Wow! This was such a refreshing change from the recent murder mysteries I have been reading! The unique format blends epistolary narrative with classic prose, all layered by being a book that is about a book being written about a woman writing a book. It is as “meta” and delightful as it sounds! All layers of the mystery are solvable, but not in an obvious way and despite the reader being given all the needed information, Gentill manages to add multiple twists that even seasoned genre readers will not see coming. I have not enjoyed a mystery this much in a long time!

I have loved this book so much, I have gushed about it on instagram, on my YouTube channel, told my friends to pre-order it, have tweeted about it, I wrote a blog post, told my newsletter subscribers to get it.... Yeah, it was an absolute winner, this one.

I could not get more than 15% into this book. The book is set up with each chapter containing a self-referential letter between the “author” of the prior story and another author. This just leads to a lot of repetition, and some very obvious plot devices. Though the book discusses the facets of a well-written book (e.g. developed, realistic characters, a tight plot, etc), the actual text is ridiculously contrived. I have no reason to like Frankie, the novel’s protagonist and no reason to read more about the titular woman in the library. DNF, unfortunately.

Very well written…I love that it was a story within a story within a story and the fact that not even once did I get lost in what was going on…amazing story..will definitely hand-sell at my store.

Having spent many hours in the Boston Public Library Reading Room, this book hooked me from the start! The author has a great way of writing which made me actually "hear" the scream in my head as I read the words on the page! This author has crafted a well-designed mystery and I look forward to reading more of their work. This story will not disappoint!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book was a great mystery. It starts with 4 seemingly random people meeting in a library, they start talking because of a scream heard in the library. Eventually you come to find out a woman has been murdered, and thus starts the mystery of the book....The story was excellent, the plot while not super fast paced kept me needing to know what happened next. I went back and forth with who the killer was, the author definitely did not make it easy to guess! The characters were realistic and interesting. There was also a subplot weaved into the book, which I loved. If you like mysteries, I would definitely recommend this book!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for a honest review.

I loved this book. The concept of a writer in Australia writing about a murder in a library in Boston and tying it all together with emails. The characters, an eccentric group, were well-defined and the plot was very twisty. I literally couldn't put this down.

Great suspense! I had a little trouble getting into this book at the outset, but by the middle I was hooked and then could not put it down. The addition of one sided correspondence throughout the book is an interesting layer to the plot and introduces some intriguing questions including the race question, which had not occurred to me. I really enjoyed this and was duly surprised when the killer is unveiled. Will watch for more from this author and recommend to all.

The Woman in the Library draws you in from the beginning. The characters are fresh and become friends. You want to help them put the pieces of the puzzle together, and then begin to wonder who is not always telling the whole truth. The plot twists and twists again--keeping you up late and reading at lunch. You feel like you know Boston's Back Bay through their jaunts. The emails add another level of intrigue of this mystery that also have you questioning what you know. A great read! Don't miss it!

I did enjoy this novel overall, but it was a little hit and miss for me. I liked the story within a story but it just didn't completely captive me.

This book features a book within a book. About halfway through, things took a bit of a twist that I really enjoyed. I really enjoyed this book, even if some of the characters are problematic.

I lost interest in this story. The author writing about an author with the editing notes just got irritating(even though they are important). Plus the instant friendships were a bit much. ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair review.

I really love the cover of this book and the description is compelling- but the execution of the concept is uneven. This is a story built around a what-if scenario that author shares the origins of at the end of the book. The question is interesting, funny even, but after finishing the novel I'm not sure it's enough to support the story as it is. The novel unfolds as chapters of a mystery alternating with letters to the author of said mystery from a man named Leo. The reader is left to guess at the relationship between Leo and the author, and it takes awhile to understand why we should care about Leo at all. By the time we do truly understand the mystery told chapter by chapter feels a bit like an after thought as there are still many questions by the time everything wraps up. But perhaps since these chapters are supposed to be a work in progress the reader is meant to be forgiving of that and focus on the letters from Leo. It was compelling enough to keep me reading and these days a fast read is a good fit.

Brilliant! Inventive! My first book by this author and I’m ready for the next. I love her characters, the cleverness of the writer writing about a writer who’s writing a book, the emails from a third person that starts the book, the way she handles the pandemic without bogging down the story, and the perfect red herrings that work right up to the end. I already want to reread this book because it was so good.
Read this book!

What starts off as a general contemporary novel quickly became something else, especially with the introduction of Leo, a writer-acquaintance of the novel's main character. The reader may be confused for a bit as there are two people named Leo (or are they the same person?). You'll have to keep reading to find out but I will share there is 'something' going on and it involves at least one person dying by the hand of another. Not exactly twisty but very, very good writing! This book moved from three stars to five IMHO by the time I got to the next to the last chapter. Bravo!

A genuinely original premise with the story-within-a-story-within-a-story. Highly recommended for collections where thrillers are popular.

I absolutely loved every minute I spent reading this novel. The Woman in the Library, is like nothing I have ever read before and I appreciated how unique it was. Sulari Gentill, does an incredible job narrating such a thrilling story!

A library is supposed to be quiet, right? But everyone has something to hide, and secrets can be very loud when they are brought to light. The library is no longer so quiet, a woman's scream has pierced the ears of the patrons. Security quickly enforces a lock down until they can find out what just happened. Four people, all in the reading room for different reasons pass the time away with chatter, but one of them is a murderer.

This is a novel you wont be able to put down. I was completely consumed early on and I was so eager to see who was the murderer and why. I could not flip the pages fast enough.

Easy 5 star read! Due out May 13, 2022, you do not want to miss this one.

A classic whodunnit that will keep you guessing long after the first chapter. Follow along as four strangers who met under mysterious circumstances in the Boston Library Reading Room try to solve a murder. Each of them has something to hide- but is is something worth killing for?

Such a fantastic mystery that keeps the reader guessing until the very end. Two seemingly innocent stories quickly take a dark turn that makes this book impossible to put down. Emailing with a fellow writer named Leo, Hannah shares her manuscript for her work in progress. Her book begins with four strangers hearing a scream that echoes throughout the Boston Public Library. Their shared experience sparks an unlikely friendship, but we quickly learn, that each person has something to hide. Freddie the Australian author falls in love with the mysterious Cain, also an author, who has a mysterious past. Marigold the tattooed college student is in love with Whit, the handsome rich law student. As Freddie works on her newest book she becomes tangled up in the lives of each of her friends. However her new found relationships take a turn for the worst when multiple murders expose each persons dark side. Meanwhile Hannah's emails with Leo become dangerous, and she finds out that even real people have secrets to hide. Throughout all of this danger, secrets are finally revealed with an unbelievable ending. I highly recommend this book!

Holy moly! I highly recommend this one for fans of Ruth Ware or The Woman in the Window. It’s a devour in one sitting or as soon as humanly possible.