I really enjoyed this book! It was an interesting way to talk WWII subject matter without being depressing and heavy-handed.

I will say the first half of the book is slooooooooooooow. There is a lot of time spent on learning about E and her life - which is interesting, so that’s what kept me going. When the plot cranks up in the second half, it really gets going.

Overall I really enjoyed this book! I would say it’s Gothic-adjacent, much to E’s chagrin I’m sure.

Thank you to NetGalley, Mary Anna Evans, and Poisoned Pen Press for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Estella Ecker has returned to Rockfall House and this is not the place she really wants to be. But with plenty of family secrets and town gossip will she find the answers she wants and needs about her family. This is one of those books that reels you in from the start with a great storyline but also with the intrigue and suspense that are tangled in the pages of this book.

This is a dark, well thought-out and well written book with characters that seems so real. It has twists and turns to keep you on your toes. With plenty of atmosphere, it builds throughout keeping you interested and in suspense. A great read and I highly recommend it.

Thank you NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

A dark Gothic set during WWII. Estella, known as E, has come home to the college town where her father dominated life because he's died of a stroke and her mother is missing. She's the only one who is concerned about her mother but she's not sure why everyone is so hostile to her. She's fully qualified to work as a professor but has been stuck as a research assistant to others. All in all, a mess. So now she's trying to untangle the web of her father's life and lies. This one has a few good twists so no spoilers. It's nicely atmospheric and well paced. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A good read.

This one was an atmospheric slow-burn historical fiction with a nice blend of mystery and suspense, and a smidge of romance. It was set in a small college town in the Hudson Valley during World War II with a spunky, smart, and determined woman at its heart. I liked how the secrets of the various characters were unraveled, but I think my favorite part was discovering exactly how and where those secrets were kept. All in all, this was a fun read, especially on a dark and stormy day.

This was a fun read, although the description seems a little off. This is more a WWII home front story than a thriller. There are a couple mysteries to be solved here, but one is done with fairly quickly and the other tied up very neatly and quickly at the end. The eponymous 'dark library' doesn't actually come into play until maybe the last 80% of the book. I was a little surprised by this and found it a little disappointing - there was not as much intrigue or mystery as I would have liked or expected.

However, I did enjoy my time with this book overall. E was a fun, smart heroine, which was incredibly refreshing. She was probably my favorite part of the book - the "smart woman that doesn't fit in" stereotype can be tiresome, but I thought E was realistic and enjoyable to read.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!

I love a good gothic mystery and this was definitely one of those!! Was giving some Hitchcock vibes! 🙌

Had some great twists and turns! I loved the Estella (E) character and the other strong female characters!! Recommend checking this one out, book peeps! 👏

Thank you to NetGalley, Poisoned Pen Press, and Mary Anna Evans for the opportunity to read the eARC in exchange for my honest review! I will definitely be checking out more of the author’s work!! ❤️

Set in the 1940s, this slow-burning suspense novel took me by surprise. Historical fiction isn’t usually my go-to, but I found this story unexpectedly engaging. While the pacing is steady for much of the book, the final quarter really delivers—bringing twists and reveals that had me fully hooked. The payoff is worth the wait, and I ended up enjoying this far more than I expected.

This book is a slow placed suspense novel set in the 1940s. Usually, this is not my jam. However, this book was enjoyable and interesting. The pace picked up in about the last quarter of the book, with reveals and twists that kept me on the edge of my seat.

This dark, thought-provoking, mystery / thriller is a captivating read! Mary Anna Evans sets a tone of suspense and suspicion around E, or Estella, the main character who is trying to figure out her parents’ secrets and the hold they seem to have over the small, college town where they live. E comes back to her childhood home when tragedy strikes, leaving her father ill and her mother missing. Trying to make her own space in the academic community where her parents seem to hold so much power isn’t easy, and with the US involvement in WWII starting, keeping a large house going becomes another challenge that E is faced with. The cast of characters surrounding E keep you wondering who should be trusted throughout the book! I really enjoyed the slower pace of the story combined with the dark atmosphere and developing clues, it was hard to put this book down! I also enjoyed all of the other literary elements and connections to great works of literature woven throughout the story.
Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for a galley copy of this book!

Estella is called home due to the mysterious disappearance of her mother but on her way her father falls ill. She is left to solve the mystery of her missing mother, the mysteries and secrets of her father. This story starts with an unexpected death that ties back to her father unknowingly and the secrets that lies within his massive and exclusive library. Estella was a strong character and at times I felt that she was just "blah" to some things. I would have loved to find out why her dad took her mother away but maybe I missed it. This book had many twists that I did not expect, loved them. This was my first read by this author. I enjoyed the mystery and partial history given in this book. I would look more into her books. This is a ARC review from NetGalley, thank you very much.

A bit slow and dark. A bit different take on typical WW2 historical fiction.
Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for access to this eARC.

Apologies to the author, but I'm so bored.

I'm not connecting to the characters at all. They lack something—a spark of personality? development? depth? All of the above?

Pacing is slow, bogged down with lots of minutiae. I never felt any sense of urgency or intensity. Events that should have been major or explosive seemed to simply pass us by with acceptance and, oddly, not much detail.

I started skimming at around 30%. I'm calling this a DNF at 59%.

*Thanks to Poisoned Pen Press for the free eARC, provided via NetGalley.*

This book was a historical slow paced novel set in the 1940s family secrets unexpected places & so on. It did take me a while to get into but one it got to a decent pace I was hooked I wanted to know more about Es mother! If your into historical WW2 fiction then I would definitely recommend you give this a read

The Dark Library is an interesting read, entertaining enough to keep you reading, however, it was not as suspenseful as I hoped it would be. It has a good premise, and I enjoyed the idea of the family, particularly father, having secrets Dark enough to tarnish the family name. Unfortunately, this read was a bit too slow for me and not as exciting as I anticipated.
Thank you NetGalley, Poisoned Pen Press, and Mary Anna Evans for this read.

This books was a new style and felt different to my norm. So I was glad to get stuck in. It felt very immersive and dark. Like I could feel the scenes going on in front of me. It intrigued me to keep wanting to find out more. And the mystery felt like it held on until revealing itself in moments that sometimes twisted and sometimes were just aha moments.
I'm glad I got to read this book. I liked getting such a different take and writing style.
And once the pace started picking up I felt like I was fully involved and needing to know more.

The Dark Library is the story about a young woman who returns to her parent's gothic manor on the Hudson after the death of her father. She joins a local university where the Dean throws himself off the tower to his death, but then the story completely changes to finding out what happened to her mother the night she disappeared? All while she is trying to maintain this Victorian house and go on dates with suitors?

I am not sure this book is for me. It felt very disjointed as if I were reading three different story's that were mashed together. It was giving historical fiction, historical romance, gothic mystery, murder mystery and thriller? I'm not sure. The pacing is very slow and I could not connect with any of the characters within the novel.

Unfortunately, this is a no for me.

<i>Thank you to Poisoned Pen Press for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.</i>

Thank you Netgalley for the arc of this book. It started off strong, and then became a little slow for me about halfway through. The plot seemed all over the place, and I wasn't a huge fan of the main female character, E. This is also not a normal genre I would read, so maybe that is why my rating is so low?

This had a really intriguing premise and a great gothic atmosphere, but the story didn’t fully land for me. I enjoyed the eerie setting and the literary touches, but the pacing felt uneven and I struggled to stay fully invested in the plot.

It had some standout moments and solid writing, but overall, it just didn’t quite hit the mark. A decent read, especially if you’re into slower, moodier mysteries.

Evans weaves historical intrigue with contemporary stakes, creating a story that’s both atmospheric and intellectually engaging. Faye remains a strong, resourceful protagonist, and the blend of academic setting with a touch of gothic tension makes this a satisfying read for fans of intelligent mysteries.

Verdict: A sharp, smartly written mystery perfect for readers who enjoy archaeology, dark secrets, and strong female leads.

This wasn't exactly what I was expecting and yet it was enjoyable. I particularly liked the mother character - she had unique spunk and some hidden depths. I work at a university so those scenes and politics and interactions were compelling (and largely accurate!) Annie the housekeeper/friend was a stabilizing presence throughout who represented someone who saw the family as they truly were and still stood by them.

My favorite character was Devan his true good nature; he was well written and his mystery was nicely explained.

I found the father's "military/war secrets" plot to be pretty thin and not well developed; it would have helped me to have a bit more background on what exactly he was hoarding and what he planned to do with it. I understood the potential damage that info about local folks' KKK ties and salacious assignations, but to have a random "faculty" person show up in town & later at the party, hide, jump out and wield a gun, was disjointed. I wasn't entirely sure where the story was going and then there was a bad thunderstorm and everything wrapped up.