading, I was at first surprised to find that this was historical fiction. How had I missed the last couple of Evans books and the change in her genre? While this is not my usual reading choice, the story and Evans' writing soon sucked me in. Fortunately, I had a rainy day off from work and was able to spend it on this twisty tale. It is the early days of America's involvement in WWII and Estella has been forced to return home by her father's stroke and mother's disappearance. Central to the story is the discrimination against women during this time period. Estelle must circumvent these limitation to discover who her parents really were and to find her own sense of identity. I cannot wait to read Evans' previous two novels!

Thank you to Netgalley for this ARC. Estella's father has died, her mother is missing and she inherits the.manor she escaped years ago. Her father, a professor, was cruel and overbearing and E (her preference over Estella)is surrounded by her father's peers who don't take to her kindly. No.one seems worried about her missing mother, a professor commits suicide, or was he killed and a very handsome stranger shows up in their very small college town. It took a while for this story to take off, but once it does, it's very good. A missing dead girls body is found, love blooms slowly and awful.secrests from the past are discovered. A decent read but be patient.

I found this book to be captivating and haunting in all the best ways. I was completely drawn into Estella Ecker’s story and felt her dread and apprehension as she returned to Rockfall House. I could vividly imagine the weight of her father’s legacy and the mysterious atmosphere of the house, especially with the secrets lurking in his forbidden library of rare books.
I admired Estella’s determination to uncover the truth despite the whispers and rumors that surrounded her. I felt her struggle to navigate her new reality while dealing with the disappearance of her mercurial mother, which added an emotional depth to the narrative. The town’s obsession with her father was palpable, and I found myself frustrated on Estella’s behalf as no one seemed to care about her missing mother.

Overall, I thought this was a beautifully written and atmospheric book that made me reflect on the courage it takes to uncover the past and define your own path. It’s a story that will stay with me for a long time.

The Dark Library by Mary Anna Evans follows E as she reluctantly returns home to her small town on the Hudson River after the death of her father and disappearance of her mother. Her father left her a decrepit Victorian home and no money to fix it or feed her and her housekeeper. And when the Dean of the local college falls to his death from his office window, E begins to uncover truths about her family and the town that she tried so hard to forget.

This book weaves an interesting mystery. Every character is suspicious and appears to harbor a dark secret. However it took too long, in my opinion, to get to the core of the mystery. Evans spends the majority of the book describing the struggles E faces living alone in 1942 during the height of the war, the parties her mother used to throw, and the budding romance she develops with a new to town professor.

I had no idea where this book was headed until about halfway through. But when the mystery was revealed, it was gripping. I just wish there was more. It all felt a little anticlimactic and rushed towards the end.

Overall this was an interesting historical mystery that I would recommend for lovers of strong female characters and gothic atmospheres.

The Dark Library by Mary Anna Evans releases on June 24, 2025. Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the ARC copy in exchange for an honest review!

DNF'd at 18%

I was drawn in by the premise of a woman trying to discover her fathers secrets in amongst his rare book collection, while navigating the world for a woman during WWII. Sadly this did not worked for me.

Theres a death in the academy at the beginning of the book which sets up the mystery.

Not long after this is where I found the story get bogged down, specially when Estella is remembering her parents. I understand (hoped) this backstory was setting up for future plot points, but it didn't seem to hold any value to hold my interest. I felt like I kept waiting for the story to move forward, yet it stayed at a stand still.

I struggled with the writing style in connecting with the story & characters.

Estelle Ecker has returned home due to her father's health and mother's isappearance. When her father passes
away, Estelle struggles to pay off her father's debts while searching for her mother. Searching for answers, she
discovers what happened to her mother and her father's secret source of income. Hidden secrets of community
members are revealed, changing lives forever.
#TheDarkLibrary #PoisonedPenPress #NetGalley

Set in the 1940's after the Pearl Harbor bombing, the reader finds himself in a small town not far from Boston, a young woman who recently earned her doctorate in literature, returns home after the death of her father and disappearance of her mother. E as she likes to be balled, had escaped a domineering father. Now, she must deal with all he has left behind--a crumbling estate, a wife who is missing, and secrets that have long been hidden. The story has the gothic feel and the first-person narration moves the tale but at times a bit slowly. Secrets are slowly revealed, and the reader must decide who can be trusted as must E. The author does a good job in showing the lack of emancipation for women in the 1940's. Thanks to Net Galley for the arc.

This book was just not for me, that being said it still was well written. Thank you to NetGalley and loosened pen press for the arc of this book.

“The Dark Library” by Mary Anna Evans
Reviewed by Claire Hamner Matturro
Mary Anna Evans has been intriguing readers with her masterful and intelligent mysteries for over two decades. During this time, Mississippi-born Evans earned a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from Rutgers University and a Ph.D. in English Literature from the University of Exeter and became an associate professor at the University of Oklahoma. Given her background, it is no surprise that her latest novel, “The Dark Library” (Poisoned Pen Press, 2025), continues her tradition of well-crafted, character-driven, and compellingly layered mysteries.

“The Dark Library” is a marvelous book, rich with remarkable characters and suspense, skillfully exploring the explosive collision of dark family secrets and deadly shames buried in a college’s history. The novel returns to the World War II era, as seen in Evans’ recent books, “The Physicist’s Daughter” and “The Traitor Beside Her.” As in these prior works, the protagonist is a highly intelligent woman navigating what was then historically a male-dominated profession—this time, academia in 1942.

The opening line sets the tone and immediately immerses readers in the complex plot: “I suppose there are more soul-destroying places to die than at the foot of an ivory tower, but I can’t think of any.” The character reflecting on this is Dr. Estella Emily Eckerd, Ph.D., who prefers to be called E. The dead man is Dean Jameson, the dean of Arts and Sciences at Bentham College in the small town of Bentham-on-Hudson. He is also E’s boss, and she was apparently the last person to speak with him before he fell from the tower to his death.

The dean’s bewildering death might be the first mystery, but it won’t be the last. His demise is intricately woven into a growing collection of unanswered questions. E’s father, a feared college professor, recently died, and her mother is missing and presumed to have jumped off a cliff into the bay below. When officials drag the water searching for her body, they instead dredge up the remains of Helena Frederick, a pretty college student who disappeared fifteen years earlier. The connections between the dead dean, the long-missing student, and E’s own parents remain confoundingly perplexing. To further complicate matters, E discovers she is being spied upon.

Personally consumed with the search for her mother, E is haunted by her parents' tumultuous relationship. Her mother, a beautiful poet and an enigma, vanished the same day her father was stricken with what would soon kill him. Annie, the family’s faithful housekeeper and a close friend to E and her mother, reveals harrowing details of that day, though they provide no solid answers.

Summoned home from her teaching position in Boston, E struggles with professional discrimination. A Yale Ph.D. holder, she seeks the respect and title that a man with her credentials would receive. However, Dean Jameson refuses to offer her an equivalent title, office, or salary, relegating her to research. When the war depletes the college’s faculty of male professors, she takes on their teaching responsibilities but remains underpaid and unrecognized. Though she longs to find a better position, her search for her mother keeps her in Bentham-on-Hudson. Her father’s menacing memory looms over both E and Annie as they continue their search.

Two men seek E’s affections: one, the family lawyer who offers financial security, and the other, a young professor who holds the teaching position she should have. Each harbors his own mysteries, and neither entirely adds up. Nevertheless, E is drawn to the professor.

As the title suggests, “The Dark Library” has strong gothic elements. Hawke Hall, from which Dean Jameson fell, is described as an “ugly heap of stone and bricks with round towers,” resembling “a castle designed by an architect who had only seen castles in books.” Rockfall House, E’s childhood home to which she has returned, is an “aged, turreted Victorian home” perched halfway up a cliff. The house holds closely guarded secrets, including hidden passages, a vast library of valuable books containing clues, and disguised rooms. While there is no literal ghost, the long-missing Helena effectively serves as one, haunting the characters through the mystery of her death.

“The Dark Library” pays homage to Agatha Christie and Daphne du Maurier in skilled and effective ways. The story approaches Christie’s locked-room mystery concept but teasingly stops short of fully embracing it. Readers should also watch for a passage that honors a classic scene from du Maurier’s “Rebecca.” Given that Evans is a Christie scholar and co-edited “The Bloomsbury Handbook to Agatha Christie,” this homage is well-executed and adds intensity to the novel.

All in all, “The Dark Library” is a compelling, complex mystery that showcases Evans’ considerable talents. The novel exudes a brooding sense of doom, unsettling at times with its multiple deaths and missing mother. Ultimately, the many buried secrets will erupt in the aging mansion on the cliffside.

The multi-award-winning Mary Anna Evans holds a Ph.D. in English Literature from the University of Exeter, as well as an MFA and a Master of Science in Chemical Engineering. She is the acclaimed author of the Faye Longchamp archaeological mysteries, a college professor, and a frequent guest lecturer.