Dr. Estella "E" Esher has reluctantly returned home from Boston after receiving notice that her father has fallen ill and her mother has disappeared. When she gets to the large estate her professor father had built, she finds him clinging to life but unable to speak coherently. He dies soon after. That leaves E at the house with the faithful family servant, Annie. E soon takes a job as a "research assistant" at the local university where her father taught for many years. She also begins teaching classes since most of the men have been called up to serve in WWII. E soon discovers there is little money left to run the family estate, and since she's a woman, the university feels justified in paying her a pittance. She decides she must sell some of her father's art and precious books to keep the household running as she tries to discover what happened to her mother. Much to her despair, the expert called in to evaluate her father's belongings doesn't give her much hope that they will fetch much on the re-sale market. Her father's lawyer, who helps her with financial matters, has proposed marriage out of the blue. E might have been tempted to accept if it wasn't for the newly hired attractive young professor at her school. While E and Annie try to figure out what happened to her mother, E soon learns that her father had even more secrets hidden about the house that nearly everyone in town (as well as even more important people) will do anything to keep secret.

The book picked up in the last few chapters, but it was a real struggle to get there. Not a lot seemed to happen after the startling suicide of E's boss at the university at the start of the book. I wasn't exactly sure what the book was trying to be -- a mystery? (there didn't seem to be much mystery going on), a romance? historical fiction? It was hard to get a handle on what sort of book this was. And until the end of the book, the library in the title was very much absent. I liked the way the different aspects of the story were tied up at the end, but it was a long slog to reach the conclusion.

I tried multiple times to get through this book.

The story was all over the place and made little sense.

The characters were hard to visualize and I really didn't care for them.


NetGalley/ Poison Pen June 24, 2025

I had hoped to really enjoy this book, however, it just didn't happen.
The story was all over the place, I found myself skimming the pages to get to any part that would catch my interest. Unfortunately, it didn't happen.

Thanks to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the opportunity to read The Dark Library by Mary Anna Evans.

I was caught up in this story from page one and kept getting more deeply engaged the longer I read, and was still surprised by some things at the very end. I loved this book. Bravo, Ms. Evans!

I could not connect with the characters in this book. I felt as though the storyline was all over the place.