After a murder in this "locked room in reverse" thriller, the players meet as strangers in the Ornate Reading Room of the Boston Public Library and depart as friends. When they hear a piercing shriek in another room, Freddie, Whit, Cain, and Marigold are sitting at a table in the library. They had no idea that one of them would be the murderer. Surprisingly, the cops are unable to locate a body when security locks them in place to investigate. They are able to go, so they gather for coffee to chat about what has transpired, and they learn that one of them is a stalker. They'll find out later that the body was hidden under a table which kicks off this thrilling mystery. 

Freddie, the narrator, resolves to create a book about them as characters. The subplot of a writer Leo offering help on Hannah's work via email has a chilling feel to it. His input gets dark and weird, yet it keeps you interested and makes you change your opinion about who the killer is multiple times. The characters are well-developed and believable, but it's the personas of each buddy and how they see each other that has captivated me the most.

4.5 STARS
I actually really liked this book. I loved the book within a book (with one of the characters also writing a book) idea! I was there for it the entire time! It felt very meta at times and I loved that!

There were a lot of twists and I loved reading both the book that the fictional author was writing and the few emails that we get between the author and her fan. There is a lot I could say here but for fear of spoiling it I won’t.

I will just say that it’s a perfect “who dun’it?” Mystery with some thriller aspects and I binged it in a few hours. This is probably one of my new favorite mystery books! I will definitely be picking up other books by the author.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for gifting me an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

The Woman in the Library by S. Gentill, published by PoisonedPenPress, is a full length, thriller/ crime-fiction told in a multiple pov.
Four strangers in Boston Public Library, that's where the storyline is set. An unique, unputdownable read. A story in a story, layered, excellent, enjoyable full of twists and turns the reader is kept on the edge of the seat.

While at the Boston Public Library trying to work, Freddie (Winifred) is sitting at a table with four strangers when she decides to use the three as characters in the book she is writing. A scream pierces the silence and they are asked to leave. The four decide to go get coffee while waiting for more information. A friendship forms when they find out that someone was murdered and the body hidden in the library. The four start to try to figure out who was responsible. The more information they discover, the more it becomes clear that one of the four could be responsible especially when Freddie begins to receive strange text messages and another member of the group is attacked. The story is told in an unusual fashion, chapters of the book are interspersed with email from a man named Leo, who is writing to the (fictional) author of the book, Hannah. A well-told story with plenty of interesting twists and turns.

This book hooked me from the start, knowing one of the four main characters is a murderer! A fictional murder mystery being written by an Australian writer Hannah with the help of her male US correspondent Leo. I liked the format of each chapter being the murder mystery manuscript and ending with a letter of correspondence from Leo. The four friends in the story are very intriguing, each with their own story to tell. I also loved the setting of the murder being in the Boston Public Library. The story flows very well, making you want to keep reading to find out who the murderer is. I enjoyed this mystery very much!

3.5 stars rounding up to 4
This one was a slow burn for me. About halfway through it really picked up and pulled me in. Despite the slow start I enjoyed the ending. Even though the reader has a good idea the killer is one of the four main characters, the way it turns out is still a twist si that'sa positive. The book also contains a subplot, which at first confused me, but once I realized what the author was doing it worked for me. All in all a decent mystery. Thank you NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the opportunity to read this ARC and provide an honest review.

I'm new to Sulari Gentill, but as a huge fan of the mystery genre...I can already say I'm a fan of their work! What an awesome premise - a mystery within a mystery, a chilly Boston setting, complex characters. I did struggle with the frequent references to the pandemic. Like the rest of the world, I'm pretty burned out in day-to-day life on virus talk, so generally prefer my fiction to be mask-free.

Thank you to the publishers and Netgalley for allowing me the chance to read this book early!

I really enjoyed this novel. I thought the way that Gentill played with stories within stories was really well done and added a layer of suspense and tension that I hadn't been expecting. Leo is truly unhinged and reading his letters was something else.

The plot is fairly straight forward and it moves quickly. I enjoyed the cast of four and their investigation into what happened in the reading room of the BPL. I also quite enjoyed the fact that the main character is a writing so we get to see a little bit of the writing process as she moves through the 'investigation.'

I don't want to say much else, because this is a book to go into without knowing all that much about it. It's a quick read and it's a fun read. I would recommend! I would have probably given it five stars but felt the ending wrapped up a bit too quickly for my liking. That final line though! Whoa.

Humanitarian corridors are being set up from Mariupol, Sumy and towns and villages outside the capital Kyiv.
But Ukraine officials accused Russian forces of firing on a convoy of women and children from Peremoha village, near Kyiv, killing seven.

I went into this book expecting a typical murder mystery. Instead, I was taken on a bit of a ride that drew me in, to the point that I immediately sought out another Sulari Gentill mystery after I'd finished this one (also great, by the way). WIthout giving too much away, I can tell you that the book appears to be chapters of a work-in-progress being sent to a beta reader, insterspersed with that person's feedback via letters. As the novel goes on, it takes unexpected twists and turns, adding layers to Gentill's tale.

i found the story within a story concept really interesting and from the first chapter i was already hooked. however, the problem with this book was that the subplot was much more interesting compared to the main plot, but we only get like 10% of the subplot in the entire book. the main storyline was intriguing in the first few chapters but it quickly became dull and boring because the main characters themselves were dull and boring. i don't mind a slow paced mystery thriller book with lots of dialogue as long as the characters are compelling and have substance, but this book didn't have those characters. halfway through reading the book i was far more interested in the subplot, but there wasn't much page time for it so it wasn't developed enough. i also think the revelations for the main plot was so poorly executed and some of the things didn't make sense to me. i thought the revelation, at least, would pay off for the mediocrity of the book but it was so unsatisfying as well. moreover, i found the main character to be so annoying. she's pushing 30 but she kept acting like a 16 year old and i just could not understand how impulsive and irrational she was throughout the entire second half of the story.

i would've enjoyed this had the author focused on the subplot and not the main plot.

A metafictional thriller. We see the chapters of a novel being written, as well as the responses to the chapters by the author's pen pal. The plot of the author's novel starts when a woman's scream is heard in the reading room of the Boston Public Library. It is revealed that the woman was murdered, and the experiences bonds together four people who heard the scream. This part of the novel is fascinating.

The metanarrative hinges around the author's pen pal, who slowly reveals more of himself throughout his emails and feedback. Watching his feedback be taken into consideration for the following novel chapters is immensely satisfying in ways I can't quite describe, especially when the changes are clearly but not explicitly sarcastic.

I found this to be a gripping and thoroughly original thriller, and I read it in one sitting. However, the ending of both arcs falls slightly flat to me, both being a bit anticlimactic and the in-universe novel ending not living up to the originality that preceded it. Be that as it may, I would still recommend this to almost anyone as it is far and above many other thrillers in originality and thrills. Hugely entertaining.

A twisty-turny ride that was enjoyable from cover to cover! This is a must read for fans of thrillers and mysteries who are looking for something off the beaten track. While the theme is not new - a group of strangers thrust together, one of whom is the murderer - Gentill's novel with a novel treatment is refereshing. Avid readers will get a kick out of the setting - the beautiful Boston public library.

I would recommend for fans of classic mysteries and character-driven whodunits. Thanks to Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for the Arc.

I really enjoyed this story and lost a few hours of sleep because I could not put it down. The story with in a story was fun and I thought both stories were interesting. I like some characters a bunch, others not so much. I was on a strong solid five stars until the end. It felt rushed and I feel confused.

Didn't finish reading it on time.
Great premise and I was really getting into it.
I love any book about libraries or with libraries as a setting.

A smart, original thriller set in the Boston Public Library. I was gripped from first to last as four people sit in the reading room when a scream pierces the quiet. A security guard tells everyone to stay where they are, and as the four converse, their unique reasons for being there are revealed. One is the murderer. Gasp! Sulari Gentill is my new go-to thriller writer and if you love the genre, you can't miss THE WOMAN IN THE LIBRARY! Out June 7.

Thanks to the author, Poisoned Pen Press, and NetGalley for the ARC; opinions are mine.

#TheWomanInTheLibrary #SulariGentill #poisonedpenpress #NetGalley

I received this book from NetGalley and was excited to read it based on the blurb. I thought the book would be about these 4 friends, solving the murder but that’s not at all what it was. In fact, the titular woman in the library is all but forgotten for the bulk of the book.

The blurb plot was also the “book within a book,” with the “real” author being sent increasingly dangerous fan letters. You never see what the author’s response is and why the fan keeps getting advanced chapters despite clearly being unhinged. The author also names a character in her book after the fan and alludes to him also being a creepy dude, right up to the end where he pops up again and is there to help? Unclear because the dude gave off real “stay the hell away” vibes but the main lady protagonist didn’t.

Also, the fan constantly corrected the author with what Australian things to change to make them sound more American but then the suggestions were just as inappropriate (ie not all southern men say “ma’am” or “yonder”) I’m sure this was meant to make the fan sounds more patronizing as the novel went on but it just ended up being irritating as his corrections were just as wrong.

I wish the blurb was written better because I expected a different book.

Thank you, Netgalley and Poisoned Pen Press for an advanced copy of this in exchange for an honest, unbiased review!

I don't know that this summary gives an accurate depiction of this novel. I was under the impression that this is a locked room mystery - that the whole novel takes place within the Reading Room - and it is not that. This is actually a book about an author writing a book about an author writing a book. Seriously. It's hard to describe and is a bit convoluted. Each chapter ends with notes on that chapter from a beta reader of sorts, and part of the book's tension comes from the escalation from the plotline of that beta reader and their relationship to the author writing this story.

This book (or at least this version of it) feels like it's 90% dialogue. It gets tedious and often the action is hidden behind characters meeting up to just discuss the mystery and suspects. Most annoyingly, there is a confrontation in the final chapters that we don't see at all. This frustrated me to no end and I felt cheated out of that plotline - that nothing built from that ever mattered at all (so why include it?!)

The main character also reads WAY older than her supposed age. It's mentioned several times that she is in her late 20s, when she acts and speaks at least two decades older than that. It's small, but every time she mentions how old she is, it irked me.

Tense and twisty literary thriller in which Sulari Gentill causes you to question the meaning of friendship and the power of words. Highly Recommended for lovers of libraries and stories! #Netgalley #TheWomanInTheLibrary

The 52 Book Club 2022 Challenge Prompt: 2. Featuring a library or bookstore

Other Possible Prompts: 8. Involving the art world, 11. A book with less than 2022 Goodreads ratings (for now!), 12. Set on at least two continents, 22. An unlikely detective, 52. Published in 2022

Another great one!! This book is just, *chef’s kiss*. I thought I was in for a good mystery, but this book is unexpectedly great. Not good. Great. The surprising depth but all around intrigue of this one totally got me. It gave me Agatha Christie vibes…

The Woman in the Library is a book in a book in a book. Read it, read it again… terribly confusing to explain, but so, so good. The main narrative centers around Freddie, an Australian author currently residing in Boston on a fellowship. During a regular trip to the Boston Public Library, Freddie and three other strangers in the Reading Room are united by hearing a woman’s scream. Security initially turns up nothing, but the four later find out a woman has been murdered. Freddie leaves her lunch knowing she has just broken bread with a murderer. Could it be Handsome Man, Heroic Chin, or Freud Girl? She begins writing her novel with her new friends shaping her characters, and the mystery of the murder continues to unfold around them.

If this part of the narrative whodunit isn’t enough to pull you in: Freddie’s story as a novelist is written by another character, outside of that story, by the name of Hannah. Hannah’s a famous novelist from Australia herself, conversing via email with her Bostonian friend and colleague, Leo. After each chapter of Freddie’s story, written and sent by Hannah, we read Leo’s feedback, and his advice for making the book more authentic including Boston locales or American lingo. I absolutely refuse to ruin any of this plot line for you. But please know, there’s so much going on in this book…so many layers…and holy smokes, are they amazing.

Like I said, this book took me by surprise. It just wasn’t what I thought I was jumping into, but now I see why it has such incredible early reviews and ratings. There’s an added layer of depth to this mystery that I find fun and so creative, while at the same time intriguing and nail-biting-worthy.

Not to mention, when it comes to the actual whodunit, I had literally no idea. I was kept guessing the whole frickin’ time. But I’m not going to lie, I’m not great at guessing the murderers or twists in books and movies usually anyways. Which is kind of annoying, because I read and watch so, so many…but regardless, Gentill had me totally thrown off from the very start. Not only is she incredible at building characters and creating depth within them that left me guessing, but adding Leo and his own observations of who the murderer could be also added a back and forth as I was reading. Bottomless depth to this one, and so much fun to read.

The only thing preventing me from giving this the full five stars was Leo’s piece of the story. I wish I had more information. You’ll see what I mean, but again, I don’t want to give too much away. All of that had me gasping in surprise, so I can’t ruin it for you, for sure. But the end to that part of the narrative leaves something wanting in regards to this. Maybe we’re in for a sequel?

Yeah, so in case it wasn’t clear from my review: I highly recommend The Woman in the Library. You should definitely give it a read! I received a copy of The Woman in the Library from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. It will release on June 7, 2022. Pre-order it asap! 🙂

Have an awesome week, friends!